Mao Kong Tea Houses and Zhinan Temple

May 02, 2006

Update 2007: In July 2007 the gondola began providing access from the Taipei Zoo. This gondola will be under the same management as the MRT and you may use your Easy Card. From the Taipei Zoo MRT, exit and walk about a block to the gondola entry. This is the opposite direction from the zoo entrance. This will definitely cause Zhinan temple and the tea houses near the gondola station to see a lot more traffic, but the less accessable tea houses will probably keep their character.

Official Website

貓空 māo kōng is one of Taipei’s best-kept secrets. This is a small mountain lined with tea houses overlooking Taipei. It is not crowded and offers a nice escape from the city. There is an excellent view of Taipei city, both day and night, and on the same mountain is the impressive Zhinan Temple (sometimes spelled Chihnan Temple).

Mao Kong is located in Taipei’s Muzha district, which is on the southeast corner of the city. From Gongguan or Wanfang Hospital MRT Stations, take bus 236 or bus 530. Bus 236 also leaves from Taipei Main Station. If you take bus #236 from Main Station this is it’s northern most point of its route and you can only go one way. If you take the bus from Wanfang Hospital, you must cross the street to catch the bus in the correct direction. Take this to National Chengchi University and switch buses or take a taxi. If you want to skip the bus completely, take the MRT to either Wanfang Community Station or the Muzha Zoo Station and get a taxi. From Wanfang Community MRT Station (Brown-Muzha Line), take Minibus #10. From National Chengchi University, near the base of the mountain, minibus. Br.15 is the most frequent bus going to Mao Kong, also running are Br.5 and 10. You may have to wait awhile for one of these buses to come along.

This site is accessible by car or scooter. You can go south on Xinglong Rd. and turn left on Muzha Rd. You can also go south on Roosevelt Rd. Instead of taking the Jingmei Bridge into Xindian, keep to the right of the bridge and go underneath it. This will connect you with Muzha Road. [if !supportEmptyParas] Continue West on Muzha Rd. Muzha will split into Xiuming Rd to the left and Muzha to the right. Stay on Muzha. Shortly after you will turn right (south) on Baoyi Road 保儀路. In a block you will turn left (west) onto Zhinan Rd. Sec. 1 指南路. You will cross a small bridge. Stay on Zhinan Road going past National Chengchung University and continue on to the base of the mountain. English signs start to become less common as you get closer to the base but you will see signs for Mao Kong. At the base of the mountain just as you begin to think you may have missed the access road you will come to a small park. Turn left here and you will begin a steep incline uphill. When you are going up the steep incline of the mountain there will be a fork in the road. The left fork will take you to Zhinan Temple, and the right fork will take you to the Mao Kong teahouses. This is actually a loop so if you go the wrong way, you are simply taking the scenic route. If you take the right fork, although there are a few different turns after this the two main directions to be concerned with are up and down. If you go up generally making left hand turns or following the high road, you will come to the teahouses. There are plenty of signs in Chinese to guide you along. You will start to see some teahouses grouped together along the road. If you continue winding your way up you will come to a couple of small temples and some more groups of tea houses. They almost all have a great view of the Taipei skyline or Zhinan Temple.

Link with Directions
Taipei City, Wenshan District
Taipei Environment Ecology Site
Tourism Bureau
http://forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?p=432376#432376

OUT OF THE WAY SCENIC LOOKOUT
To Get to this 2-level scenic lookout, which overlooks Xindian from across the highway, begin your ascent of Mao Kong. Every time a split in the road comes along stay to the right, with one exception. One turn to the right is bordered by a white fence and the cliff face goes straight down giving this road the appearance of a bridge. This is the one time you will turn left. Eventually you will come to a long stone stairway on the left-hand side. On either side are tea plants. The stairs lead to this lookout. At this time I have not discovered an access point to Xindian, but this would certainly make it faster, but it is a pleasant drive through the side roads in the mountain. Be aware that there are no toilet facilities and no trash collection either so clean up after yourself.