Checheng, 'the train yard', is the terminus of the Jiji branch line, built in the Japanese era to carry materials for the Sun Moon Lake hydroelectric project. After the war a timber company set up a mill here and the village boomed on logs until a logging ban in the 1980s. The mill is now a museum, and with its wooden station, log pond and wooden-bucket lunchboxes it is the most photogenic stop on the line.
Architecture
Timber housesJapanese-era
Themes
RailwayJapanese eraNature
Getting there
Where
Around Checheng Station, Shuili Township, Nantou
Getting there
Right outside Checheng Station on the TRA Jiji Line
Time needed
1–2 hours
Best time
Quieter on weekdays; arriving by the Jiji Line train is most atmospheric