Long hiking trails that take days if not weeks or even months to complete serve as cultural and tourist attractions in many nations thanks to beautiful sites and local history.

Think of the 780 km long Camino de Santiago, the ultimate European pilgrimage route which stretches across France, Portugal and Spain, where hikers follow the footsteps of pilgrims who paid homage to Saint James, or Japan’s 1,200 km Shikoku Junrei, which invites travelers to visit 88 temples across Shikoku Island.

Unbeknownst to many Taiwan nationals, much less tourists from abroad, Taiwan has its own distinctive hiking trails like the Tamsui-Kavalan Trails that showcase the nation’s culture and history, as well as the Mountains to Sea National Greenway that emphasizes beautiful scenery.

Since the end of 2016, Taiwan has added another featured-hiking trail located along Provincial Highway 3 between Taoyuan and Taichung, aiming to showcase a road less traveled today.

“The Raknus Selu Trail is a historic route that introduces three of Taiwan’s communities,” said Taiwan Thousand Miles Trail Association (TMI Trail) Chairwoman Chou Sheng-hsin (周聖心). “The locations along the trail are packed with history from the first Han Chinese settlers of Hoklo and Hakka descent as well as the Atayal and Saisiyat Indigenous Peoples of the area.”

The trail stretches across the counties of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Taichung starting and ending in Longtan, Taoyuan and Dongshi, Taichung. It is 220 km in length and 380 km if secondary routes are taken into consideration.

Designed by TMI Trail and supported by the Hakka Affairs Council, the Raknus Selu Trail is the most recent addition to Taiwan’s list of extended hiking trails. The name is a hybrid mix taken from the languages of the communities that once traversed and traded along the route.

Raknus means camphor tree to the Atayal and Saisiyat people and Selu is the word for trail in Hakka, so the name literally means camphor trail, as the tree and its myriad applications gave birth to prosperous industries and many jobs in the past.

“The Raknus Selu Trail, especially the Dunan Old Trail in Guanxi Township, was an important route for our ancestors,” said Hsinchu County Hakka resident Lo Shih-shu (羅仕樞). “In the past, dignitaries would use the roads to commute while merchants and workers transported camphor, tea leaves and sugar for trade.”

The history of the trail is even the subject of a documentary, “Secrets of the Raknus Selu Trail (樟之細路的秘密),” hosted by British photographer Chris Stowers and Taiwanese TV host Danny Wen Shi-kai (溫士凱) on TV channel AXN.

A Hakka connection

Today, the trail is mostly populated by Hakka communities who tend to grow herbs, fruit and vegetables.

Visitors may get the chance to sample Hakka delicacies such as herbal tea and rice-based pastries. Tourists can even visit private farms to pick fruit and vegetables which they can eat or take home with them.

While the many branches of Chinese culture share similar rituals and art, there are observable differences between those that speak different Chinese “dialects.”

Examples include the unique love the Hakka has for the Three Great Emperor-Officials (三官大帝) and the Chinese Land God whom they call Bak Gong (伯公) rather than the more typical Tu Di Gong (土地公) used in other Han Chinese dialects.

The Hakka relationship with the deity responsible for soil fertility and crop cultivation is so profound, that an optional detour on the trail takes travelers to temples and shrines dedicated to the Land God.

“We Hakka are a hospitable bunch,” said Miaoli resident Chen Shan (陳山), “and we love to show people our culture when we get visitors from outside.”

Community outreach

To further connect visitors with Hakka communities along the trail, the Hakka Affairs Council and TMI Trail have worked together to establish visitors’ centers along the trail.

“We have established six visitors’ centers in six townships between Taoyuan and Taichung,” Chou said. “These give tourists ideas on places to visit on the route, as well as information on possible accommodation if hikers decide to embark on long hikes that take more than one day.”

Hikers can also acquire trail passports at the six centers to make their trip more interesting by trying to collect all the trail’s 22 stamps available at tourism or religious destinations along the way, Chou said.

Stations such as the Shimen Inn in Miaoli’s Dahu Township provide visitors with lodgings, tour information as well as trail passports and complementing stamps.

“We went to lots of places like the Shimen Inn and took part in a Hakka culture religious ritual,” said Henry Sun (孫元亨), half of Taiwan’s popular travel podcast duo SH Travel.

“Around here you can also do a lot of things. If you’re a hiker you can climb mountains, and if you’re a history buff you can enjoy lots of the local sites, like the Taiwan Petroleum Exhibition Hall.”

“I can’t wait to come back to explore the whole route,” added British blogger Ami from Taiwan Trails and Tales.

Ami and Sun were two members of a group of Taiwan-based tourism professionals invited to an unveiling ceremony for the fifth center on the trail on Nov. 8, where the group participated in a Hakka religious festival and toured Dahu.

On the same day, the last of the stations also opened its doors in Guanxi.

“Not all of the centers are the same,” said Emma Chiu (邱美鳳) chairwoman of the Guanxi Township Cultural Association. She said the center operated by her association does not have a stamp like the others, but it serves as a cultural destination.

“The association was founded 20 years ago by locals who aimed to preserve and promote the rich Hakka history of the area, such as the historical trails in our township which we partially excavated ourselves,” Chiu said.

The opening of all of the trail’s centers paves the way for the upcoming 4th Asia Trails Conference, an international walking event designed by Asian trail organizations which has invited hikers from all over the world to take part.

The fourth edition of the event will be held in Taiwan, which recently opened its borders after almost three years of the COVID-19 pandemic and is featuring the Raknus Selu Trail as a flagship experience.

“We anticipate a lot of international hiking lovers,” Chou said, “especially those from South Korea, as part of the trail in Miaoli’s Shitan recently became a sister trail with the Olle Trail in Jeju Island.”

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel