Hualien on the east coast of Taiwan is a lovely place with lots of mountain and sea views, but it’s also not the easiest place for a solo traveller to visit as it is more of a self-driving destination and the public bus service here is fairly sparse. Still it’s not impossible to explore Hualien’s coast – I took a day tour on the Hualien East Coast Shuttle Bus 304 or 花蓮台灣好行304, a tourist bus line organised by Taiwan Tourism that takes you to several main sights in Fengbin Township 豐濱鄉 along Hualien’s coast for those who don’t want to drive in Taiwan. Here’s my review of the Hualien East Coast Bus and what to expect.
You can check out my Instagram stories highlights about my Hualien East Coast Shuttle Bus experience.
A note that this review is not sponsored – I paid for and experienced this tour on my own and thought it would be useful things for fellow travellers trying to navigating the eastern Taiwan without driving!
What is the Hualien East Coast Bus?
First we have to talk about the geography of Hualien: most of Hualien is mostly made out of mountains – there are 2 mountain ranges that run between Hualien and Taitung known as the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range. This geology created 2 natural routes to explore the area:
- East Rift Valley: The stretch of valley between the mountain ranges is the East Rift Valley or Huadong Valley 花東縱谷. Highway 9 runs through it.
- Hualien Coast: The stretch between the Coastal Mountain Range and the coastline is where Highway 11 runs, and where the Hualien East Coast Bus travels along.
The Hualien East Coast Bus (also known as the Huilan East Coast Line 洄瀾東海岸線 or Hualien Bus Route 304) runs from Hualien City all the way through Fengbin township) and covers 9 scenic sights along the coast. It’s a pretty affordable and easy way to see all these sights without having to drive yourself around the narrow mountain roads.
While there is a whole price list for the various locations on the website, those aren’t relevant anymore. This shuttle bus is run like a day tour where you meet in the morning and spend the entire day travelling on the same bus with the same group. The driver is also the tour guide who provides some explanations along the way and keeps an eye on guests, ensuring the tour runs on schedule.
Hualien East Coast Bus Route
Here’s what you can see on this tour. I took this tour in February 2023 which had nice cool weather, but was unfortunately a bit on the dreary side and we did get rained out at the end. But Hualien’s weather because of both the mountains and coast can be a bit unpredictable, so just make sure you’re prepared with an umbrella or raincoat.
The bus tour starts from Hualien City – scroll to the bottom for tour and booking details.
1. Fanshuliao Rest Stop 蕃薯寮遊憩區
The first stop is a bit of a drive – about 50 mins away from Hualien City. Fanshuliao Rest Stop is located up in the hills of Shoufeng town next to Bridge No. 18. What makes Bridge No. 18 so special is that it you can see a scenic valley view and steep gorge sight all from one spot.
The current highway is actually the new Bridge 18 – the original Bridge 18 which was too narrow for cars to bypass each other has been pedestrianised and where visitors can now take a stroll and enjoy the views from.
Looking towards the west, there are lovely rolling green mountains and a village in the distance. you can also see under the main bridge where there are sometimes a lot of swallows flying around because they nest there.
But looking towards the east is a very steep gorge that’s 70m deep and 45m wide, quite an unusual sight for this area. A river snakes along the bottom of the gorge, and there is a particularly dangerous tradition where the tribal Ami people who settled in this area had to use bamboo poles and catapult themselves across the gorge to establish themselves as the tribe leader.
Thankfully they don’t do it anymore but you can still see a tiny staircase along the gorge which is one of the paths they used to get down to the river.
Also at this rest stop is a small pavillion that you can sit at to enjoy the view, as well as a shop to pick up some local food. I treated myself to a tea egg for breakfast here.
Fanshuliao Rest Stop 蕃薯寮遊憩區 [Google Maps]. No entrance fees. The bus stops here for 30 minutes.
