Maolin District of Kaohsiung City is my favorite place in Taiwan, and in Maolin I have spent the most time in Wanshan Village, thanks to a man named Ahbei.
Wanshan is a small village that lies on a mountain slope between Maolin Village and Duona Village. Near the village are waterfalls, streams, hot springs, and great views. Popular activities include swimming, hot spring bathing, river tracing, camping, and hiking. 

Background:
Wanshan has the smallest population of any village in Taiwan according to the government website here, with a population of just 450 people. 95% of the people are aborigines from the Rukai Tribe (魯凱族), and the rest are either from the Wulu Bunun Tribe (布農) or Han Chinese. 
Originally the people of Wanshan village lived at the base of Mali Mountain (麻里山), but were moved by the government in 1956 to their current location. 
Many of the inhabitants of Maolin were originally located elsewhere, but had to relocate their home or village due to typhoons or unsafe terrain. There are a few abandoned villages around Maolin that you can still hike to. 
One special thing about Wanshan Village is that the intercom speaker from the elementary school (the only school in the village) is within earshot of everyone that lives in the village, so communication from the village leadership is easily passed on (and everyone gets woken up by it in the morning). 

​Price: Free

Hours: 24/7

When to go:
I recommend going in the summer time when the waterfalls have plenty of water and warm temperatures make it a great time to go swimming. In winter it will be cold and the waterfalls can dry up. However in summer be careful of Typhoons. If there is a Typhoon, the inhabitants of Maolin will be evacuated, and you should not try to go in for your own safety.
On the other hand if you want to go just for hiking, winter would be a better time to go.
If you are coming to see butterflies, the butterfly migration is in the fall and ends roughly in November. 

How to get there:
By Car: Maolin can be reached via provincial highway 27 from Pingtung or Liugui. Once you come to Dajin Bridge, go straight up the mountain. 
By Bus: You can take a bus there but I don't recommend it. It's a 3 hour bus ride from Pingtung Bus Station. If you can rent a car or scooter it is about a 1.5 hour drive from downtown Kaohsiung. 

Map: Please see below:

Maolin Village is the first and largest village you come across in the mountainous Maolin District of Kaohsiung. It features an aboriginal cultural sights, waterfalls, swimming holes, delicious food, and much more to be explored by you.

This blog is the first of a 5 part blog series that I will share about my favorite place in Taiwan, Maolin. 

Background:
During the Japanese occupation, some of the original inhabitants of Maolin Village live in the mountains behind Wanshan Village. However later these aboriginals were forcibly moved to the current village. Many of the inhabitants were originally located elsewhere, but had to relocate their home or village due to typhoons or unsafe terrain. There are a few abandoned villages above the current village that you can still hike to. 
The village covers the area from Dajin Bridge 大津橋 to Maolin Valley 茂林谷, and has about 850 inhabitants, mostly aboriginals from the Rukai (魯凱族) Wulu Bunun (布農) and Paiwan (排灣) tribes, as well as some Han Chinese people. The village also has Maolin Middle school, the only middle school, and highest education institution in Maolin District. 

Price: Free

Hours: 24/7

When to go:
I recommend going in the summer time when the waterfalls have plenty of water and warm temperatures make it a great time to go swimming. In winter it will be cold and the waterfalls can dry up.
On the other hand if you want to go just for hiking, winter would be a better time to go.
If there is a Typhoon, the inhabitants of Maolin will be evacuated, and you should not try to go in for your own safety.
If you are coming to see butterflies, the butterfly migration is in the fall and ends roughly in November. 

How to get there:
By Car: Maolin can be reached via provincial highway 27 from Pingtung or Liugui. Once you come to Dajin Bridge, go straight up the mountain. 
By Bus: You can take a bus there but I don't recommend it. It's a 3 hour bus ride from Pingtung Bus Station. If you can rent a car or scooter it is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Kaohsiung. 

Map: Please see below:

The battle of Guningtou was of the largest and perhaps the important fight that fended off PRC invasion in Kinmen and Taiwan. It began with thousands of communist troops boarding ships and invading Kinmen, gaining ground quickly. However, the PRC troops were pushed back and captured, proving to be an important victory for the ROC army and preventing the PRC from advancing to Taiwan. 

Now you can learn more about this important battle by passing through the town of Guningtou and visiting the Guningtou Battle Museum. 

Background:
During the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist ROC forces started to withdraw to Taiwan. According to PRC strategy, Kinmen and Matsu had to be taken before an attack on Taiwan. The PRC originally thought that there were only 2,000 troops on Kinmen, but in reality there had 40,000 troops, as well as air and sea support. The PLA sent 19,000 troops to Kinmen that were supposed to take the island in a number of days.
On October 26th, 1949, the initial wave of PRC troops were shot up by the ROC and many of their wooden boats destroyed, but were able to push there way into Guningtou with help from a second wave of reinforcements. In total, only 9,000 of the original 19,000 troops landed on Kinmen. The next day a bloody battle was fought in the village of Guningtou, and with the help of air support, the PRC forces were pushed back to the beach. By the third day, all of the PRC troops had surrendered, proving ultimate victory for the ROC army for the battle.  In total, 1,267 ROC troops were killed, 3,873 PRC soldiers were killed and 5,175 were captured. 
For more information regarding the battle, see the Wikipedia article here. 
The outcome of the battle proved to be a morale boost for ROC troops that had been losing over and over to PRC forces on the mainland. It effectively stopped the PRC from advancing toward invasion of Taiwan, because in 1950 the Korean War started, demanding much of their manpower, buying time until the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty was signed in 1955, offering protection by the United States. against PRC invasion of Taiwan. Because of this, the battle laid the groundwork for the status quo between China and Taiwan as we know it today.

Hours:
Every day, 8:30 AM -5 PM

Price:
Free

How to get There:
Take Huandao West Road North out of Kincheng and continue to Guningtou Village. Follow the signs and turn right after you come to Beishan Old House to reach the museum. 

​Map: Please see below: