Chiayi 嘉义
September 17-18, 2025
Just a few days after returning from South America, we boarded a Delta flight once again to travel back home to visit our aging parents. During our layover in Seattle, we stopped by the Delta One Lounge, a business-class lounge that Delta opened about two months ago. There are only four of these lounges in the entire United States. Over the years, we’ve traveled all over the world and visited countless airport lounges, but this time the Delta One Lounge truly stood out—both the service and the food offerings were top-notch.
On our way to Shanghai, we stopped in Taipei for a few days. Delta one meals on the plane were also decent. Since we had already visited the capital several times in recent years, we skipped the city itself and headed straight to Chiayi by high-speed rail.
Arrival at Taoyuan Airport was smooth—within 30 minutes of landing, we were already on the airport express to Taoyuan HSR Station. From there we boarded the high-speed train to Chiayi. The Chiayi High Speed Rail Station (HSR) is located in Taibao, about 15 km away from the old Chiayi Train Station in the city center, which was a bit confusing at first. Our hotel was close to the HSR station, so the previous night we simply took an Uber there.
This morning, we got up early and logged in right at 6 a.m. to try our luck at booking tickets for the Alishan Forest Railway. The line, which had been out of service for 15 years, had only reopened last year, making tickets extremely competitive—especially since we had just one day available. Luckily, four tickets were still available when we logged in, but within minutes all were gone.
After breakfast at the hotel, we walked across the street to visit the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum. Unlike the Taipei main museum, this branch is housed in striking modern architecture surrounded by vast landscaped grounds, designed not only for cultural exhibitions but also for leisure and community use. We had first learned of its existence three years ago at the Taipei museum, where we were told the famous Jadeite Cabbage had been moved south. Excited to finally see it, we were disappointed to discover it was on loan to Prague—missed again! Even so, the exhibitions were impressive, though—as always in such museums—far too much to fully take in during a single visit.
From the museum, we caught the free shuttle bus into Chiayi city. The nearly empty bus felt like our private ride. At the historic Chiayi Railway Station, we picked up our Alishan paper tickets and also purchased return bus tickets from the mountain.
Next, we headed for lunch at Smartfish, a seafood restaurant widely recommended. The walk there was unpleasant under the hot, humid weather and lingering sewage smells, but luckily the restaurant wasn’t too far. After a short wait for a table, we managed to try their signature dish. While tasty, it was a bit too fatty for our liking, and we decided not to return to this area again for the night market.
After lunch, we called an Uber to Hinoki Village, a collection of Japanese colonial-era wooden houses now repurposed as shops. The buildings were beautifully maintained and decorated, but the commercial focus didn’t interest us much.
After a short stroll in the village, we returned by shuttle bus to the museum and wandered the park grounds and had coffee break in the museum cafe.
Rain began to fall, so we headed back to our hotel for a rest. Dinner was the hotel buffet, which turned out to be diverse and high quality, with sushi and sashimi among the highlights. Later in the evening, we returned to the museum park to enjoy the lighted fountain shows. With only 10–20 other visitors around, the atmosphere was peaceful, and the rotating themed performances every 15 minutes were a delightful surprise—an unexpectedly charming way to end the day.
台湾故宫南院 · 嘉义
2025年9月17-18日
刚从南美回来没几天，再次坐上达美航空（Delta)回国去看望年迈的父母。在西雅图转机时去了Delta One Lounge, 这是达美航空大概二月前新开的商务贵宾室，全美只有4家。这些年满世界跑，去过无数的贵宾室，但这次的Delta one无论是服务态度还是里面提供的餐饮都是一流的。
前往上海的途中，我们先在台湾停留几天。由于近几年已经多次造访台北，这次便跳过台北，直接搭乘高铁前往嘉义。抵达桃园机场非常顺利——落地不到 30 分钟，我们就已经搭上机场捷运前往桃园高铁站。随后转乘高铁南下到嘉义。嘉义高铁站位于太保市，距离嘉义市区的旧火车站-嘉义站约 15 公里。我们的酒店离高铁站不远，昨晚我们直接叫了 Uber 前往入住。
今天一早，我们6 点准时上线抢购阿里山森林小火车的车票。这条铁路停运了 15 年，去年才重新开通，因此车票异常抢手，尤其是我们只有一天的时间可以上山。这次来台湾前的近二周时间我们一直试图上网买票，但总也买不到。但我们发现一个规律，很多时候在行程前一天网上会出来几张票。所以今天早上5点多就做好准备，等小火车网络系统6点开始运营时二人同时抢。很幸运当我们登入时还有四张余票，赶紧入手，几分钟后便全部售罄。
在酒店吃了丰盛的早餐后，我们走到酒店对面的故宫南院参观。与台北的故宫不同，南院以现代建筑和广阔的园林为特色，不仅是文化展览的场所，也兼具休闲和社区功能。三年前我们在台北故宫时没看到著名的翠玉白菜，当时被告知是在故宫南院展出。这次原本满心期待终于能亲眼一睹，结果发现它又被外借到捷克布拉格去展览——我们再次错过了！南院馆内的展品比台北故宫要少很多，但依然令人印象深刻。只是内容浩瀚，让人难以在短时间内完全消化。
之后我们从故宫南院搭乘免费的接驳巴士前往嘉义市区。车上几乎没有其他乘客，感觉就像包车一般。在嘉义旧火车站，我们取到了明天的阿里山森林小火车的打印车票，并且买好了后天回程的巴士票。
接着我们前往当地极负盛名的鱼头餐厅——林聪明砂锅鱼头（Smartfish）。顶着闷热潮湿的天气，加上空气中难闻的下水道味道，虽然餐厅不算太远，但走过去的过程颇为难熬。餐厅不大，生意兴隆，必须拿号在店外等。好在餐厅几乎只卖鱼头汤，客人周转还比较快，我们只等了一会儿就入座。招牌砂锅鱼头味道确实不错，但油腻感稍重。嘉义的天气和环境让我们我们当下决定不再为了夜市而再回到这一带。
午餐后，我们叫了 Uber 前往桧意森活村。这里保存了一批日治时期的木造建筑，如今被改造成各式小商店。虽然建筑维护得很好，装饰精美，但以商业为主的氛围并不特别吸引我们，所以只停留片刻便离开。随后再次搭乘接驳巴士回到故宫南院，在园区里散步，享受清幽环境，并且在南院里的小咖啡馆享用了咖啡和冰淇淋。
天色渐暗且开始下雨，我们便回酒店休息。晚餐选择了酒店自助餐，种类丰富，品质也很高，寿司和生鱼片尤为出色。饭后，我们再次走到故宫南院，欣赏夜间的灯光水舞表演。喷泉每 15 分钟一场，主题各异，现场只有十几位游客，氛围宁静而舒适。绕着湖走一圈，遍走遍看灯光表演，不同的角度有着不同的感受，很精彩。