Cingjing Farm (清境草原)

I spent my last weekend in Taiwan at Cingjing Farm(清境草原)  and Sun moon Lake(日月潭). We booked a 共乘车, which costs NT$350/ person. There are 2 pick up points namely Taichung HSR and Taichung Train station. I was suppose to board at Taichung HSR while my friend was supposed to board at Taichung Train station, both at 9am. I kinda panicked a little because my prepaid card was running out of value and I was worried I wouldn't be able to meet up with my friend. However, the car was late and my friend was only picked up at 9:10am. Then, it came to pick me up at 9:40am. It was really a blessing in disguise as we were told that we would be pick up by 2 separate cars, but we eventually ended up in the same car.

The drive up was bumpy and scary as the road is pretty narrow. It was already 11am when we reached Cingjing.

Upon reaching Cingjing Farm, we left our luggage with the ticket booth which was advised by our minsu. They told us that we can follow the path down to the visitor centre and they will drive us back up to collect our luggage after we are done before the ticket counter closes at 5pm. It was drizzling then but the weather was cooling and comfortable. We were so excited to see the scenic view of mountains, green pasture and sheep!

My friend and I had a great time feeding the sheep at the sheep's music castle (绵羊音乐城堡). There are many souvenirs inside and there's a sheep's pen outside. You can purchase the sheep's food from a vending machine at NT40/packet. They will look at you intently and come closer to you when they see the bag of food on your hand. It's a bit ticklish because they will lick the food on your hand and you can feel the warmth of the saliva. >< We had a good laugh at the sound the make. They are really cute! 

We had lunch at 南端商区, which is a place that has many food stalls. There's also a shop that sells honey and the salesperson was very kind to give us a free tour on how honey and pollen is harvested. She also taught us how to differentiate real honey from those made from sugar. Real honey boils and those made from sugar will burn and turn black. 

the yellow thin on the bee is the pollen

After lunch, we walked up 观山步道 and 万里长城步道. There are several paths you can take to enjoy different scenery.

We manage to catch the sheep show (绵羊秀) at 2:30pm and there was already a huge crowd gathering near the stage by 2pm. We didn't want to squeeze with the crowd so we stood at a higher ground which wasn't too bad too. The highlight of the show would be how the shepherd's dog chase the sheep into the barn, the shaving of the sheep's wool and the technique of lash whipping.

sheep's poo everywhere on the grass. so you have to be careful when you are walking

the shepherd's dog will chase the sheep from the hills down into the pen.

the poor sheep looks so sad... 

These horses look so sad too.. It costs NT$150 to ride on them.

After the show, we went to 观山牧区 which is another part of the farm and we saw other breeds of sheep here. The mountain breeds have longer necks.

This is the Apaca sheep.

Then, we walked down 487 steps although it says 499 steps on the brochure. haha. 

We had plans to visit the little swiss garden (小瑞士花园) but we had no time in the end as we need to collect our luggage before 5pm. So we had a short rest at the visitor centre and took some photos outside 国民宾馆.

After which we checked in at 蕓蘆民宿 (Winlu Minsu). They provided 2 free shuttle service within Cingjing Farm. The view from the minsu was breathtaking and it was so peaceful up in the moutains. The only sound you could possibly hear is the birds chirping...We had steamboat dinner at the minsu which costs $199/pot. It tasted quite nice and we both enjoyed our dinner very much. After dinner, the staff from the minsu brought us to see fireflies. The experience was amazing.

view from winlu minsu

If you have time and enjoy nature and animals, you can consider spending at least 5-6 hours at cingjing farm.