The Qingming holiday or Tomb Sweeping Day is fast approaching, and some Taiwanese people are traveling during the long holiday to clean their ancestors’ tombs. Others are also taking advantage of the holiday to travel to central Taiwan to admire the fleeting springtime scenery.
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A steam train chugs through a forest of blooming cherry blossoms. This iconic imagery reappears every spring at the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area in central Taiwan.
While the mountain range is currently bright and pink, the cherry blossom season usually doesn't last too long. Many visitors try to capture this ephemeral beauty by posing under the trees. One woman says she traveled here specifically to see the cherry blossoms.
An Alishan park employee says the cherry blossoms are now in bloom thanks to the rain last weekend. But cherry blossom season still faces a slight delay in central and southern Taiwan, where there’s been a lack of rainfall.
Around 20 percent of Alishan trees have yet to blossom, so workers are encouraging tourists to come visit during the upcoming long holiday, when they can expect to see all the flowers in bloom.
But visitors should also know that long holidays are usually very busy at the park. If tourists want to avoid large crowds, employees suggest visiting on weekdays instead.