Soak Those Bones! Hot Springing in the Tatun Mountain Area

On a working day, the highway from Yangmingshan to Chinshan has little traffic, and the wuchiehmang grass looms close under the gold-red rays of a fall afternoon. Steam, the area's best - known product of the fall and winter, is changing shape. With a little help from the imagination, it turns the mountain into the watercolors of a classical Chinese landscape painting.

In such peaceful surroundings, it's hard to imagine that the mountain on which we tread was a "Taipei knoll" just over sea level 2.8 million years ago. Whose handiwork formed the 20 volcanos in the Tatun Mountain area? Here, hot springs come to the surface in 20 or 30 separate places. Those of Northeast Taiwan may outnumber them, but for concentration the area is unrivalled. It's no accident that hot springs and volcanos are found in abundance at the same place, but are the two more like father and son or brothers? On coming here, it's best not to start out by busying oneself with a visit to the hot springs hotels or the free-range chicken restaurants. By just immersing yourself in the tranquility, you will find that nature is making use of its variety of deportments to unfold a "hot springs story" in living sound and color.

The truth is that volcanos and hot springs have the same mother--thermal power from beneath the ground--and volcanos provide hot springs with a great environment in which to grow.

Hot springs require four conditions: thermal energy, water, pressure, and long, deep fissures in the rock. These volcanos went extinct about 350,000 years ago, but because that is quite recent in geological terms, a lot of heat remains. When this kind of heat is combined with ample deposits of sandstone, which are excellent holds for water, opportunities abound for water underground to warm up quickly. All said and done, it's a "hot bed" for hot water.

Meanwhile the Chinshan and Kanchiao faults provide the needed fissures, and the water is under great pressure. It escapes at hot springs along fault lines or where the geological structure is weak. But sometimes the temperature underground is simply too hot and vaporizes the water, or the opening at the surface is above the water level. In such a place only steam escapes, and the result is not a hot spring but a fumarole or a sulfur cauldron, which is where hydrogen sulfide gas escapes.

In this area, the hot springs mostly surround volcanos, and it is easy for the water to become infused with acidic volcanic gases, such as hydroged sulfide, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. The water is usually near boiling and very acidic, and there is a strong smell of sulfur.

A handsomer cousin of the hot spring, the fumarole provides more scenic beauty. Along the Chinshan fault, a long and narrow strip between New Peitou and Chinshan, 13 different areas have hot springs but only nine boast fumaroles. These latter zones resemble lands of the spirits, where the fog is so thick all day that not even a blade of grass can grow. The hissing sound of the spurting steam and the strong scent of sulfur remind people of the vitality of mother nature. These spots offer a disturbingsoul-stirring beauty.

Going north from Peitou toward Yangmingshan, you can see the Tahuangtzui Hot Spring Area down in a basin on your right as you approach the Shanyuan parking lot. There used to be only steam here until the Taipei Water Department enlarged and deepened the fissures of more than 30 fumaroles, built walls around them and brought in cold water. The result was that the steam and cold water combine to make hot springs. With luck, you can see the water spurt three meters high. The water here reaches 90 degrees centigrade and has a pH of 3-4. Its semi-transparent yellow color is called "paihuang"--or white sulfur. The many water pipes in evidence around it supply hot spring water to 380 households in New Peitou and Tienmu.

To the east of Tahuangtzui is a long and narrow saddle ridge, site of the Lungfengku (or Shuangchunghsi) hot springs. For a full look at them, you've got to go to Tunshu Vocational High School at the intersection of the Peitou-Yangmingshan Highway and Hsingyi Road. Lungfengku used to be a strange lake called Tahuangshui, into whose water leaked great quantities of sulfur. Now Tahuangtzui refers to the basin mentioned before. Perhaps it's a case of passing down a mispronunced place name.

In any case, the "huang" in both places' names means sulfur, and Lungfengku does indeed have large deposits of the element. Sulfur used to be the principal ingredient of gun powder, and during the Ming Dynasty Chinese businessmen traded agate, bracelets and felt rugs with Taiwan's native inhabitants for it. During the Ching Dynasty, when Taiwan became part of China, even more sulfur was mined in Taiwan. The Zhejiangese explorer Yu Yung-ho once crossed the strait to Taiwan to look for sulfur deposits during Kang Hsi's rule (1662- 1721). His search led him to Lungfengku.

