Chiayi → Meinong 嘉義 → 美濃
via the Dongshan Coffee Highway 東山咖啡公路 & Zengwen Reservoir 曾文水庫
Dashed lines are the options for this stage, see below.
Stage 8
Take the long false-flat road out of Chiayi in a south-easterly direction and enjoy the beauty of the mountains, passing through the hot spring town of Guanziling 關子嶺, on to the Dongshan Coffee Highway (road no. 175) 東山咖啡公路. Don't expect this road to be packed with coffee places (we were underwhelmed), but we have one suggestion that you won't regret making the extra climb for: Banni Coffee 伴你咖啡, located next to the impressive Kantoushan Fuyou Temple 崁頭山孚佑宮仙公廟, with a great terrace overlooking the lower plains to the west.
Right after the coffee/temple platform you'll find one of the most secluded backroads of this trip, leading you to the south side of the Zengwen Reservoir 曾文水庫. After that, turn north for a little bit, keeping the beautiful reservoir on your left. If time's on your side, you may choose to fuel up at Dapu 大埔 by going yet a little further north. The route today takes a west- and later southbound long winding road all the way down to Meinong 美濃, a cozy Hakka village on the plain of northern Pingtung county. Meinong is famous for its Hakka food. You'll find a handful of nice laid-back homestays here. On Friday nights the village center even boasts a little night market.
Options for this stage
alternativeVia Tainan201 km (−3) · 2,010 m up (−810) · overnight in Tainan · compared to stages 8 and 9 together
Chiayi – Dongshan Coffee Highway – Tainan – Tianliao – Foguangshan – Kaohsiung
Rather spend a night in a big city? Follow the main route over the Dongshan Coffee Highway, and from there head west to Tainan. Keeping the Zengwen Reservoir 曾文水庫 on your left, the remaining way down to Tainan slowly turns into a more rural flat area before going all-in industrial zone (109 km to Tainan).
Tainan 台南 is a large city on the west coast with many sights, like the Confucius Temple and Anping Fort, and the country's largest night market.
The next day, our suggested route cycles via the moon-like landscape of Tianliao Moon World 田寮月世界 and passes the country's largest Buddha statue at Foguangshan 佛光山 before joining the main route into Kaohsiung. In a hurry? Cycle straight from Tainan to Kaohsiung (about 50 km) on a flat, industrial, heavy-traffic road. This is the official Cycling Route No. 1, so you might understand now why you've been avoiding it all this time.
