Taipei Times
Date: Feb 07, 2020
By: Tsai Tsung-hsien and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Upgrades to the hot spring park along Pingtung County’s Sihchong River (四重溪) are drawing
A wooden Japanese-style torii gate at the entrance to Pingtung County’s Sihchong River Hotspring Park is lit up on Monday evening.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
The Pingtung Transportation and Tourism Department said that investment in the area — once a popular hot spring destination, due to the county’s ocean vistas and other scenery — has started to bring bathers back.
The county last month announced that it would provide assistance to investors at the hot springs near the river, saying it hoped investor interest and creativity could speed up development in the area.
During the Japanese colonial period, Sihchong — along with Tainan’s Guanzihling (關子嶺) and Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園) — was considered one of the island’s four best hot spring areas, the county said.
However, in recent decades, as domestic tourism patterns changed and Sihchong’s facilities aged, the number of visitors decreased, the department said. [FULL STORY]
