River Tracing at Jiangziliao, Xizhi 姜子寮
A small and easily climbed waterfall
I wrote about tracing this river a few years ago. Recently I went back and headed much further up the valley. This pretty much doubled the length of the trace. With changing conditions on the river and a better camera I decided to re-do this post rather than slapdash edit the old one.
Jiangziliao Falls never has much water
The mountains south of Xizhi have a few steep valleys that make for good waterfall territory. I've previously written a short post on some of the waterfalls on Dajianshan, and also visited the disappointing Tai-an Fall (no post but it's on here).
Pretty sculpted stream valley
Jiangziliao is a fun and varied river trace which starts near an imposing cliff. Public transport is not much use for this place as just one infrequent minibus comes up here. I've placed markers for the start on the Hidden Taiwan Map. Careful when following Google Maps here as it has a tendency to keep you on the road to Pingxi and miss the turn-off.
These flowers were common on this river, and they smell really good
The cliff itself is imposing and overhangs precariously. Scattered large boulders on the riverbed suggest staying here for a long time is a bad idea. In 2018 you could enter the riverbed freely but as of 2021 the area has been sealed off with barbed wire and warning signs. In this case I actually think the risk level is pretty high, there were some freshly fallen slabs on both visits, so fair enough New Taipei Government.
Freshly exposed rock 2021
Just under the cliff is Jiangziliao Waterfall. The river partially goes underground somewhere around the waterfall so it never gets much water. Both times I've visited it was fairly dry and the first time it was covered in green slime..
On the riverbed in 2018. Some fresh rockfall visible
After a small picnic area by the cliff the path becomes rougher. After a few minutes you can enter the water though it may be easier to follow the path a few more minutes and enter past some tall boulders. As with all river traces don't attempt this without the felt-bottomed river tracing shoes. A helmet for some of the upriver parts may be a good idea too.
Alien ferns
The geology of this river changes quite often. There are rough stretches of boulders interspersed with smooth shale banks and small waterfalls. It's a lot more interesting than the usual jumbled piles of stones that make up many river traces here.
Peaceful clear vale
A short way upriver there's a larger pool and the river undulates over a steep bed of slate into the far end. This is slippery enough to make a fun little natural waterslide though there wasn't enough water on the second visit. Past a cool narrow pool is one of the highlights of the trace (first pic). What at first looks like an impossible to scale waterfall cascading through a narrow slot is actually very easily climbable. It manages to be both exciting and quite easy at the same time (I would say overall this river is a good introduction to river tracing).
Climbing the narrow waterfall
Immediately above this fall is a mess of slippery rocks that's not very attractive. This part of the trace isn't a whole lot of fun but it's done in about 15 minutes. This was the place I stopped on the 2018 attempt. Continuing on you'll arrive at a pretty stepped waterfall. It's easy enough to climb straight up this, but there is a side trail on the right that can bypass it. The valley above this fall was shaded and pretty, and the obstacles more fun than tiring.
easy to scale stepped waterfall
After another stepped waterfall that looked like a giant's staircase there was a narrow gorge. One side had recently collapsed over the river. It looked a little dangerous but we decided to move through it quickly and hope we were not unlucky. Next to a waterfall at the back of the gorge there was a gulley that was climbable.
Landslide area
Above this the valley split into at least 2 channels. The first led to a dead end surrounded by a dry vertical cliff. We found a way across to the second channel. It looked like this was the main channel and most of the river was flowing through this one. However reaching it involved shimmying across an angled rock face that was pretty bare. If you were to fall there's a good chance you would pick up momentum and be carried over the top of the waterfall. This was a risk too far so we decided to turn back.
Above a waterfall on a steep slope
On return we spotted this tiny whirlpool vortex and later a huge praying mantis jumped on my backpack for a short ride.
I'm terrible at time estimates but I'd say this trace only took about 3-4 hours. It's a good introduction to river tracing and given the location away from convenient transport I doubt it ever gets very busy. Have a look on the Hidden Taiwan Map for more. The adventures that make up these entries are often posted as Instagram stories at tomrookart first. So give that a follow too if you like as it can sometimes be a year or more before stuff turns up here!