Yangmingshan National Park has turned Lungfengku into a recreational area, and at the entrance you can see a stone plaque commemorating the explorer. The Tehchi Mining Company of Tayukeng, the last company mining hereabouts, was still in business just two years ago.

Our car turned on the Yangchin Highway, passing the Yangmingshan National Park Visitors Center and the Chutzuhu Meteorological Observatory. Next to an obvious military police checkpoint is the entrance to Chutzuhu. We came neither for its fumaroles nor the calla lilies for which the area is famed (they're not in season) but rather for the view it provides of the Hsiaoyukang fumarole. (The Palaka Highway is another good spot for viewing it.) Drifting from its surface hole to the fault up above, Hsiaoyukeng's clouds of steam can be seen very clearly.

Leaving Chutzuhu, we continued toward Hsiaoyukeng, entering Yangmingshan's fog zone. With a valley between here and Matsao, the lay of the land is just right for fog in the fall and winter. The clouds drift by, resting here for a spell before going on their merry little ways. When the weather is good, you can see Mt. Tatun, which looks like a big pig reclining on the earth's surface, and Mt. Kuanyin, which is covered with low vegetation. If the fog is thick, you won't be able to see more than 10 meters but you will come to feel its poetic beauty. The story of Hsiaoyukeng's geology has a direct relationship with the hot water, which takes minerals out of the rock. Together the hot water and sulfur gas loosen the volcanic rock until finally the mountainsides collapse under the assault of rain and earthquakes. This is how the Hsiaoyukeng valley was formed.

Besides enjoying the steam that rolls with the mountain mist over the land and squinting when the acidity stings your eyes, you will perhaps sometimes hear a sound that resembles water boiling in a tea pot. It's coming from the mud bubbling by the side of your feet. These holes are called marl cauldrons, and sulfur gas is responsible once again. Originally vigorous spouters of sulfur gas, the cauldrons have moved into the slow lane. The hot liquid has soaked into the adjacent rock, and between the rocks it brings up mud. Remember not to step off of the pedestrian path, because the water in these hot springs can reach 99 degrees centigrade. A careless move could turn your pedal extremities into "red-braised pig's feet."

In fact the Tatun Mountain area boasts two places where the fumaroles are even more impressive: Tayukeng and Kengtzuping. Comparatively speaking, Hsiaoyukeng's steam is prettier, whereas theirs is more rough and tumble. It's a pity that these two area's facilities are still unfinished. For safety's sake, they can't be opened yet. Visitors can, however, go in spirit by leafing through books published by the Yangmingshan National Park.

Having gotten to this point, your legs must be tired and you must be getting hungry. It's time to find a hot spring restaurant that suits your fancy.

Most of the hot springs currently operating in the Tatun Mountain area offer hot spring and cold water pools, but they rarely go out of their way to tell guests what and what not do. In fact, bathing in hot springs has long been claimed to benefit the health. Many tout its efficacy in treating skin diseases, rheumatism and arthritis. Although the medical community has yet to prove these claims, bathing in hot springs does encourage the muscles and joints to relax, stimulating the metabolism, and the water pressure has the effect of massaging muscles and soothing pain. What's more, there are many minerals in hot spring water which have their own curative effects. Calcium ions reduce swelling, iodine ions can lower blood pressure, hydrogen ions help to detoxify, and sulfur strengthens the joints and muscles, makes the blood vessels more supple and reduces hardening of the arteries.

But hot springs are not a cure-all, and for such ailments as lung disease, heart disease, high blood pressure and circulation problems, as well as highly contagious viral diseases, they may have no effect or even make matters worse. If you have eczema, and sores are already festering, or if you suffer from acute arthritis, then it's best to keep one's distance from hot springs unless closely following a doctor's instructions.

In any case, those going to a hot spring must look at their physical make-up and the state of their health to know which hot spring is appropriate. It's best for the water temperature to be between 37-45 degrees centigrade. Don't soak in one for more than ten minutes or when you're fatigued, your stomach is empty, you're drunk or you've just eaten.

In the historical records, the first mention of hot springs was when Chin Shih-huang bathed in one to cure a boil. The actual place was probably the Hsinfeng hot spring on Mt. Lishan. No place plays a bigger role in the history of Taiwan hot springs than Peitou. If you're willing to invest a little more time. Peitou will tell you a hot springs story. Let's start from New Peitou Park.

