A passing prosperity
Less than a century ago, the Lushan hot springs district was still a portion of the hunting grounds of the Seediq people, a serene area of alpine mountains and deep valleys. A leap into the Taluowan represented a chance to paddle back and forth between chilly creek water and scalding hot springs inflows.
The Japanese colonial government developed the area first, building the Fuji Hot Spring deep in the mountains in 1942 as a part of its Aboriginal policy. The spa, Taiwan's highest at an elevation of 1,100 meters, provided police officials with an opportunity to rest and recuperate. It also happened to be near the Mahebo Forest, where in 1930 the Seediq leader Mona Rudao had made his last stand in his resistance to the Japanese.
When President Chiang Kai-shek made an inspection tour of the area in 1950, he observed that the area reminded him of the mountains around Lushan in Jiangxi Province, changed its name from Fuji to Lushan, and rechristened the spa the Jingguang Mountain Villa.
When the government relaxed restrictions on visits to remote mountain areas in the 1970s, it began encouraging tourism in these regions. With little level ground available for development in the Lushan hinterlands, businesspeople from the lowlands began building illegally on the overbanks on both sides of the Taluowan. As hot springs facilities began to cluster together on both banks, it was only logical for the community to line the river with a concrete revetment. The river course was soon reduced to just a narrow channel only 20.3 meters in width, which is one of the causes of the present-day environmental overload.
When the Taiwanese economy took off in the 1980s, Lushan's hot springs were among the beneficiaries of the boom in domestic tourism. Hotel Tenlu, owned by Ten Ren Tea and in business in the area for 50 years, had its best decade ever. Proudly and with a touch of regret, hotel manager Chen Yucheng recalls, "In those days, our room occupancy rates were near 100%, and it was virtually impossible to get a room over the New Year's holidays."
It was a great destination for visitors, providing opportunities to stroll across the Lushan suspension bridge, soak their feet and cook an egg in the hot springs, enjoy the cherry blossoms in spring or the maple leaves in fall, make a side trip to Mt. Hehuan, and take an evening hot-spring bath at one of the area's hotels.
Though only 35.3 kilometers from the epicenter of 1999's Jiji Earthquake, Lushan came through physically relatively unscathed. But the tourism industry as a whole went into decline. Hotel operators strove to revive the area's fortunes, working together to innovate and promote sales. And, in spite of our extended recession, visitors seemed to be happy to participate in the revival of "the world's number one springs."
But disaster is a constant companion in the area. Typhoon Doug flooded the first floors of all the hotels on both banks in 1994, and the Jiji Earthquake loosened the earth over more than 5,000 hectares in the Taluowan and Zhoushui River watersheds in 1999. Numerous landslides in the years since have silted up the riverbed, with the result that every severe storm now triggers flooding and landslides. Last year's Typhoon Sinlaku caused the worst flooding in the area's history.
The route to the historical trail through the Mona Rudao battlefield features a hot springs upwelling that is steamy year round.(below) The clear water from Lushan's hot springs isn't the least bit sulfurous-you can drink it as well as bathe in it. Who needs luxurious indoor baths when you can enjoy communing with nature with a good soak right here?