Hehuanshan is a place where I wanted to explore but the transportation is not convenient if we do not drive. In addition, your driving skill has to be good because of the winding road up the mountain road.
Getting up there from Taipei is not near and it is time-consuming but if you love nature, hiking or wish to have a break from the bustling city this would be a good choice. As there are not much information in English about how to get there by public transport yet, thus this will be a detailed transportation guide from Taipei to Hehuanshan.
Taipei to Hehuanshan
There are a few methods to get there; One, take the High-speed rail to Taichung station, take a bus to Qingcing farm stay for one day, and the next day book a car from your lodge to get up there. Two, stay in Taichung for a few days and hire a car to drive you up for one day. Three, take a train to Fengyuan station then a bus up, this was what we did. This is actually more suitable for travelers who have been to Taichung or CingJing Farm before and do not wish to stay there again.
Train to Taichung FengYuan
Board the first train to Taichung.
Easycard can be used here. If you do not have the easycard, you will need to buy a train ticket at the ticket counter:
Cost:
Adult
220NTD
Child
110NTD
Duration:
2 Hours 24 Minutes
Our train is at 05:30 to FengYuan:
To platform 3:
Fast Local Train Mountain route, that will stop at every station:
After a 2 hour plus train ride, we reached Feng Yuan Station:
Exit to ZhongZheng Road
Exit and turn right follow the sign:
The old FengYuan station:
Bus to HeHuanShan
The only public bus transport in Taiwan that drive up to the highest peak and using the snow chain to secure up the mountain during the winter period. And the only bus that drives on an altitude of 3275m at Taiwan highest highway road, passing through Taroko National Park looking over the vast sea of clouds and mountain landscape.
Little to know:
– There are only 3 bus drivers that are driving on this bus route
– This bus route have a total of 86 stops
– The bus doesn’t earn much profit from the passengers. Hence, the driver acts as a transporter to bring necessary necessities from the city to the mountain and help the children or villages in needs.
– Drivers will stay at the end stop LiShan for one day, next day the same driver and bus will bring you down.
When you see this view you are in the correct direction:
The bus terminal to get to HeHuanShan:
Getting Bus Ticket
Advice from the ticket counter lady, we can purchase the bus ticket from the bus driver:
Cost:
To Songxue Lou
Adult
400NTD
Child
200NTD
Duration:
3 Hours 40 minutes (Depend on the road condition)
Buy your ticket on the bus or tap your easycard, inform the bus driver where you will be getting off.
To note:
– Knowing basic Mandarin is necessary to speak to the driver
– Inform the bus driver where you will be dropping off
– Prepare the exact amount as the driver do not provide small change
Getting on the Bus
Bus No: 6506 will depart at 09:10 daily.
The mini bus there ⇓ in the middle of the large buses will leave on time:
We were given 30 minutes to rest and toilet break at a pit stop in Puli.
Our simple lunch there, if you do not want to eat this, there is also a convenient store nearby for you to grab some snacks or onigiri:
We had crispy chicken rice and mushroom meat soup:
That day when we were at the bus terminal the bus is already full. As you can see it is a mini bus with 21 seaters only including the driver, so if you did not get there earlier you might not get a seat.
This route is more known by the locals or Chinese speaking tourist only. However, I hope that this can be known to more people so that they will continue this route. There will be a post on how to return from HehuanShan to Taipei.
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Hi, i’m planning to take bus 6505 to Song Syue Lodge. Can i check if there’s a designated waiting area for the bus? I’m concerned that its a 12 seater bus, want to make sure that I queue at the right place. Thank you!
Hi~!
Yes, there is. When you reach the bus stop terminal at Feng Yuan, there are seats below the sign showing the bus number 6505. However, you will not see a line until the departure time is near. Just stay near to the waiting area, where the seats are.
Update: Sorry about the seat information, would like to inform you that it is a 21 seater bus.
Thank you! Your blog is well written and love the clear instructions and pictures 🙂
You’re Welcome!
Thank you for your comment. Have an enjoyable trip~! 🙂
hi is the hehuanshn known for snow mountain?
Hi Jed!
Thank you for the message.
