Shizih Township in Pingtung neighbors the narrow coastal Fangshan Township. The Taiwan Railway’s Southern Circuit Line runs through the border of these two townships. Along the line are many unique small stations, so taking the train is a whole a lot of the separate tourist attraction as well. I love Fangshan Township a lot, and almost always when I am taking my way down to the south to Kenting, I always try to stop in Fangshan to see what can be filmed in 360 degrees there, or at least take some quick coffee, A-jie Coffee and Hetian coffee are 2 places you actually should visit while you drive through the Fangshan Township.
This is a really small township as such, with most of the houses located in one place near the see, and recently I found a very interesting cafe in Fangshan called Coffee Lounge – the blog post and the place on our interactive tourist map is coming soon, but to give you a sneak peek, just check it our latest drone shot:
And then, the big part of Fangshan you can see from a bird s-eye view in this aerial video!
Recently, tourists attracted by the “Pingtung Railway Culture Festival” organized by the Pingtung County Government have transformed into railway enthusiasts, exploring the small stations in the countryside, discovering the interesting facts of the Southern Circuit Line. It turns out that Fangshan Station, the southernmost station in Taiwan, is named after Fangshan but has an address in Neishi Village, Shizih Township! However, the previous station, Neishi Station, is in Fangshan Township. This intriguing phenomenon has unexpectedly brought popularity to remote stations.
The Fangshan station is located in Neishi Village of Shizi Township!
The Pingtung County Government and the Taiwan Railway Administration co-hosted the “Pingtung Railway Culture Festival” this year. Through different themed railway events like “Railway Reading” and “South, Lonely Railway” screenings, visitors can see the diverse ethnic groups, cultures, and industries along the railway. Neishi and Fangshan stations, located at 8.7K and 13.6K on the Southern Circuit Line, respectively, usually had the lowest visitor counts, but recently the situation has dramatically changed.
he usually deserted stations are bustling, with many visitors coming not to take the train, but to take photos or even “pay homage”.
內獅站 Neishi train station
What are they “paying homage” to? It turns out, both stations have new distinctive address plates that stand out from their easily overlooked old addresses. Many visitors who came to photograph the rare trains discovered that although Neishi Station is named after the nearby Neishi Village, its actual address is No. 43 Nanhe Road, Jialu Village, Fangshan Township:
Conversely, Fangshan Station, which is closer to Fangshan Village, has an address in Neishi Lane, Neishi Village, Shizih Township. This creates the curious phenomenon of “Neishi Station being in Fangshan and Fangshan Station being in Neishi”. Some tourists joked, “Was there a mix-up when setting up the stations? Should they switch?”
A senior Taiwan Railway employee explained that these stations were named after the nearest villages when the Southern Circuit Line was built, not based on the station addresses. Because Shizih Township by the mountains and its coastal neighbor Fangshan Township have a narrow bordering geography, and as they are consecutive stations, this interesting “mistaken identity” phenomenon arose. To his knowledge, other counties in Taiwan also have stations named after places unrelated to their actual locations, but these two neighboring stations “using” each other’s names might be the only pair.
Neishi train station address
The small Fangshan Township, with a population of about 5,000, already has Jialu and Neishi train stations. If you also count Fangshan Station, originally serving Fangshan Village, the tiny township has three stations. However, due to inconvenient station access routes, not only did the surroundings remain undeveloped, but also the ridership was low.
Train on Southern Circuit Line in Pingtung, Fangshan
Neishi and Fangshan often ranked last in Taiwan in terms of yearly average daily station entries and exits. There was even a time when the yearly average was less than one person. Although there has been an improvement in recent years, they still rank near the bottom. It was only recently, due to the “wrong addresses” phenomenon, that they became a topic of conversation.
The station lobby is very simple
he Culture Department of Pingtung County, the organizer of the Railway Culture Festival, stated that each town and city along Pingtung’s railway line has its unique characteristics, beautiful scenery, and friendly locals. With most spaces accessible to the public, it’s suitable to bring visitors through the railway.