Many parents try to recreate their own childhood memories with their kids, but this Alishan Family Camp felt different for me. It felt like I was living a childhood alongside them. It was my first time shrimping at night, my first time visiting Alishan, my first time building a fish trap, and my first time making bamboo bowls.
On the bus ride down the mountain, we each shared what the study trip had meant to us. When it was my turn, I choked up. In that moment, I realized I wasn’t only watching my kids grow up; I was growing up with them.
This camp gave my children memories I hope they will carry for a lifetime, but it also gave something back to the little girl in me who had missed out on these experiences.
Here’s what the Alishan Family Camp was actually like and what families can expect.
In This Article
- What Is the Alishan Family Camp?
- What makes this Camp different from a Typical Alishan tour?
- Alishan Family Camp Sample Itinerary
- Learning about conservation through traditional Tsou practices
- Is this a Mandarin immersion camp?
- What to pack for Alishan Family Camp
- What is the weather like in Alishan?
- What are the accommodations like?
- Are meals provided? What is the food like?
- How to register for the Alishan Family Camp?
What Is the Alishan Family Camp?
The Alishan Family Camp (FUN寒假 阿里山深度親子學旅) combines indigenous culture, nature, and a different side of Taiwan through learning and play. This family camp is designed for parents wanting meaningful cultural experiences in Taiwan.
The Indigenous Culture Experience
The camp takes you about an hour up the mountain to Shanmei Village (山美村), known as Saviki in the indigenous language. This is an ecological conservation area led entirely by the local Tsou (鄒) Indigenous community. Your family will spend 3 days immersed in the Tsou Tribe’s way of life, eating the food, learning about hunting traditions, and handicrafts. One of the camp’s main focuses is immersing you in a different way of life. Children learn most when they step out of their comfort zone.
What makes this camp different from a typical Alishan tour?
The camp does not go to the summit to watch the sunrise or ride the Alishan train.
What makes this family camp different from a travel tour? You’re not just sightseeing and taking pictures. You will experience the warmth of indigenous communities, the mountains and natural environment, and actually participate in hands-on activities that engage the senses.
Alishan Family Camp Sample Itinerary
Camp activities are weather-dependent. Your group may have different experiences based on weather, season, age of participants, and group size. The experience included activities for the entire family! Most activities were a first for our family, and I checked a lot off my bucket list.
Day 1: Travel from Chiayi to Alishan
- Meet the group at the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park
- Arrive at the hotel, check in, and drop off luggage
- Make bamboo bowls, cups, and utensils
- Learn how to cut palm leaves to build a shelter
- Making Tsou (鄒) hunter’s packets (rice and meat wrapped in leaves)
- Feast of local indigenous specialties
- Pound rice to make a traditional rice wine
The kids’ highlight of the first day was riding in the back of a traditional Taiwanese little blue truck to our first activity site. Once we arrived, we learned how to carve our own bowls and cups from freshly cut bamboo, which we used for every meal throughout the camp. We also made hunter’s packets, sticky rice, and a little meat wrapped in leaves foraged from the forest. Then we headed into the forest, where we cut massive palm leaves and worked together to build a shelter.
After all that work, we sat down to a hearty meal prepared by Indigenous chefs. We feasted on chicken and fish roasted over an open fire, tempura wild greens, and the hunter’s packets we had made ourselves. There was also plenty of time to explore the surrounding nature, catching butterflies, insects, and spiders along the way.
Day 2: Nature, Indigenous Culture and Hands-On Activities
- Breakfast overlooking a gorgeous ravine
- Building fish traps
- Head to the river to set the traps
- Floating picnic (weather dependent)
- Make hunting whistles
- Shrimping at night
- Another feast!
We cooked fresh pork over a fire pit while the cooks prepared our dinner. Then we headed down to the creek for night shrimping. It was pitch black, and we all wore headlamps as we made our way down to the water, like ducks in a row. It was my first time doing anything like this. There were bugs constantly flying toward the lights and landing on my face, and I was slipping all over the rocks, but we had the best time.
Day 3: More Experiences and the Journey Home
- Breakfast
- Visit the Tanaiku Eco Park and learn about Tsou culture
- Lunch made with the shrimp we caught the night before
- Leather work
- Making a hunting trap
- Learning to shoot arrows
- The bus ride home: Conversations and shared reflections
Learning about conservation through traditional Tsou practices
What made this experience especially meaningful was that the activities weren’t created just for tourists. Each one taught us skills and traditions that have been passed down through generations. We were seeing a living community working to preserve its knowledge, traditions, and relationship with the land.
This reminded me of what I’m trying to do with my own children. Even though we live far from Taiwan, I’m also trying to pass down our Taiwanese culture and give my kids a connection to where they come from.
Building a fish trap took us almost an entire day. Then we had to wait until the next day to see what we caught. Between three traps, we caught just one fish. There was no grocery store nearby, and we had one fish to feed 14 campers! Maybe experiences like this can help our kids, who are used to food simply appearing on the dinner table, gain a better appreciation for the work that makes it possible.
