Breezing through the lush landscapes and historic towns from Taipei to Pingtung is an unforgettable road trip and a chance to see Taiwan unlike ever before.

For roadtrippers seeking adventures beyond Taiwan’s major attractions, Provincial Highway 3 offers a bagful of fresh sights. This 436.3 km-long route links central Taipei with southeastern Pingtung City via the lesser-explored sides of five municipalities and six counties.

Several sections of this road are winding and climb repeatedly, as cyclists will attest – earning it its unofficial moniker, the Inner-Mountain Highway (內山公路, nèi shān gōnglù). Even without factoring in time for sightseeing and meal breaks, drivers shouldn’t expect to average much more than 50 km per hour on this route.

Starting north

Highway 3 starts in Taipei where Zhongxiao East and West roads intersect with Zhongshan North and South roads, a stone’s throw from the Executive Yuan offices. After passing Taipei Main Station, the highway heads south and then west through Wanhua and Banqiao before reaching Sanxia District in New Taipei City. Just past the 27-km marker, south of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology in Taoyuan, traffic thins out and the surroundings pleasantly turn green.

Beyond km 36, Highway 3 runs intimately close to Daxi Old Street. This cluster of century-old Baroque-style merchant houses deserves its place on the tourist map. If you’ve gone through the trouble of renting a vehicle, take the opportunity to also visit the Li Teng-fang Mansion, as it’s a fairly long walk from any bus stop. The oldest parts of this classical countryside mansion date back to 1864.

For the next 17 km, Highway 3 winds through a built-up area that includes Taiwan’s Army Command Headquarters. Detouring via Provincial Highway 4 and then Highway 3B will save you a bit of time and fuel.

Another option is following Highway 3 as far as the National Defense University, then Highway 3B so you can make stops at Sankeng Old Street or Daping Red Bridge (大平紅橋). The former is charming, albeit short. The latter is a 101-year-old span that makes for good photos under the right conditions.

Old street enthusiasts tempted to drive into the timeworn heart of Guanxi, located in Hsinchu County, should know that Zhongzheng Road is infuriatingly narrow. There’s a more accessible destination 22 km down the road – Beipu, dubbed by some “the Lukang of the north” due to its semblance to the picturesque town on the coast of Changhua. Still, the history of Beipu differs from that of Lukang.

This endearingly quaint Hakka settlement was founded in the 1830s by pioneers pushing into territory previously dominated by Saisiyat and lowland indigenous clans. The settlers’ Jinguangfu (金廣福) armed grouping sought to convert undeveloped tracts of wilderness into productive farmland. The organization got its name from the fact it brought together Hakka families who traced their origins to Guangdong (hence廣, guǎng) and Hoklo investors with Fujianese roots (福, fú) in pursuit of profit (金, jīn, meaning gold or money).

Jing Guang Fu Hall, less than 150m south of Highway 3, served as the venture’s headquarters. It’s open to the public, unlike Tianshui Hall (天水堂), the exquisite 19th-century residence next door. There’s plenty of additional antiquity in the alleys between Miaoqian Street and Xiuluan Street.

The next township south is Emei, where the eponymous lake is, in fact, a manmade reservoir. An entire peninsula is occupied by Nature Loving Wonderland, the base of Maitreya Great Tao (彌勒大道, Mílè dàdào), a Buddhist sect Taiwan’s government recognized as a religion in 2001. The 72-m-high bronze statue of the Maitreya Buddha here is said to be the world’s tallest.

After crossing from Hsinchu County into Miaoli County, push on to Shitan, 17 km of flattish blacktop south of Sanwan and a far more interesting place to kill time. Shitan’s Presbyterian Church is proud of its connection to George Leslie Mackay. The famous Canadian missionary, who passed through in 1873, drew local people to his sermons by promising to pull rotten teeth at no charge. Two hiking trails start near the center of Shitan, the short Zhonglou Old Path (鐘樓古道) and the significantly more challenging Xie’ai Old Path (楔隘古道).

About 13 km south of Shitan, Highway 3 meets the inland end of Provincial Highway 6. Taking the latter road toward the sea for almost 6 km leads to a bridge over the Houlong River, on the other side of which there’s a little-appreciated but fascinating industrial heritage attraction. Chuhuangkeng Oil Field Cultural Museum celebrates efforts to exploit the area’s oil and gas deposits over the past 163 years.

Next door, the Taiwan Oil Field Exhibition Hall offers two floors filled with pictures, models, and information. However, you’ll likely spend more time exploring the hillside behind it, where remnants of oil-extraction infrastructure have been preserved. Some old dormitories have been restored, while other structures teeter on the brink of collapse. What might appear to be a stretch of narrow-gauge railway is actually the track for a 550-meter-long, diesel-powered pulley system, originally used to transport people and equipment up a steep 60-degree slope.

Entering the middle

The next 15 km of Highway 3 traverses Dahu Township, a place many Taiwanese associate with the strawberries that ripen here between December and April. Local Road 61 connects the town with high-altitude farms and the western edge of Shei-Pa National Park. Superb views make for spectacular driving, but only attempt this detour if you have at least two hours of daylight and some experience with mountain roads.

Sticking with Highway 3 will take you around the eastern end of Liyutan Reservoir, not to be confused with other Liyutan locations in Hualien and Nantou. There’s free parking at a lookout point just before km 143. Zhuolan Liyutan is Taiwan’s sixth-largest reservoir in terms of effective capacity.

Southbound motorists will then cross the Da’an River, which also forms the border of Miaoli County and the special municipality of Taichung. Dongshi District has cultural parks dedicated to the area’s Hakka population and to the logging industry that once underpinned the local economy. That said, most of Highway 3’s Taichung section can be skipped. Those in cars can take Freeway 4 eastward, then Expressway 74 to Wufeng District. Motorcyclists and bike riders might want to try Road 129 through Xinshe, an area synonymous with the cultivation of flowers and mushrooms.

