Travel Date: 2022/01/16
Baoshan Cherry Park (寶山二集團櫻花公園)
Baoshan Cherry Blossom is truly amazing. This year, I managed to wake up my husband and son earlier to witness this breathtaking view under the beautiful blue sky. Last year, we were a little late, and by 1-2 PM, it started to get cloudy and foggy.
From our place in Shanhua, Tainan, it's a 2-hour drive (which actually took almost 3 hours due to traffic). We usually choose the mountain road, as it is 20 km shorter in distance and takes a similar amount of time compared to driving on the highway. The drive from Shanhua to Jiaxian in Kaohsiung is quite smooth, without much traffic. However, after leaving Jiaxian and driving up to Baoshan Cherry Park (寶山二集團櫻花公園), it wasn't that perfect. Part of the road was under construction, and there are three bridges where traffic is controlled by traffic lights as there is only one lane. Usually, those spots have light traffic, but if you're unlucky, you might have to wait for 2-3 turns (roughly 5 minutes). The worst part was a driver in front of us who would suddenly stop in very unusual places, such as turns, causing cars on both lanes to come to a halt.
As we got closer to Baoshan Park, the traffic became worse and worse. Police officers were controlling the traffic and directing everyone to the car parking area. The road goes deeper into the mountains, but it was blocked, so the only option was to park your car earlier if possible. Since there were more people driving than available spaces, the waiting time was quite long. In the last 1-2 km, we waited almost the entire time. It took us 30 minutes to finally start moving, and luckily someone was leaving, so we could park. It was still about 800m away from the actual park, but it was considered quite close. We saw cars parked 2-3 km earlier. There is no place to make a U-turn, so if you're not lucky enough to find parking along the road, you'll be forced to drive to the designated car parking area.
Baoshan Sakura Park is located at an altitude of 1,500 meters and has around 5,000 cherry trees planted there, including Kawajin cherry, Yae cherry, and Yoshino cherry. Depending on the variety, the flowering period ranges from early February to March. The park was developed during the Japanese occupation.
If you have the opportunity, visiting on a weekday instead of the weekend would be much better to avoid crowds. There are also a few campgrounds in the area. If you have more time, you can also visit the nearby hot springs. One of the most popular hot springs in the area is Qi Keng Hot Spring (七坑溫泉), which is a natural hot spring. If you prefer a public hot spring park, there is Baolai Hot Springs Park (寶來花賞溫泉公園).
At the park entrance, you can find various food stalls selling BBQ meat, corn, sausages, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. There is also a shuttle bus available to the park, but since we always use our car, I can't provide more information about it. You can also consider signing up for a tour to explore the nearby attractions.
Inside the park, there are two types of cherry trees: darker Kanhizakura cherry trees and bright pink cherry trees. Near the entrance, you can enjoy the abundant pink blossoms. The place attracts a lot of people, so we kept walking forward initially. There are still many trees that haven't bloomed yet, and the cherry blossom season lasts for about a month.
Despite the rise in COVID-19 cases, there was no checking of the number of people entering the park, no temperature screening at the entrance, or QR code scanning. The only requirement was to sanitize your hands with alcohol. While people were reminded to wear masks, in the park, some people didn't pay much attention and wanted to take off their masks for pictures.
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