In Peitou at three in the afternoon, the sun is like an aging beauty. Though still bright, it has lost its heat. Flapping the curtain at the entrance of Peitou's 80-year-old public baths, gusts of wind take up clouds of sand, which soften the edges of the scenery behind them, making them look like a blurry old photograph. Advancing along Chungshan Road, which is to the left of New Peitou Park, you soon descend to Peitou's oldest public baths. They were established in 1913, and the entire building maintains its original Japanese era appearance. Only a short time ago, the customers were Japanese soldiers recuperating from their wounds. Now they are Peitou school children and old folk treating their illnesses and gathering to talk about old times.

The Japanese are particularly enamored of the health benefits of hot springs and they spared no effort to develop the hot springs of Peitou. As a result, when you mention Peitou, most people will immediately think of hot springs and Japanese. But the truth is that the first person to advocate making use of the hot springs of Peitou was a German named Ohly, and Western traders in Wanhua, Tataocheng and Tanshui were the first to establish a bathing club here in 1893. The Japanese didn't come until the Ching court ceded Taiwan to the Japanese after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894. Governor Sano Sotaro came here on inspection in 1895, and when he saw the abundance of hot springs, he ordered land to be purchased for a Japanese army rest and recuperation center.

Eventually there would be many Japanese army rest centers making use of the hot springs, most of which were clustered around today's Kuangming, Yuya and Hsinmin Roads.

Chungshan and Kuangming roads are like two arms holding New Peitou Park between them. As you walk from Chungshan Road across the park to Kuangming Road and continue on, you can see the Huangkang Creek running parallel to the road. Nicknamed Chingkuang, its hot spring waters flow from Tijeku to Peitou. An arched bridge crossing the creek piqued our interest.

On the other side of the bridge a path paved with stones leads to a two-story, red-brick structure that's surrounded by knee-high weeds. It's seen better days. Though looking derelict, the roosters and hens parading around its yard and the plaques beside the door ("Taipei County Council Guest House" and "Peitou Area KMT Party Headquarters") suggested a human presence. We decided to knock. A-yao, a Peitou native in his thirties who looks after the place for the Taipei County government, opened the door. By chance, two other guests had come from the Taipei County government. After learning why we came, A-yao happily agreed to serve as tour guide.

Passing through the narrow door and stairwell, the view suddenly widens to reveal renaissance style arches surrounding an empty bathing pool. According to A-yao's understanding, the building was constructed in 1913, which probably makes it Taiwan's oldest indoor warm-water swimming pool. There are also separate rooms for individuals and families. In the Japanese era, this building was used for high-ranking officers. It is said that when Hirohito was crown prince, he came here to bathe. Although the Huangkang Creek passes right in front, water from the Paihuang spring higher up was piped in to show respect. And Kuangming Road was paved to welcome his arrival.

While the house has been continuously owned by the Taipei County government, the government units making use of it have been revolving like a merry-go-round. After the restoration of Taiwan to Chinese rule, the building changed its name to the Taipei County Peitou Guest House. Its pool was used as a communal bath, and the county set up an entertainment hall called the Chungshantang. The upstairs was even used as the Kuangming Police Station. Later the KMT turned the entertainment hall into their Peitou Party headquarters. In 1971, the pool was closed after several children drowned in it in close succession. When the party vacated the premises about four or five years ago, the building acquired its forsaken appearance. Taipei County wants to turn it into a worker's recreation center, but since Peitou has been redesignated as part of Taipei City, the city controls local zoning and plans on tearing down the structure and making the site the starting point for a cable car. A-yao looks at the splendid stained glass in the building's western wall and says that it's most gorgeous when the sun sets. Knowing that this beautiful scene is soon to be destroyed, how can one not feel regret?

With sagging spirits, we left the Peitou Guest House and after a short walk came to the Shuangnaitang Baths. A glance at the building's exterior reveals nothing startling, but the baths do have an illustrious background.

Li Cheng-hsien, the third generation in his family to serve as its proprietor, says that the building was constructed in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War to serve as a rest home for officers of the Japanese imperial army. Because his grandfather, the first Li to run the establishment, has already passed away, it is impossible to confirm its origins, but Shaungnaitang was probably named The Dogs of Heaven Cottage before Taiwan's retrocession, making it Peitou's first hot spring hotel.

