🌿 Xinliao Waterfall Trail Side Trip Recommendation | Renshan Botanical Garden

In my last post, I shared about the Xinliao Waterfall Trail in Dongshan, Yilan. If you have time after finishing the waterfall trail, you can also visit Renshan Botanical Garden on your way~ Renshan Botanical Garden is quite large with many trails and garden landscapes. Overall, it's a great place to take a leisurely stroll and soak in the forest's phytoncides🌳 The garden has an observation deck where you can overlook the Lanyang Plain and Guishan Island. Interestingly, even though the sky looked clear, the sea seemed to be covered in a thin layer of mist, and only the silhouette of Guishan Island was faintly visible, adding a hazy feel~ However, after actually walking through it this time, I felt that the current landscape of the garden isn't as beautiful as it used to be. Some areas look a bit more weathered, and compared to my previous impression, it lacks a bit of refinement! If you're particularly looking forward to taking pretty garden photos, you might need to lower your expectations a bit😅 But the biggest highlight of this trip turned out to be—monkeys!🐒🐒🐒 I encountered several monkeys along the way. They weren't afraid of people at all and were freely moving around near the trails. Some were just walking nearby, and they looked incredibly cute😍 So far, the monkeys haven't actively attacked tourists, but it's important to remember they are wild animals. It's safer to keep your distance, don't feed them, and don't tease them. Don't get too close just because they look cute~ If you're planning a day trip to Dongshan, Yilan, these two spots are perfect for a combined visit. You can walk the waterfall trail first, then head to the botanical garden for a stroll and some sightseeing, and perhaps get lucky enough to see some cute monkeys🐒