Hehuanshan is different from snow mountain.
Hope this answer your question.
but Hehuanshan has a snow right? I saw some videos that they rent a car to experience the snow. I hope you can give me some tips ? thanks.
Hi Jed,
Yes, hehuanshan do have snow. However, I don’t drive so I am unable to give you more details on how to drive up there. I would recommend you to take the public transport or hire a car up, if you are unfamiliar with mountain road. There are a few website where you can rent a car in Taiwan.
http://m.easyrent.com.tw
https://www.car-plus.com.tw
https://www.avis-taiwan.com
Hi! I’m planning to travel the train to Fengyuan + bus 6506 route up to Song Xue Lodge. May I know if the route is possible with a luggage? And is the bus drop off near to the lodge? Thank you! 🙂
Hi Marie ~
Thank you for your message.
Yes, it is possible for you to bring your luggage along but I would suggest to bring a cabin luggage instead of large luggage.
Yes, the bus will drop off near to the lodge.
Have fun and enjoy your stay~
Hi, thanks for such a details post which benefits many travellers when making plan. I noted that you travel from Taipei to Fengyuan station. Just to confirm i can also opt to take from Taichung station to Fengyuan station as well?
Hello coco,
Thank you for your message.
Your welcome, I am happy that this post benefits you.
Yes, you can. It will be a 10-15minutes train ride from Taichung station to fengyuan station.
Thank you so much for your kind confirmation and advice provided.
Hi,
Just wanna thank you for the details provided, which allows me to successfully reach Hehuanshan via bus 6506 which i booked in advance. FYI, i was informed that by either 26 or 27th Oct 2018, the bus will stop its operation from Fengyuan station. it will depart from other station instead, and will not be based on just the current 3 drivers. But i didn’t managed to hear which station it will depart from after 26 or 27th Oct, as the bus was too noisy back then lol.
Hello Coco,
Your welcome and I am glad that this post helped you.
Yes, I have seen the update from their official website about booking the bus ticket in advance.
Thank you for the information, I will keep an eye on it to see if there will be any updates from their website about the change of station.
I believe that you had a great trip there and wish that you will have more travel trips ahead~!~!
Hi, I’ve read your blog and Thanks. It’s very helpful. I would like to know is it possible for me to take a bus from Cingjing Farm to Hehuanshan and what is the time for the bus.
Hello Caroline,
Thank you for your message.
Yes, it is possible. However, it will not be 6506 bus as it only makes one trip per day and it has a lot of stops which I do not suggest.
There is this bus which makes 3 trips per day to Hehuanshan from Cingjing farm and has started operating since last year.
The bus number is 6658A, you are able to find more information from their official website (TW Chinese only).
Hope that this answers your question.
Hi! Thanks for your helpful post. Can I check if it is possible to take this bus on a Monday from Songsyuelou to Cingjing/Wushe?
Hello Boon Siang,
Thank you for your message.
Nope, it is not possible to take the 6506 bus anymore as according to their official news, it has stopped operating on the 6th Nov.
At the moment, we will have to keep checking on the bustrip to know the latest news.
Information about 6506 bus has now changed to a city bus and will not be stopping at Songsyuelou, Cingjing or Wushefybus tw
Hope this answer your question.
Hello, your post is really informative. We plan to go to Song Syue Lodge on February 2019. It’s really unfortunate that Bus 6506 has stopped its operations or has a new route now. Can you kindly update us if you have any news on whether there’ll be a bus replacing 6506 which will stop at the lodge.
Also, how many hours will it take if we’ll come from Taipei?
Thank you!
Hello, Dane.
Thank you for your message.
Yes, it is unfortunate that they have stopped the bus 6506 operation.
I heard that there will be a new route for it, however, there is no news about it yet.
I will try my best to update it here too.
From my post, the estimated time needed from Taipei to Song Syue Lou is about 5~6 hours depending on the traffic.
Now it might take a longer time as you will need to change bus at Cingjing farm.
Hi any bus go to Taroko from Song Syue Lou
Hi, Joey.
Thank you for your message.
As of now, there is no bus access from Song Syue Lou to Taroko.
Hope this answer your question.