Jiaoxi Hot Springs

Jiaoxi is the hot spring town of the Lanyang plain, and its water is unusual for Taiwan: a sodium bicarbonate spring that comes up clear, odourless and faintly slippery, without the sulphur smell of the northern fields. The town is consequently full of bathhouses, from municipal pools to hotels with private tubs on the balcony, and there are free public foot baths in the parks along the main street where people sit with their trousers rolled up. Tangweigou Park has a stepped stream of spring water running through it in the middle of town. Behind Jiaoxi the land rises sharply and a stepped path leads up to Wufengqi, a waterfall in three tiers with viewing platforms at each level.

What you actually see

• The public foot baths - free spring-fed pools in the town parks, busy at all hours.
• Tangweigou Park - a stepped hot stream running through the centre of town with open bathing steps.
• Wufengqi Waterfall - three tiers of falls up a stepped path in the hills behind the town.
• The bathhouses - public pools and private tubs drawing the same sodium bicarbonate water.

When to go

Autumn through spring is the natural bathing season; summer bathing in a subtropical climate is a niche taste. Yilan is one of the wettest parts of Taiwan and the winter monsoon brings weeks of rain, which is atmospheric in a bath and miserable on the waterfall path. Weekends and holidays fill the hotels, so book ahead.

Honest expectations

The town itself is unremarkable, a grid of hotels, bathhouses and shops rather than anywhere charming. Free foot baths are crowded and the water is not always as clean as you would like. The little fish that nibble your feet, sold as a novelty, are not to everyone's taste. Rain is frequent, and the waterfall path is slippery and steeply stepped.

Nearby

Wushi Harbour and the boats for Guishan Island are a short drive northeast.