Surrounded by mountains and close to the ocean, Jiaoxi is a small township in northeastern Taiwan’s Yilan County. Featuring an array of hotels, restaurants, and hot spring pools, this cozy township is a favorite weekend resort famous for rare sodium hydrogen carbonate hot springs.
For more interesting photos of the home to hot springs in Taiwan’s Yilan County, please watch the following video.
The water of the hot springs in Jiaoxi is clear, odorless, tasteless, and maintains an average temperature hovering around 58 degrees Celsius (136 degrees Fahrenheit). As the hot spring is extremely rich in sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and carbonic acid ions, it can leave the skin feeling smooth and healthy.
In fact, Jiaoxi hot spring just won the Perfect Hot Spring Prize, which is the top prize in the Golden Hot Spring Awards Competition 2021 organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.
In addition to the hot spring amenities in luxuriant hotels in Jiaoxi, there are also public hot spring areas where visitors are welcome to enjoy leisurely foot soaking for free.
Tangweigou Hot Spring Park
Located in the center of Jiaoxi, Tangweigou Hot Spring Park is an iconic tourist destination in this amazing township. With a small creek flowing through the park, visitors can sit, eat, drink, and soak their feet in the hot spring water, while enjoying the pleasant, soothing ambiance.
One of the most unique features of this distinctive hot spring park is the fish pedicure. There are many small pools filled with diverse “doctor fish” that will nibble at your dry, dead skin and bacteria off your feet for a small fee.
This fantastic park is decorated with many crafted installations of lighting artworks, in particular, the two eye-catching giants at the entrance. At night, glittering lights along with the trees and the creek illuminate the entire area, which adds much allure to the nighttime scenery and make the hot spring park even more attractive and romantic.
Jiaoxi Hot Springs Park
Covering an area of 5.1 hectares (12.6 acres), Jiaoxi Hot Springs Park is the location where the theme installation artwork of the festival and other genres of light installations are located.
What’s special about this little park is that there are free hot spring foot soaking pools, mostly sheltered, in all shapes and sizes. They are a good location for visitors to enjoy a leisurely foot soaking while chatting with friends or family members.
Besides, there are also many cute “Jimmy Bunnies” scattered in the park. Some are carrying luggage at a corner adjacent to the bus station; others are sitting on the seesaw; still, others are dancing hand in hand around a tree. There are also three Jimmy rabbits soaking in the hot spring, and there are four rabbits standing on the rock looking up under the trees.
Forest baths
Forest Baths (森林風呂) is a secluded communal hot spring amenity nestled in Jiaoxi Hot Spring Park. It is a natural environment with a beautiful landscape, with trees and bushes left untouched. It is a great location where visitors can enjoy a relaxing hot spring soak in gender-separated pools naked for NT$80 (US$3).
Yilan Hot Spring Festival
To promote Jiaoxi’s mineral-rich hot springs to boost tourism, the local government has sponsored the Yilan Hot Spring Festival in winter every year since 2003.
The theme of the Hot Spring Festival this year is “Guarding with Everlasting Love,” aiming to reinvigorate the local industries impacted by the epidemic with eternal love.
The festival this year was celebrated from December 3-12, during which a parade and some other festive activities such as the hot spring gourmet exhibition, concert, and various performances were conducted.
In addition, the Jiaoxi hot spring light season runs from November 5, 2021, to March 1, 2022. The striking 5-meter high theme installation of this hot spring light season is a perfect heart shape formed with LED lights. It was erected at Jiaoxi Hot Spring Park along with a wide array of other glamorous sparkling installations, including a two-story-high “Hand of God.”