Our guides also shared the community’s conservation efforts. The rivers have been overfished, and pollution has contributed to the decline in fish. Technically, we were supposed to release any fish we caught. Unfortunately the fish died in the trap, which is why they kept it.
The Indigenous community is also getting smaller as younger generations leave to find work elsewhere. Many don’t return to pass on the Tsou way of life.
We also had many bug encounters! My city kids don’t get these types of adventures often, and my daughter was in awe of the different critters we found. I believe these are the names from top to bottom, left to right:
Jewel bug 黑条黄丽盾蝽
Conehead katydid 細剪蟴
Cicada nymph shell (蟬蛻)
Female stag beetle 鍬形蟲
La Touche’s frog 阔褶水蛙
Green flower beetle 絨綠花金龜
Cabbage butterfly 緣點白粉蝶
Spiny-backed orb weaver
Small river shrimp
Is this a Mandarin immersion camp?
No. This is an important distinction for families searching for a Mandarin camp in Taiwan.
Mandarin is the primary language used throughout the experience, and the guides do not speak English. Children hear Mandarin naturally while participating in activities and interacting with the adults and other families. But there aren’t formal Mandarin classes or a language curriculum.
For families already speaking Mandarin at home, or children who understand Mandarin but don’t get many opportunities to use it outside the home, this kind of environment can be especially meaningful.
What to pack for Alishan Family Camp
The organizers recommend bringing:
- Health insurance card
- Comfortable clothes and changes of clothing
- Small towel (Taiwanese-size bath towel. IYKYK)
- Warm layers for winter
- Toiletries
- Water-friendly shoes
- Personal medication
- Water bottle
- Light rain jacket or umbrella
- Sun protection
- Hat
- Insect repellent
- Small backpack for activities
On the last day, we visited Tanaiku Eco Park, where we explored a traditional Tsou thatched house and watched a tribal dance. Then we enjoyed another delicious lunch before learning how to stamp leather and shoot arrows.
On our way down the mountain, we saw monkeys on the side of the road! We also took the time on the road to share what we took away from the trip.
What is the weather like in Alishan?
For the winter camp, the organizers estimated temperatures around 21°C (70°F) during the day and 11–12°C (52–54°F) at night. The temperature difference between daytime and nighttime can be significant, so layers are a good idea.
Summer in Alishan is much cooler than the lowlands of Taiwan. Daytime temperatures are around 18–19°C (64–67°F) at the higher-elevation Alishan weather station, with nighttime temperatures around 12°C (54°F).
What are the accommodations like?
This is a rural Indigenous community, not a city hotel or resort. There is one motel that is a 10-minute drive to activities, or a newer hotel that is a 45-minute drive. Luckily, all the families in our group chose the closer location. Keep in mind that if you want nicer accommodations but get car sick, it’s a windy 45-minute bus ride.
Wi-Fi is available at the accommodation, but not at the activity locations. Cell service is available in the community.
Are meals provided? What is the food like?
All meals are provided family-style. The only outside snacks you can buy are from a small selection in the hotel lobby. They also have coffee, but nothing fancy.
Mornings begin with a simple breakfast: rice porridge with scallion omelettes, pickles, and mini steamed buns. On day one, we made traditional Tsou hunter’s packets of rice and meat wrapped in leaves, while our guides roasted whole chickens, pork, and sausages over open flames. On the last day, the cooks prepared the stream shrimp we had caught the night before.
Lunch and dinner include rice, whole fish, fish balls, hearty soups, and fresh local greens. For dessert, we were offered fruit and sweet mung bean soup. Tea is available as well. On the first night, we got to try traditional Tsou rice wine.
My kids loved it! They said it felt like camping, which they had never done before. It was also their first time roasting meat on a stick over a fire. They got their hands dirty, helping to prepare meals, catch food, and reuse palm and bamboo for cooking.
How to register for the Alishan Family Camp?
The camp is organized by 人人創學, an education team that creates immersive learning experiences for overseas Taiwanese families visiting Taiwan. Their “deep learning journeys” bring families into local communities to learn through culture, nature, history, and hands-on experiences.
How much did the Alishan camp cost?
The camp fee for December 2025 was NT $13,100 ($412 USD/$526.91 SGD) per person.
The fees include transportation to and from Chiayi, accommodations for 2 nights, activities, and all meals.
Check out the 人人創學 camp page for more info about the organization and how to contact them for upcoming camps.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a Taiwan family travel experience that combines nature, Indigenous culture, hands-on learning, and time together, this is something special. As a Taiwanese American, there are parts of Taiwan I feel connected to even though I didn’t grow up experiencing all of them. This trip gave me the chance to experience something new alongside my children, rather than simply trying to recreate the childhood I never had.
I went to Alishan thinking this trip would be about giving my kids an experience they would remember. But somewhere along the way, I realized I was making memories for myself too.
If you like this post, you may also be interested in learning more about the Penghu Family Camp.
