How old is the Sianglin Sacred Tree?

Sources disagree and both figures are worth knowing. Tourism material has cited roughly 2,300 years for decades. A 2022 tree-ring study by National Chiayi University dated the main trunk at about 626 years, having found that the tree is several red cypress stems fused into one mass rather than a single trunk.

Is this the original Alishan Sacred Tree?

No. The original was a different and much older red cypress, which collapsed in heavy rain and was taken down in the late 1990s. The Forestry Bureau then ran a public online vote, about 25,000 people took part, and this tree was crowned Alishan's second-generation Sacred Tree on 1 January 2007.

The park's own figures are 45 metres tall and 12.3 metres round, with a diameter at breast height of about 4.1 metres. An older account gives 43.5 metres and 13.1 metres.

No. Entry to the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area costs around NT$300, less for Taiwan residents and students, and the area is open year round. From the gate it is a short walk along the paved 600 metre Trail 1 boardwalk, past Ciyun Temple.

By the Alishan Forest Railway or the Alishan Route B bus from Chiayi Railway Station, roughly 2.5 to 3 hours. Both put you at Alishan Bus Station, just outside the park's entrance gate.

Taiwan

Árvores históricas de Alishan

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Alishan is a mountain forest area in Chiayi County, reached by a narrow-gauge railway built to carry cypress down to the plains, and known for its sunrises, its sea of clouds and the giant red cypresses left standing in the recreation area. Its Sacred Tree is a title rather than a fixed tree. The original fell in the late 1990s, and the cypress carrying the name today was chosen by about 25,000 people in a public vote, on a 600 metre boardwalk near Ciyun Temple.

Foto: Felix Filnkoessl (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Sianglin Sacred Tree

Taiwan Red Cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis) · disputed: about 626 years by the newest study, versus a long-quoted 2,300 years · Alishan National Forest Recreation Area

This tree was elected. Alishan's original Sacred Tree, a red cypress of around 3,000 years, was wrecked by storm damage and taken down in the late 1990s, and the Forestry Bureau put the succession to a public online vote. About 25,000 people took part, this cypress won, and on 1 January 2007 the county magistrate crowned it Alishan's second-generation Sacred Tree. Before that it went by Guangwu Cypress, after a provincial governor's conviction that it had germinated during the reign of the Han emperor Guangwu. Its age is genuinely in dispute, and both numbers are worth carrying. Tourism material has said roughly 2,300 years for decades, some of it stretching to 3,000. Then a 2022 tree-ring study by National Chiayi University, commissioned by the Forestry Bureau, dated the main trunk at about 626 years and explained the gap: what looks like one enormous stem is a merged tree, several red cypresses that grew into each other over centuries. The bulk is real. The single great age is not established, and the older figure is still the one most of the tourism material carries. The park's own record gives it 45 metres of height and 12.3 metres of girth; an older account says 43.5 and 13.1. It stands on Trail 1, a 600 metre boardwalk near Ciyun Temple that passes the Thousand-Year Cypress and the Tree of Three Generations on the way, so it is a short walk in and not the only giant on it.

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Perguntas frequentes

How old is the Sianglin Sacred Tree?: Sources disagree and both figures are worth knowing. Tourism material has cited roughly 2,300 years for decades. A 2022 tree-ring study by National Chiayi University dated the main trunk at about 626 years, having found that the tree is several red cypress stems fused into one mass rather than a single trunk.
Is this the original Alishan Sacred Tree?: No. The original was a different and much older red cypress, which collapsed in heavy rain and was taken down in the late 1990s. The Forestry Bureau then ran a public online vote, about 25,000 people took part, and this tree was crowned Alishan's second-generation Sacred Tree on 1 January 2007.
How big is it?: The park's own figures are 45 metres tall and 12.3 metres round, with a diameter at breast height of about 4.1 metres. An older account gives 43.5 metres and 13.1 metres.
Is it free to visit?: No. Entry to the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area costs around NT$300, less for Taiwan residents and students, and the area is open year round. From the gate it is a short walk along the paved 600 metre Trail 1 boardwalk, past Ciyun Temple.
How do I get there?: By the Alishan Forest Railway or the Alishan Route B bus from Chiayi Railway Station, roughly 2.5 to 3 hours. Both put you at Alishan Bus Station, just outside the park's entrance gate.

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