If you are into exploring history, then Chihnan National Forest Recreation Area is a place you should not miss: old locomotives, yarders, as well as the vintage photographs and countless artifacts in the Forestry Exhibition Hall sit in the small Recreation Area beside Hualien’s Liyu Lake, epitomizing the 60s.
Chihnan is the starting point of one of the three legends in the forestry history of Hualien: Halunshan Mountain Railway. It was a glorious forestry railroad empire that spanned about 50 km in length in Hualien, planned by the Japanese and expanded by the nationalist government. The total ban of logging came into force in 1989, Halun Work Station was shut down and cut off from the world. Only the Chihnan Work Station survived as a forest recreational area for people to remember the days of forestry.
In addition to history, there are woods in Chihnan as well, primarily of Moraceae and Lauraceae mixed with reforestation species such as Formosan Ash. Birds endemic to Eastern Taiwan, such as Formosan Bubul, can often be sighted here, which makes it an excellent choice for people to get close to nature. Come to Chihnan National Forest Recreation Area, and appreciate the transformation, as well as the prospects of forestry management in different contexts and times amidst the ambiance of history and forest phytoncide.