Along the Caoling Ancient Trail, broad-leaved forests, artificially cultivated coniferous trees, and the characteristic tree ferns of subtropical rainforests can be seen. There are also scenic spots such as ‘Clear Mountain Stream’, ‘Fude Shrine’, ‘Diesima Bridge’, ‘Xiongzhen Manyan Stele’, ‘Tiger Stele’, ‘Observation Pavilion’, and ‘Caoling Ancient Trail Dali Visitor Service Center’. Along the trail, there are three pavilions, interpretation signs, and public toilets and other facilities for tourists to rest and be served. The whole journey on foot takes about 3 to 4 hours.
The Xiongzhen Manyan Stele is located on the mountainside of the Caoling Ancient Trail (about 240 meters above sea level). Legend has it that in 1867, the sixth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, Liu Mingdeng, the chief general of Zhengtai, patrolled Garmaland in the north. When passing by here, he encountered thick fog, making it impossible for passing travelers to identify the direction. So Liu Mingdeng wrote the four characters ‘Xiongzhen Manyan’ on the stele here to suppress the mountain demons. It has now been listed as a third-class historical site. The Tiger Stele is engraved in cursive script and is located beside the mountain trail at the pass on the top of the Caoling Ancient Trail (about 330 meters above sea level). The upper inscription is ‘Winter of the sixth year of Tongzhi’, and the lower inscription is ‘Written by Liu Mingdeng, the envoy of Taiwan Town’. Legend has it that in 1867, the sixth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, when Liu Mingdeng, the chief general of Zhengtai, patrolled Garmaland in the north and passed by here, he was blocked by strong winds. Liu Mingdeng took the meaning of ‘The wind follows the tiger, the clouds follow the dragon, and when the sage acts, all things are seen’ from the Book of Changes. At that moment, he wrote the character ‘tiger’ with Miscanthus flowers and ordered his subordinates to engrave it on a huge rock to suppress the wind. It has now been listed as a third-class historical site together with the ‘Xiongzhen Manyan Stele’. The Dali Visitor Service Center is located at the Dali entrance of the Caoling Ancient Trail, at 121.3 kilometers of the coastal highway (south of Dali Tian Gong Temple). The Dali Visitor Service Center takes humanistic historical sites as the main display axis and is equipped with a tourist route system in the Northeast Corner tourist area and Yilan area to provide tourists with richer tourist information. The multimedia screening room shows four films such as ‘Caoling Ancient Trail’, ‘Hometown Feelings of Guizhou Island’, ‘Happy and Leisurely Tour of the Northeast Corner’, and ‘Geological Tour of the Northeast Corner’ in rotation every half an hour. There is a rubbing area imitating the Tiger Stele on the square beside the north side of the first-floor hall, allowing tourists to experience the fun of rubbing steles in person. The opening hours are all year round and open all day.Caoling Ancient Trail
Along the Caoling Ancient Trail, broad-leaved forests, artificially cultivated coniferous trees, and[...]
