Explore Pingxi’s mining heritage on New Taipei’s Dongshige hike

3.4-kilometer trail is made of totally natural materials, including earth, rock, and creek beds

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/19
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The historic Dongshige Trail (東勢格越嶺古道) showcases great natural beauty and the heritage of New Taipei’s Pingxi District, famed for its sky lanterns and coal mining.

The trailhead is opposite Pingxi Junior High School, the venue for this year’s Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival on Feb. 1. Sky lantern festival revelers are recommended to arrive early and hike the Dongshige trail.

In the old days the trail was part of an artery connecting Pingxi and Dongshige villages. It also led to hair-raising hikes such as those to Mount Xiaozi, Cimu Peak, Mount Putuo, and Zhongyang Peak.

The trailhead is a flight of stairs, at the top of which is a fork. Take the left and go up another flight of stairs to reach a gravel road that goes along the mountainside.    [FULL  STORY]