The little Jiji Line train chugs along slowly by the mountainside, with stunning views of small towns and mountain forests. For part of the way, a beautiful "Green Tunnel" shades a highway that runs parallel to the tracks. (Hsueh Chi-kuang)

No matter how the world changes, a train ride will help you escape the doldrums of everyday life as views of the world speeding by outside the window make your mind wander while the train takes you to some rustic little burg. This is an important element of travel that the railroad offers beyond just getting from A to B. And you don't have to squeeze your way onto the Alishan Forest Railway. Instead, why not try the newly reopened Jiji Line for a fascinating new look at Taiwan?

"Toot! Toot! Toot!" The CK101 steam engine, a national treasure, emits three whistles as per railway tradition. People, train buffs among them, explode onto the platform of Jiji Station to witness the second reopening of the Jiji Line after the 921 Earthquake.

The antique CK101 and CK124 steam engines, each nearly a century old, arrive in an unprecedented fashion: one train pulling the other as they slowly make their way forward to inaugurate a new era as the Jiji Line is reborn.

The Jiji Line begins at Ershui Station in Changhua County, then follows the Zhuoshui River eastward, deep into Nantou County. It passes through Yuanquan, Zhuoshui, Longquan, Jiji and Shuili before reaching the terminus, Checheng. The 29.7-km route takes 50 minutes to complete, making it the longest of Taiwan's four passenger branch lines (Pingxi, Neiwan, Jiji and Shalun); it's also Nantou County's only railroad.

The Jiji Line was built in the Japanese era to transport sugarcane. Originally, a 762-millimeter-gauge light track was laid for "pint-size trains," but in 1919, Taiwan Power Company widened it to a 1067-mm-gauge track in order to ship materials to build a hydroelectric plant at Sun Moon Lake. Upon its opening in 1922, it became a branch line of the railway system.