Shimen Songshan Terraced Feilds 石門嵩山梯田

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If you feel like leaving the country for some different scenery, you can instead head over to the Shimen Songshan terraced fields in New Taipei (aka 100 year stone terrace fields 百年石砌梯田)
near the border of Yangmingshan National Park. Here you can enjoy walking around the only stone terraced fields in the entire country. 

Background:
The area known as Yangmingshan now was formed by volcanoes about 700,000 years ago, forming many mountains about 1000 meters or less in northwestern Taiwan. The park still features active volcanoes, vents, and hot springs.
About 100 years ago, settlers came to cultivate the mountainous area here. They used the easily obtainable volcanic rocks and used them to build stone terraces in the hills in order to plant crops. This kind of terraced field in Taiwan can only be found here. 
Currently the most famous crop here is the Chrysanthemum Flower, which flowers about in mid-June.  

Hours:
You can visit the fields here anytime, but the coffee shop here is only open on weekends until 4 PM.

Price:
Free
You can book tours to Yangmingshan on TripAdvisor here, Klook here, or KKday here or here.

Tours:
You can check out tours to Yangmingshan such as a One-day Yangmingshan NP Beitou Hot Spring Park and Tamsui Tour Package,  Beitou and Yangmingshan Day Tour from Taipei, One Day Hike around Yangmingshan, or Private Yangmingshan Volcano Tour and more on TripAdvisor here, Klook here, or KKday here.

Hotels in Taipei:
High end: We have stayed at and recommend the Yuanshan Grand Hotel, once the tallest building in Taiwan and still the most grand (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, or Agoda here). We have also stayed at and recommend the Grand Hyatt (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, Agoda here, or Hotels.com here), Marriot (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, Agoda here, or Hotels.com here), Sheraton (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, Agoda here, or Hotels.com here), Shangri-la (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, Agoda here, or Hotels.com here), and Regent (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, Agoda here, or Hotels.com here), which are all very high quality hotels in the middle of Taipei City.
We also recommend Fullon Hotel which has locations in Tamsui and Fulong near the beach (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, Agoda here, or Hotels.com here). 
Budget Hotels: We have stayed at and also recommend Fu Chang Hotel in Ximending, which is within walking distance of Ximending shopping district (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, or Agoda here). We have also stayed at and recommend Hai Xia Your Home which is right in front of Fulong Beach (book on Booking.com here, Tripadvisor here, Agoda here, or Hotels.com here). 
Looking for a hotel? We recommend booking through Booking.com here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation in Taiwan.
Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here.

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: From Laomei Beach in Shimen, take highway 19-1 Laobengshan Road up the mountain until you reach the terraced fields, they are hard to miss. Looking for scooter rental in Taipei? Check out Qeeq here, Klook here, or KKday here to search for options.
If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search Qeeq here, Klook here, or  KKday here. You can also check out our car rental guide here.  
By Bus: You can take bus 867 which departs from Tamsui to Shuntian Shengmu Temple bus stop, and you are there! No more walking required. You can book tickets to travel to Taipei via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
You can book tickets to Taipei via high speed rail (HSR)  on Klook here or KKDay here. 
By Bicycle: Cycling is the best way to enjoy Taiwan's landscapes if you have the time and energy. Looking for bicycle rentals in Taiwan? You can search on KKday here and search for tours on Klook here. You can also check out our Taiwan cycling guide here. 

​Map:
​Please see below:

Our Journey:

I have been to the Shimen Songshan Terraced Fields once. I saw it once in my calendar that my bank sent me, and I thought it would be a cool place to fly a drone. 

See our drone video above for a better view of the area.

Or check out our 360 degree spherical panorama above. 

It is kind of a long drive up from Laomei Beach up the mountain. Along the way we saw the first terraced fields. 

And we made it to the spot on Google Maps with this view. 

Another view via drone. 

A question mark and glass?

View of the hills to the west.

View from above the river. 

More hills on the west side.

Closer view.

Wider view.

More photos can be seen in the gallery above. 

You can book tours to Yangmingshan on TripAdvisor here, Klook here, or KKday here or here.

You can check out tours to Yangmingshan such as a One-day Yangmingshan NP Beitou Hot Spring Park and Tamsui Tour Package,  Beitou and Yangmingshan Day Tour from Taipei, One Day Hike around Yangmingshan, or Private Yangmingshan Volcano Tour and more on TripAdvisor here, Klook here, or KKday here.

We will be sure to update this blog in the future. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out more of our guides to Taiwan coming soon!

Check out our full guide to Yangmingshan National Park here. 

Check out our Taipei hiking and trails guide here. 

Check out our guide to the best day trips from Taipei here. 

Also be sure to check out our guide to Taipei here. 

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

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