Things to do
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Dongdamen Night Market
Hualien's night market gathers four sections under one grid of lanes, including an Indigenous food row where Amis cooking turns up as stone hotpot, wild vegetables and millet wine. Grilled squid, fried chicken and shaved ice fill the rest. Trade opens around six in the evening and runs late, and the Indigenous section stays quieter midweek.
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Qingshui Cliff
Slate cliffs drop straight into the Pacific for some twenty kilometres north of Hualien, the highway cut into their face partway up. Marked pull offs along the Suhua Highway give the classic view over turquoise shallows and dark deep water. Clear mornings show the colour; afternoon haze and rain flatten it, and the roadside stops are narrow and busy with coaches.
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Qixingtan Beach
A long crescent of grey pebbles north of Hualien, backed by the Central Mountain Range and facing open Pacific water. Swimming is unsafe here because the shelf drops away fast and the undertow is strong, so the draw is walking the stones at dawn, watching for dolphins offshore and cycling the coastal path. Sunrise over the water rewards an early start.
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Taroko Gorge
Marble walls rise almost vertically above the Liwu River, which has cut a corridor deep enough that daylight reaches the water only in the middle of the day. Tunnels, shrines and swinging footbridges line the road through it. Major earthquake damage has closed sections of trail and road since 2024, so official park notices decide what is open on any given day.
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Taroko National Park
Beyond the gorge itself the park climbs from sea level to peaks above three thousand metres, taking in cloud forest, hot springs and the Japanese era routes of the Zhuilu and Shakadang trails. Permits are required for the high country and for Zhuilu Old Trail. Closures following seismic damage have been extensive, and conditions change again after heavy rain.