In 1895, Hirata Genkichi came to Peitou for treatment. In March of the next year he went into business here, opening The Dog's of Heaven Cottage. Not long after, Matsumoto Kametaro founded The Pine Billowing Garden. These were the first establishments to profit from the hot springs. All assortment of hot spring hotels, villas and clubs came on their heels. Then a variety of public works were completed in the coming decades: the Taipei-Tanshui Railway in 1901, the public baths and the park in 1913, and the Peitou railway station in 1915. These laid the foundation for the prosperity of Peitou, which gave it the name "the hot springs town."

In the recollections of Chen Mu-chuan, who was born and raised in Peitou, the town's heyday was in the fifties, sixties and seventies. As soon as the lights came on at night, the men came to bathe and indulge in the pleasures of the flesh. "They came not for the booze but for the women," Chen recalls regretfully. "Most of the customers were coming for this kind of service, and almost all of the hotels provided it. When I was small I didn't dare say I was from Peitou because people would immediately associate the place with that sort of stuff."

The prosperity was fleeting. In late October of 1979, the government revoked the hotels' licenses to operate brothels. Business petered out. Many of the hotels closed and sold their lots, on which apartment building later rose. The Wensike Hotel on Wenchuan Road, for instance, is now the Wensike Mansion. Those that could go on turned into regular tourist hotels, using their old renown to attract new customers. Yitsun is one of the few old hot springs hotels still in business.

Turning onto Wenchuan Road from Kuangming Road, you pass an array of signboards pointing guests toward their hotels. Among them we discovered the sign for the "Yitsun Hotel," under which is written the "Star Hot Spring."

The Star Hot Spring was its pre-retrocession name, which it now includes so as not to confuse its old clientele. From this you can see how good business must have been in the Japanese era.

But in the hot springs area of Peitou, most of the hotels you can see were built after the prostitutes left. The proprietors have all changed, and the tourists can only cherish the memory of those boom days by reading the many related street names, such as Wenchuan (hot springs) and Chuanyuan (spring source).

For an even fuller understanding of Peitou, a good place to start is the Taiwan Folk Arts Museum. It's not far from Yitsun on Yuya Road. Besides enjoying the varied exhibits, the building itself was designed in the style of clubs for kamikaze pilots. It's worth a visit.

Finally we arrived at the end and the beginning, the army's 816 hospital. I say "the end and the beginning" because the hospital is both the final stop on this tour and, in a former incarnation, the Japanese Army rest station that started the development of Peitou's hot springs.

Coming to the end of Yuya Road, the road forks. If you go toward Hsinmin Road, the army hospital isn't very far away. Hearing that most of its patients are now mentally ill can't help but bring to mind a melancholy line of poetry: "That beauty I knew is nowhere to be found, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring wind." Peitou's rise and fall just goes to prove that everything in this world, save the blue sky, changes.

[Picture Caption]

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(above) Nearby residences and hotels all have pipes to bring hot springwater directly inside.

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(right) When the sulfur combines with the oxygen in the air, it creates a coating of crystalline sulfur on the rocks.

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The bamboo species Sinarundinaria nitida and the native Taiwan wuchiehmang grass are the most common of Tatun Mountain Area plants. The photo on the left shows the trail leading from the eastern peak of Chihsing to Menghuan Lake. On the right is the view of Little Kuanyin from Mt. Chihsing.

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(drawing by Liao Tzu-wen)

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(above) In its former life, Shuangnaitang was Peitou's first hot springs hotel, the Dogs of Heaven Cottage. The asphalt in front of it was specially paved for a visit of Crown Prince Hirohito.

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(right) On the side of the main road to Chinshan, the stands selling mountain vegetables, including the hot-selling chuanchi herb, draw crowds.

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The Peitou Public Baths were finished in 1915. Originally their customers were mainly Japanese military officers. Now the denizens are locals. (photo courtesy of Taiwan Folk Arts Museum)

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Holding what was Taiwan's first warm-water indoor pool, the Taipei County Guest House is slated to be turned into the starting point of a cable car. It's all part of the Taipei Bureau of Urban Development's plans to make Peitou and its hot springs an international tourist attraction.

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(above) The Pleasure Garden was located at the current site of the Taipei Teacher's Training Center. It was one of the Japanese era's most popular hot springs. (photo courtesy of Taiwan Folk Arts Museum)

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(right) After taking a dip in a hot spring, kick back and enjoy a cup of tea in the cool breeze. This is living.

