Taipei Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan): How to Get there?

How to get the best view of Taipei 101?

Xiangshang (象山), or Elephant Mountain, is the best place to get the perfect landscape view of Taipei 101. 

Climbing Taipei Elephant Mountain. was one of the things that I had always wanted to do in Taipei. Despite numerous trips to Taipei, this experience has always eluded me. 

The name Elephant Mountain was daunting since it implied I had to climb a long way up. In reality, that climb up Elephant Moutain took less than an hour before a spectacular view greeted me.

Getting to Elephant Mountain

Getting to Elephant Hill was surprisingly easy. Take the red Metro line from central Taipei to Xiangshan station, the last stop. Use exit 2 when you reach.

The first thing you will see is an Elephant Statue. This is Xiangshan Park, where you have to walk through to reach the steps of Elephant Mountain. 

Walk straight ahead to pass through the park. 

Within 10 minutes, you will reach the end of the road. There is a slope on your left. Climb the hill, and the first landmark will be a red building (Jinzong Temple).

Past the temple, you will reach  Xiangshan Hiking Trail. The stairs that will take you up Elephant Mountain.

The mountain trail is a series of steps leading to the top. It is about 540m long and takes under 20 minutes to climb.

A few steps up, you will reach two separate paths. The left path leads to a Fireworks Lookout, and the right leads to Mt Xiangshan.  

The views are different on either side. At the Fireworks Lookout, you will get an unobstructed view of Taipei city with Taipei 101, while Mt Xiangshan offers you a view with boulders at the foreground.

While the right turn is a popular tourist choice, I tried the left route for the Fireworks Lookout instead.

Along the way, you will have a peekaboo view of Taipei 101.

This path has to be the road less travelled. There were hardly any tourists, and I only encountered elderly locals on the way up.

That said, this is a challenging climb.  Upon reaching another junction, it forks in three directions. On the left is the Fireworks View, straight up is ascending the peak, while the right takes you to a viewing platform.

Fireworks Lookout - Xiangshan

I started out with the turn to the left. After another 10-minute walk, this was what greeted me.

Having this bird' s-eye view of Taipei City was a beautiful sight. This view is better than those from people heading the other path to Mt Xiangshan.

I trekked back and headed to another viewing platform. After seeing the view from the Fireworks Lookout, this view did not incite the same level of excitement.

While you can continue upwards, I decided to trek back down after this.

On my way back to the Metro station, I was greeted with this close-up view of Taipei 101.

Verdict

While the climb up Elephant Mountain was easier than I thought, it was a different walk in the park. For a more relaxed walk, wear comfortable clothes and proper shoes. 

In any case, the view itself was worth the climb!