Located behind Veteran’s Hospital and National Yang Ming University is the Dog’s Head trail, which takes around 20 minutes to hike up. If you don’t know where it is, the easiest way there is to follow the signs at the University that direct you towards the trail. At the top of the mountain, you can see the entire Tien Mu area, including our school.
 

The hike begins opposite of Jiantan MRT Station, about 300 meters towards the nearby temple. It has a fantastic city view and is one of the most convenient hikes to do in Taipei. On a clear day, you can see downtown Taipei, Keelung River, Songshan Airport and surrounding mountains in their entirety.

 
The 1500-step trail up the side of Yangmingshan begins at the top of section seven, around a 15 minute walk from school. Near the end of the trail is a historic water pipe that was built in the 1940s. At the end of the steps, the trail becomes a flat walk which leads you to the Chinese Culture University. If you’re lucky, you might bump into some of the local monkeys!
 
 

 
Leopard, Lion, Elephant and Tiger make up the Four Beasts Mountain in the Xinyi District of Taipei. The most famous is Elephant Mountain, which you can get to by following the signs in the park located right outside exit two of XiangShan MRT Station. If you’re fit, you can make it up the paved stair path to the viewing area in 15 minutes, but if not, there are places to rest with benches and nice views on the way up. The most popular viewing platform has a few big boulders to climb up on to admire the view, but if you want to keep climbing, the trail continues up the mountain.