Travel Information

If you like to soak in a large pool, try the Yangmingshan Public Bathhouse near Chungshan Lou, or Lohan Cave (also called Lungfeng Hot Spring) or Matsu Cave in the Ting Peitou hot spring area. Yangmingshan Public Bathhouse is next to Chienshan Park, and in the autumn one can enjoy the red hues of the maple trees. The bathhouse charges only a cleaning fee of NT$5 for adults and NT$3 for children. Most of the visitors to these springs are elderly people who come for the waters' medical effects.

If you prefer privacy and want to get a meal too, why not try one of the private hot-spring-restaurant-cum-bathhouses.

Those with gourmet tastes can consider Chiku near the Mt. Shamao bus stop on bus route 230, or one of the restaurants at Hsiao Yintan or in the Yangmingshan hot spring area, such as Liuku, Hushan, Plum Lake (Meihu) or Cherry Blossom Garden (Yingyuan), each of which has six to twelve individual bathing cubicles.

If you are mainly interested in bathing, you could try the Matsao Natural Hot Spring Baths or the Matsao Flower Art Village, both in the more extensive Matsao hot spring area; or the Sun Moon Ranch (Jihyueh Nungchuang) at Chiku hot springs. They have both large public pools and individual cubicles. Charges range from NT$30-50. Most also provide overnight accommodation, but early booking is essential at weekends and holidays.

Hot spring waters may be acidic, neutral or alkaline, and each is said to have different curative properties. Most of the springs in the Tatun Mountain area are acidic, and are reputed to relieve persistent chronic ailments such as rheumatism, neuralgia and spinal paralysis, but will cause open wounds to ulcerate. On the other hand, the area's few neutral or mildly alkaline springs such as Lohan Cave and Chiku are said to be quite effective for skin disorders.

Visitors without their own vehicles can take buses 217, 218 or 223 from Taipei main railway station and change at the First Bank in Peitou to bus 230 for Yangmingshan. This service runs half-hourly until 5:00 pm, after which time there are buses every 45 minutes until 10:00 pm. If you miss the last bus or want to see more of Peitou, you might try Peitou's home-grown "Pony Express" (motorcycle taxis), which charge according to distance. These are to be found opposite Peitou vegetable market or next to Peitou Post Office, and can be recognized by the brightly colored towels or plastic sheets spread over the seats. On the street they can be flagged down just like a taxi.

Taiwan Motor Transport Corporation runs a bus service through Yangmingshan to Chinshan on the northeast coast. Buses leave the bus station near Taipei main railway station hourly on the hour. The last bus towards Chinshan leaves at 5:50 pm. However, please note that the last bus back to Taipei departs from Chinshan at 5:00 pm.

The main road from Peitou through Yangmingshan to Chinshan passes through fine scenery and is well surfaced, and so is very suitable for excursions by car or motorcycle. A good detailed map is sold in the basement of the Yangmingshan National Park visitor center for NT$25. There is a filling station on Yangte Avenue between Kechih Middle School and Shantsaihou.

Except at the public bathhouses run by the Taipei City government, food can be found at most of the hot springs. Beyond Hsiaoyukeng towards Chinshan there are stalls selling fresh mountain-grown vegetables from Chutzuhu, as well as cooked food. The Peitou hot springs area has all kinds of hotels ranging from Japanese to European in style. The better-known large hotels include the Yitsun Hotel and the New Angel (Jehai) Hotel. In the past there was no overnight accommodation in the Tatun Mountain area, so one had to go to Yangmingshan's Hotel China, Hotel International or the CSF Yangmingshan Hostel, but now ranch-style hot spring hotels and roast chicken restaurants have opened up in the area. The Sun Moon Ranch and Matsao Flower Art Village at Matsao both have guest rooms.

To enquire about where to find accommodation, please call the Yangmingshan visitor center up to 4:30 pm daily on (02) 861-6341.

If you only have one day, set out after lunch and either explore Peitou or enjoy the natural scenery of the Tatun Mountain Area, then choose whichever hot spring area you prefer for a bath and evening meal before returning to Taipei.

For a two-day visit, first look around Peitou and stay overnight in Peitou or Yangmingshan, enjoying a hot spring bath in the evening. On the second day take in the mountain scenery, then eat in Chinshan.

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(drawing by Liao Tzu-wen)

Map of Yangmingshan and Peitou