Liyu Lake 鯉魚潭

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Liyu Lake is a scenic lake in Hualien. Here you can paddle across the lake, or take a scenic bike ride around the shore. There is also many food options here. It is like the Sun Moon Lake of eastern Taiwan.

Background:
Liyu literally means carp, so named because there are many carp fish in the lake. Therefore it is also known as Carp Lake.
Liyu is the largest lake in Hualien.
During Taiwan's logging days, an old logging railroad track (Halun Forest Railway 哈崙森林鐵路)
ran through this area, and parts of it can be seen nearby.
In 2002, the area around the lake was proposed as a scenic tourist area. In 2014, completion on the area was finished, which included a bike path, visitor's center, bus routes, and a pier.

When to go:
On a sunny dry day. The rocks can get slippery and a fall on some of the trails could kill you. But if you are careful and bring proper hiking boots and gear, hiking on a wet day should be fine. 
Avoid typhoons and heavy rains at all costs. There gorge will close during typhoons anyway.
Typhoon season lasts from May to October. Other than that, this hike is great year round.
Need travel insurance? Compare prices on Insubuy here. ​

Where to stay?
Most of the accommodation you will find is near the city center.  If you only want to visit Hualien City and Taroko Gorge, you can consider booking a hotel near downtown, walking or cycling around the city, and taking a bus to Taroko Gorge. 
We have stayed at and recommend Dream Taiwan Homestay 
​(Agoda / Booking.com / Expedia / Hotels.com), a high quality hostel for the money in downtown Hualien, Farglory Hotel (Agoda / Booking.com / Expedia / Hotels.com), right next to Farglory Ocean Park with amazing views of Hualien, and Goldenflower B&B (Agoda / Booking.com) in Yuli right next to Sixty Stone Mountain.
You can find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here.
You can also book Wifi and SIM cards for Taiwan on Gigago here.  

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: From Hualien city, take highway 台9丙線 southwest until you reach the lake, it will be hard to miss. There is free parking nearby. ooking for a scooter rental in Hualien? You can search KKday here or Klook here to look for options. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here. 
If you are looking for car rentals in Hualien, you can also search Klook here or KKDay here. 
You can also check out our car rental guide here. 
By TRA/Bus: From Hualien TRA station, take bus 1139 about an hour to the lake. You can also take a bus to there from TRA Shoufeng Station. You can book tickets to travel to Hualien via inter-city bus on Klook here. Book tickets via the normal train (TRA) on Klook here.

Tours and Activities:
You can book a paddle boat, SUP, or kayak experience at Liyu Lake and more on Klook here and KKday here. 

Map:
Please see below:

Our Journey:

When we visited, there were these black ducks on display on the side of the lake, along with a fountain.  Also it rained pretty much the whole time. We kind of escaped the rain inside the paddle boat but we still got soaked. 

See a video of the ducks and fountain above. 

Map of the area. It is great for cycling. 

Tons of paddle boats on the lake, even during a rain storm. 

Pier with paddle boats. As I recall, a human powered boat was only 300 NT per hour. 
​
You can book a paddle boat, SUP, or kayak experience at Liyu Lake and more on Klook here and KKday here. ​

Fog across the lake. 

More boats through the fog.

After we were done boating, the weather cleared up somewhat.

We made our way over to see the ducks there.

Boats along the lake during good weather. 

Another view of the middle of the lake. 

View looking north.

Steps down to the peir. 

Along the main road, there are lots of food options. 

Rock sculpture shop.

Another view of the main drag.

Fried crab cake.

Stinky tofu and braised pork rice.

More fried snacks. 

Mickey mouse car.

Guanyin riding a dragon.

You can book a paddle boat, SUP, or kayak experience at Liyu Lake and more on Klook here and KKday here. 

You can also check out our full guide to Hualien here, our full guide to Taroko Gorge here, and our full guide to Taroko National Park here.

You can also check out our full travel guide to Taiwan here. 

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