Wufeng offers three major attractions, all within 1 km of Highway 3 and each charging an admission fee. The Wufeng Lin Family Mansion and Garden stands out as one of Taiwan’s most exquisite traditional residences. In stark contrast, the Asia University Museum of Modern Art showcases daring 21st-century architecture. Meanwhile, the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan provides an insightful look into tectonics and the devastating 1999 earthquake that took nearly 2,400 lives. If you’re traveling with youngsters, the Earthquake Museum is the most engaging option of the three.

Highway 3 bypasses Changhua County and enters Nantou County via Caotun Township. A little south of Caotun, a set of official buildings in Zhongxing New Village (中興新村) dates from when Taiwan had both a national government in Taipei and a provincial government based right here. This structure reflected the ruling Kuomintang’s official position that it was the rightful government of China, and that Taiwan was merely one part of that vast country.

Between the built-up part of Zhushan and the Zhuoshui River, there’s a place that might restore your faith in government. Signposted in English as National Taiwan University Tropical Botanical Garden, and in Chinese as “Xiaping Nature Education Park” (下坪自然教育園區), this 8.87-hectare arboretum was established during the 1895-1945 period of Japanese colonial rule. Among the garden’s tree species are Taiwan incense cedar, various types of sandalwood, and araguanay (the national tree of Venezuela). It’s a delightful spot, but the turnoff is easy to miss.

Highway 3 then reaches Linnei in Yunlin County, where you’ll have another opportunity to stretch your legs. Longguomai Forest Trail (龍過脈森林步道) takes about 45 minutes to complete. If the weather cooperates, you may be able to see as far as the coast from the top. Expect mosquitoes and macaques, the former being far more annoying than the latter.

There’s little reason to stay on Highway 3 as it skirts Douliu and Gukeng. If you opt instead for Freeway 3, stay on that fast road as far as the Meishan Exit before rejoining the provincial highway. After Zhuqi, where you’ll cross the Alishan Forest Railway, you can expect 20 km of pleasant yet unremarkable driving before the journey gets truly scenic again.

Southbound pitstops

Veering further inland, the road then begins to climb from 120m above sea level around the fairytale castle that is Zhongpu Visitor Center (near km 292.5) to an altitude of around 920 meters at km 313.5. In this section, the challenge for drivers isn’t so much the narrowness of the road as the number of hairpin turns.

By the time Zengwen Reservoir comes into view, you’ll be in Dapu Township and back down at 300 meters above sea level. This stretch of Highway 3 forms part of the Yunmi Military Road (澐密戰道), so called because it connects the village of Yunshui in Chiayi County with Mizhi, a fruit-growing community in Tainan’s Nanxi District.

The military road dates back to 1943, when Allied air raids disrupted transportation in the lowlands. Consequently, the Japanese, who then controlled Taiwan, established this route as an alternative. After falling into disrepair, the road regained attention in the late 1950s when the Kuomintang government recognized its potential value as a strategic asset in case of an invasion by Chinese communists. Today, there are no overt signs of its military past – no bases, bunkers, or sentry posts – just miles of serene, bucolic scenery.

From Nanxi, Highway 3 runs almost due south through Yujing and Nanhua before arriving at Neimen in Kaohsiung. This thinly populated district has two claims to fame: It’s the center of Taiwan’s bando (辦桌) roadside banqueting culture and the location of the annual Song Jiang Battle Ritual. The latter features colorful demonstrations of traditional martial arts in honor of Guanyin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy.
The district’s most famous landmark, Neimen Zhizhu Temple, has organized battle-ritual troupes for at least 300 years. If you step inside this shrine, look for the 230-year-old soot-blackened tablet that honors local men who died defending the community during an uprising.

The next town enjoyed decades of prosperity back when Taiwan supplied most of the bananas eaten in Japan. Banana plantations still cover sizable patches of land between the center of Qishan and the turnoff for Qiwei Wulongshan Fengshan Temple (旗尾五龍山鳳山寺) just past km 407.

This temple is neither especially old nor particularly beautiful, but it’s somewhat unusual in its focus on Ji Gong (濟公), a deified Buddhist monk who lived during the 12th century. He was both a revered altruist and a serial breaker of monastic rules. Often called “the drunk monk,” he’s typically portrayed as the worse for wear due to alcohol, clad in a patched robe and gripping a gourd filled with wine. The Godzilla-sized main statue in the temple’s forecourt isn’t nearly as appealing as the painted-tile panels, which depict undignified episodes from Ji Gong’s life. One appears to show his arrest. In another, he’s being berated by an abbot.

If you’re on two wheels, brace yourself for gritty air and truck traffic after crossing from Kaohsiung into Pingtung County. Gravel extraction is a major industry hereabouts, so mask up and press on. The final 19 km of Provincial Highway 3 certainly aren’t the best, and you’d be forgiven for wanting to get through the townships of Ligang and Jiuru as quickly as speed limits and stoplights allow.

Pingtung City is far more livable. The stretch of Highway 3 that doubles as Shengli Road passes right by Shengli New Village Victory Star V.I.P. Zone, a former military dependents’ village. Bungalows that once housed Air Force officers and their families have been repurposed as shops and restaurants. Roofless ruins have become works of public art. It’s a lovely place to wander. Consider bringing a picnic.

Provincial Highway 3 comes to its official end among car dealerships in Pingtung City’s southwestern suburbs. It’s an anticlimactic merger with Provincial Highway 1, but it could be the start of a multi-day, in-depth exploration of the region’s Hakka and Indigenous communities.