2. Dashibishan 大石鼻山
You can’t really see the sea from Fanshuliao, but this next stop Dashibishan is right next to the seain a little town called Jiqi 磯崎. The trail is just under 1km and takes you up a 150m tall hill that overlooks Jiqi Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
There are some stairs to climb but I thought it was quite manageable and the stairs are well built overall. There are also little pavilions along the way so you can stop and take a break if you need to. The entrance is at the carpark and you descend by another staircase that takes you closer to Jiqi Beach, and it’s a short walk along the road back to the carpark.
If you have the time, one snack to pick up here is fried flying fish! The local tribespeople sell them as skewers.
Dashibishan 大石鼻山 [Google Maps]. No entrance fees. The bus stops here for 40 minutes.
3. Qinbuzhizi Ancient Trail親不知子海上古道
Qinbuzhizi Ancient Trail is also known as the Fengbin Skywalk 豐濱天空步道 is a glass boardwalk with a see-through floor built along the side of the cliff where you can enjoy the sea view and look down and see the waves pounding the cliffs below you.
This cliff-hugging boardwalk is somewhat related to how the place got its name – apparently this was a route that the Ami tribespeople used to go between the village and the story goes that a mother was carrying her child on her back and had to hug the vines on the cliffside and boulder across. It was so precarious that she never realise her child disappeared until she got to the other side.
Honestly it’s not that scary these days because the glass boardwalk is pretty short, unless you’re deathly afraid of heights I guess. I see it as a fun novelty for those with kids These days you have to wear a helmet as you walk the path, possibly because there are some jutting bits of rock that are at head level or maybe they are concerned about falling rocks.
The skywalk is 1-way – at the end of the path, you walk back to the entrance via Xinji Tunnel 新機隧道 which was once where cars passed through on Highway 11 until it was rerouted. They’ve turned this tunnel into a little gallery of sorts where they also sell snacks and jade (which is a fairly popular thing to buy in Hualien).
Qinbuzhizi 親不知子海上古道 [Google Maps]. 40 NTD entrance fee to pay at door (not included in bus ticket). The bus stops here for 40 minutes.
4. Shitiping 石梯坪遊憩風景區
The furthest point of this bus route is at Shitiping Scenic Area which is very close to the Fengbin town (also the end point for anyone going white water rafting in Ruisui). Shitiping translates into ‘Stone steps’ which is a description of the layered rock formations you’ll find in this area. It’s a lovely scenic geological spot and also a popular camping ground.
There is a nice long wooden boardwalk so you can enjoy walking along the coastline and looking at the rock features, and you can climb up the stepped rocks as well. The water around here is also very clear so you can see all the corals and fish in the water. It was pretty overcast when we reached and unfortunately started raining right at the end and we had to dash back to the bus – luckily I was all geared up for the rain!
Shitiping 石梯坪遊憩風景區 [Google Maps]. 40 NTD entrance fee to pay at door (not included in bus ticket). The bus stops here for 40 minutes.
5. Shitiping FIshing Harbour 石梯漁港
It was about time for lunch when it started raining so we popped by our lunch spot at Shitiping Fishing Harbour. I think on a normal day they would close because of the rain but they have an arrangement with the tour bus as one of the stops. I made friends with two other Singaporean ladies on the trip and we decided to share some dishes.
The staff recommended this fried fish fingers sort of dish and it was so good! The hot fish soup was also so comforting with all the rain. We also ordered some spicy prawns and a dish which translates to ‘sea mushroom’ but is not actually fungi but some sort of seafood lol.
Shitiping Fishing Harbour Canteen 石梯坪漁港食堂 [Google Maps] Open 10am-7pm.
6. Shimen Banshaojiao 石門班哨角
Heading back up north again, Shimen Banshaojiao is another rest stop area that’s also supposed to offer some lovely coastal views, though things were starting to get foggy by this time. It’s usually a popular photo spot because of the double heart sculpture that used to be found here, but it kept getting damaged by earthquakes so they replaced it with something a little more sturdy.
