There is an enchanted forest hidden at the far end of Taiwan’s Jhihben Hot Spring, where large swallowtail butterflies dance between the White Banyan trees. This is the Jhihben National Forest Recreation Area.
The Recreation Area features a tropical monsoon forest at an elevation of 125 to 550 meters, where forestry used to be conducted in small scale. Hence, manmade woods of tropical tree species like Mahogany and Teak, which are rare to Taiwan, can be found here.
The flora of the Recreation Area is distinctive thanks to the tropical climate. Along the forest trail, you will find various species of ficus, which account for the majority of big tropical rainforest trees, including the hundred-year-old Big White Banyan tree with awesome aerial roots, the rare Lomariopsis cochinchinensis clinging to the trunks, the hundred-year-old Sour Creepers, as well as the Mountain Figs with extensive buttress roots. Altogether they form a southland-like tropical rainforest. There is a Healing Herbs Garden spanning over 990 m2 in area, growing some 50 kinds of herbs, including the golden-button-like Toothache Plant and the sunny Lemmon’s Marigold, relieving visitors’ souls and bodies.
The fauna here is just as fascinating. Birds like the rare Maroon Oriole and Formosan Bubul endemic to Eastern Taiwan, are common dwellers. Perhaps you can even spot a pleasant encounter with the Heng-chun Birdwing Butterfly, the largest butterfly species in Taiwan! When you visit Jhihben for a relaxing bath in the hot spring, why not also indulge yourself with a forest bath ecology trip by coming down here!