Stand around for an hour contemplating life with a strange mix of fear and philosophy, then JUMP! This is what a friend experienced before leaping 40 feet from the top of a waterfall into the pool below. (I didn’t do it. Apparently, old age has dampened my desire to die.) Another said that he would wait for his brain to become slightly confused and then run off the cliff before clarity and sanity could catch up with him. (I date that one 😢) He did this 4 times. According to both, the first time is easiest, since after that the brain has figured out what you’re doing and doesn’t approve.
Resting at twelve meters, Lingjiao Waterfall might be the highest cliff jump in Taiwan, and, of course, (as stated above) we’re slightly disturbed, so this is the one we started with. It’s higher and maybe even more beautiful than Hong Kong’s most famous cliff jump, Sheung Luk, which we are hoping to visit in the not too distant future. Unlike Sheung Luk, Lingjiao has managed to stay off the radar for most tourists and even locals. Except for a group of regulars, who looked like they’d been there a thousand times, we basically had the beautiful spot to ourselves… on a weekend… in July.
We brought water, wine, bread, cheese, and spread our towels out to enjoy a lazy afternoon swimming and jumping. The locals brought the music and, unwittingly, showed us where to stand and what spot to aim for when making the jump. If they hadn’t been there to demonstrate, I can’t say for sure that our group would have tried it. Twelve meters definitely looks like 20 from the top and you can’t see what’s waiting for you at the bottom.
The top of the waterfall is calm, peaceful, pretty and the perfect place to spend an hour in reflection before giving in to the chaos of an adrenaline rush. Overall though, the whole area needs a little TLC. There’s some debris piled up on the side that makes for a rough first impression and the trail to the top is completely overgrown. I seriously doubt that it’s maintained by anyone except the regular jumpers. They did spend a little time clearing it while we were there, mostly just smashing everything down and (probably) praying not to step on a snake.
If more people visited, it would probably be better maintained, but then it would also be more crowded, so pick your poison. Actually, someone did try to turn it into a tourist attraction, but rumor has it that the endeavor was shut down after a boy jumped and died. This would have obviously created a lot of bad press and scared visitors away, especially locals who believe in the Chinese superstition that water is haunted by soul-stealing ghosts. Anyway, you can still see the hollowed out ruins that were never completed, which give the place an eerie vibe.
To us, the jump seemed intimidating, but safe. Someone could land poorly in the water and end up with a few bruises, but the whole pool itself is very deep and no one in our group touched the bottom. As long as you can swim, go for it. When not jumping, it’s also nice to swim under the cliff and scramble up onto the steps. This is a cool, wet place to hide from the sun and it gives you the high ground for a surprise attack when friends come and try to pull you off… Big Mistake.
Getting Around
It’s on the Pingxi Line, exactly one stop from Pingxi Village actually, so you could also squeeze in a visit there or to Shifen Waterfall on this trip. We considered exploring Wanggu Waterfall, since it is also only one stop away, but ditched this plan when some unexpected new friends, who had just come from there, dropped in and told us how the waterfall is much smaller and that no one at all was there swimming, much less jumping.
I digress, take the bus there, but come home on the train. It’s bus number 795 and it departs every half hour from Muzha Station on the brown line. To get to the bus stop, exit the station and cross the street to the OK Mart. Fun fact, this bus stops at every major attraction on the Pingxi Line, including Lingjiao, which is where you want to get off. From there, follow signs for the Lingjiao train station, which is about 500 meters away (other blogs lie about this distance for some reason) down a small side road.
From the station, follow signs for the waterfall, which is only an additional 300 meters away. The trail for the waterfall starts at the Lingjiao Visiter Center (or at least an abandoned, nonfunctional cement building that says it’s a visitor center) and then follows the train tracks until ending at some stairs that lead down to the base of the falls.
To get home, jump on the train (no matter which way it’s going, because there’s only one ping-ponging back and forth along the Pingxi Line) and get off at Houtong Station, where you can transfer to a local train bound for Taipei. The bus ride’s under an hour, whereas the train takes two hours, but I still recommend the train because traffic gets bad on the weekends and you’ll have a better chance of finding a seat.
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