Shimen Banshaojiao 石門班哨角 [Google Maps]
7. Shimen Cave 石門洞
A short distance up the road is Shimen Recreation Area, which has even more bathrooms for those who need a break, but more interestingly, it has some wooden boardwalks that bring you down to the coastline where you can admire the views and check out the intertidal zone in the right weather.
There is a particularly interesting cave here known as the March Cave, which has nothing to do with the month but instead, it’s named after the Nissan March car because of the unusual shape of the cave opening. Also, this was apparently where they filmed some scenes from the 2016 Martin Scorcese movie Silence featuring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.
Shimen Cave 石門洞 [Google Maps]
8. Xinshe Rice Terraces 新社梯田
Our second last stop brought us close to Qinbuzhizi again, but what a stark difference the weather makes! This was one of the places I was really looking foward to seeing but unfortunately the rain just bucketed down even more. Some people opted to just stay on the bus, but since I was here already, me and another intrepid couple got off to poke around for awhile.
Xinshe Rice Terraces are a rare sight where you see terrace rice paddy fields right next to the sea – usually rice is found in more inland areas like the East Rift Valley, so these coastal rice terraces are not only pretty, but apparently have a different taste from normal rice.
They’ve set up sculptures and artworks here to transform it into a photo spot for tourists, but as you can see from the photos you could barely even see the sea at this point >_< I definitely need to come back here again in better weather!
Xinshe Rice Terraces 新社梯田 [Google maps]. Free entrance.
9. Baqi Gazebo 芭崎瞭望台
Last but not least, this rest stop at the hair-pin bend on the mountain road was supposed to be a beautiful parting shot of the Hualien coast that…. we never did get to see much of that evening unfortunately! It’s not far from Fanshuliao Rest Stop.
Baqi Gazebo 芭崎瞭望台 [Google maps]
Hualien East Coast Bus Tour Details
The Hualien East Coast Bus is one of several shuttle bus lines to boost tourism to different parts of Taiwan – see the full list on Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus website.
Language: The driver spoke in Chinese/Mandarin throughout the tour and everyone on my tour could understand Chinese. Unfortunately I think it will be quite hard to understand anything if you don’t know any Chinese or are accompanied by someone who can translate for you.
That said, there are signboards at the various attractions that do have English translations that cover what the location is about, and you can use Google Translate on your phone as well.
Timing: There are 2 buses everyday.
- Bus #1 leaves at 830pm and finishes at 5pm
- Bus #2 leaves at 930am and finishes at 6pm
Location: Buses start and leave from Hualien Bus Station 花蓮轉運站 (Hualien zhuanyun zhan) [Location on Google Maps] which is right next to Hualien Train Station. Look out for the signature white and yellow Taiwan Haoxing 台灣好行 bus.
How to book Hualien East Coast Bus Tickets
Hopeland Bus: The company that runs this tour is Hopeland bus website – you can buy tickets from there directly though most of the site and instructions are in Chinese and you need to book tickets 48 hours in advance.
Klook: An easier method for English readers or those with Klook points is to book Hualien East Coast Bus via Klook [affiliate link].
Hualien Bus Station: You can buy tickets directly at Hualien Bus Station itself which is what I did as I decided on doing this tour only the night before, but you run the risk of the bus being full. I took the tour on a random weekday so the bus wasn’t full, but if you plan to do this on the weekend or public holiday, advance bookings would be a better idea.
You will need to provide your passport details as there is insurance coverage provided.
Cost: A standard adult ticket costs 680 NTD, which is just about S$30. Elderly above 65 years old and children under 12 pay half price. Check out the sites for more details.
Have you explored Hualien’s Coastal sights? Tell me what I missed so I can see it in future! I hope to see more of Taitung’s coastal sights in future. In the meantime, check out more of my Taiwan posts here:
