Due to Taiwan’s location between the subtropics and tropics, it is an incredible flower viewing destination.
The country boasts tulips, lilies, hydrangeas, azaleas, roses, chrysanthemums, tung blossoms, sunflowers, lavender, cherry blossoms, and plum blossoms (the national flower), just to name a few!
Winter (November to March) is the best season for flower viewing in Taiwan. But you can still see some flowers in pretty much every month of the year in Taiwan. Taipei and Taichung cities are flower hot spots, and each city has hosted major international floral exhibitions in the past.
Below I’ll introduce the best flower seasons, festivals, and viewing spots around the country and when to see them. I manage to come up with 25 of them, and there are even more I didn’t include!
Taiwan Flower Viewing Calendar
Here’s a summary of the main flower highlights, starting in November, the beginning of the flower season.
You may also be interested in my Taiwan weather guide and my guides to every month of the year in Taiwan.
Flower/Event | Location | When |
Zhongshe Flower Market | Taichung | All year |
Guandu Flower Carnival | Taipei | November |
Xinshe Flower Festival | Taichung | November to December |
CKS Shilin Residence Chrysanthemum Festival | Taipei | November to December |
Yanping Riverside Park Flower Festival | Taipei | November to December |
Plum Blossoms | Across Taiwan | December to February |
Taipei Camellias Show | Yangmingshan, Taipei | January |
Camphor Trail Flower Carnival | Maokong, Taipei | January to February |
Lavender | Hsinchu and Taichung | January to February |
Fuli Flower Sea | Hualien | January to February |
Shan Tseng Chi Flower Festival | Beitou, Taipei | January to March |
Cherry Blossoms | Across Taiwan | January to April |
Rapeseed | Hualien & Taitung | February |
Shilin Residence Tulip Festival | Taipei | February |
Taipei Rose Festival | Taipei | March |
Azaleas | Taipei | March |
Calla Lilies | Yangmingshan, Taipei | March to April |
Bougainvillea | Kaohsiung | March to April |
Wisteria | Tamsui, New Taipei City | April |
Tung Blossoms | Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli | April to May |
Hydrangeas | Yangmingshan, Taipei | May to June |
Lotus Flowers | Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung | May to August |
Sunflowers | Across Taiwan | May to October |
Tiger lilies | 60 Stone Mountain, Hualien | July to September |
Silvergrass | Yangmingshan, Caoling Historic Trail | October to December |
Flower Event Details
Now I will go through every flower festival and season in the above table to provide more information about it. All of these are free unless otherwise stated.
Zhongshe Flower Market
Zhongshe Flower Market (中社觀光花市) is a year-round flower viewing attraction just north of the Taichung city center. See my Zhongshe Flower Market guide for more information than I will provide here.
This attraction features fields of various flowers with all kinds of props for selfies, including pianos and pavilions. There’s also a barbecue area and they sell some flowers, too. There’s an entrance fee of TWD 150.
Winter is the peak season here, when you can see tulips, lilies, sage, roses, lavender, marigolds, and more. But every month of the year has flowers at Zhongshe – they list some (but not all) of them here.
Guandu Flower Festival, Taipei
The Guandu Flower Festival (關渡花海) takes place here on a plain next to the Keelung River in Guandu area of Beitou district, Taipei in November.
The fields of flowers typically on display include cosmos and zinnias of a variety in colors. They usually add a few fun props, too.
During the festival, a free shuttle bus (S21) is provided from Qilian MRT station on the Red Line. Read more about it here.
Xinshe Flower Festival
Xinshe Flower Festival (新社花海, also called Xinshe Sea of Flowers or Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival) is arguably the most famous flower festival of the year in Taiwan.
The festival takes place here in Xinshe district east of the Taichung city center from November to early December. It includes seas of various flowers, but there’s much more than that.
Every year comes with a theme and huge, extravagant props. For example, 2023’s theme was “Floating Flower City” and had a huge floating castle. 2024’s theme was “A Flower World in Space” and featured a 55-meter-wide, 17-meter-tall spaceship.
Throughout the festival, there are free shuttle buses from Songzhu MRT and train station in Taichung. Here’s the official site for the event.
CKS Shilin Residence Chrysanthemum Festival
The annual CKS Shilin Residence Chrysanthemum Festival (士林官邸菊展) usually takes places at this historic attraction from late November to mid-December. It is the largest flower festival in Taipei.
Various colors of chrysanthemum and other flowers are on display in the large gardens of the former president’s home.
There are lots of fun props too, and the whole thing takes on a different vibe when lit up in the evening (it’s usually open until 9 PM). Here’s last year’s official event page.
To get there, take them MRT to Shilin then use GoogleMaps directions to take the bus from there (there any many possible ones) or just walk (10 min).
Note that a tulip festival (see below) will also take place here.
Yanping Riverside Park Flower Festival
Located near the popular Dadaocheng Wharf in Taipei, the Yanping Riverside Park Flower Festival (延平河濱公園花海) includes the likes of spider flowers, sage, angelonias, and salvias.
Taking place from late November until around Christmas, the display usually has a Christmas theme and is lit up at night.
Rent a YouBike or variety of bikes from here and cycle along the riverside path to check this one out. Access the riverside park here then cycle or walk south along the river to find the flowers.
There are a few other smaller flower displays throughout the year in Taipei’s riverside parks. See the full list here.
Plum Blossoms across Taiwan
Taiwan’s national flower, the plum blossom (梅花) can be seen at multiple locations across the country in winter.
Coming before cherry blossoms, they look very similar to the more famous flower, and are often even confused with it. They are usually white or very light pink.
In Taipei, you can see plum blossoms at CKS Memorial Hall in the weeks before the arrival of cherry blossoms in late January.
At Cingjing Farm, winter makes the grass look dull and yellow, but plum blossoms make a visit worthwhile. The farm also has peach blossoms and cherry blossoms.
At Alishan, watch for them at Plum Garden here near Chaoping Station – these are a good alternative to the cherry blossoms which come later and bring masses of people.
Last but not least, Wuling Farm in a remote corner of Taichung is a great place to see plum blossoms. It’s not easy to get there – try this tour.
Taipei Camellia Show
Of the many flowers you can see in Yangmingshan National Park, camellias (or tea plant flowers) are one of the lesser-known ones.
The Taipei Camellia Show (台北茶花展) takes place for about 10 days in early January. It takes place at the Floriculture Experiment Center, which is on the road from Taipei to Yangmingshan National Park, before you actually reach the park.
You can see various flowers in the center’s gardens – the camellias, which are smaller bushes with pink flowers, are mostly found inside the center.
To get there, take bus 260, 1717, or S15 from Jiantan MRT station. Get off at Shanzihou Police Station stop (山仔后派出所). Get back on any of those buses to continue to YMS National Park – see my guide to getting to Yangmingshan for a complete bus table.
Camphor Trail Flower Carnival, Maokong
The Camphor Trail (樟樹步道) is a short walking trail past tea farms located near Maokong Station (the top station of Maokong Gondola).
In January and February, the Camphor Trail Flower Carnival (樟樹步道花海) features fields of yellow lupine flowers. See more photos of them here. In recent years, they’ve also planted pink and white cosmos flowers in autumn in the same fields.
To find the trail, exit Maokong Gondola, turn right past the tea ice cream shops, and walk five minutes to find the trail entrance here. See my Maokong guide to do a longer hike to Silver Stream Cave and Waterfall, a cool shrine buried in the jungle – the trailhead is opposite the Camphor Trail trailhead.
Lavender in Hsinchu and Taichung
In season (January to February), you can see fields of lavender at various locations in Hsinchu and Taichung.
The most obvious spot is Lavender Cottage. The Hsinchu location (here) is located past Neiwan Old Street and Jianshi hot spring area – you’ll need to drive to get there.
The Taichung location (here) is east of Taichung city and also requires driving. You can buy tickets and see photos of both locations here on Klook.
At Zhongshe Flower Market, which is easier to get to, you can take photos of yourself playing piano in a field of lavender (see above photo).
Fuli Flower Sea, Hualien
Fuli Flower Sea (富里花海景觀區) is a roadside attraction on Highway 9 in southern Hualien county.
The attraction features dozens of huge statues made of straw, including several gorillas. Between the statues, there are many seas of flowers.
The attraction is open year-round, but the most flowers can be seen in January and February. It makes for a nice stop when doing a road trip down Highway 9 from Hualien to Taitung.
Shan Tseng Chi Flower Festival, Beitou
Another flower festival in Taipei is the annual Shan Tseng Chi Flower Festival (三層崎花海, or Sancengqi Flower Festival), from January to March.
This one takes place on a hillside park here in Beitou district of Taipei, northwest of the famous hot spring area.
This very popular event features undulating strips of different colored flowers, reminiscent of Furano region in Hokkaido, but on a smaller scale (read about my visit to Furano region here). The layers include lavender, sage, nasturtium, and more.
There are bus connections from Xinbeitou (Beitou hot springs area) and Fuxinggang (Red MRT Line) – GoogleMaps will get you there.
Cherry Blossoms Across Taiwan
Cherry blossoms (櫻花 or sakura) always get the most attention and draw the biggest crowds. There are numerous types of sakura in Taiwan, ranging from light to dark pink.
There is so much information about times and locations that you’re better of heading to my Taiwan cherry blossoms guide.
Cherry blossoms usually make their first appearance in a few locations around Taipei in mid- to late-January.
February is the best month to see them, especially at hot spots like Yangmingshan National Park (try this tour), Tian Yuan Temple in Tamsui, Sun Moon Lake, Cingjing Farm, Aowanda (this tour), Sun Link Sea (this tour), and Wuling Farm (this tour).
Th flowers at those locations usually bloom into early March, and there’s a second blooming of a different type at Tianyuan Temple. Then, the final round comes at Alishan from mid-March to early April, attracting masses to the region.
Rapeseed, Hualien & Taitung
Rapeseed, which is used for making canola oil, has bright yellow flowers which fill entire fields. There are huge fields of this surrounding my hometown in Canada in summer.
In Taiwan, it’s not such a common plant. However, a farm beside the iconic Kecheng Iron Bridge (here) in southern Hualien country usually plants some in February, making the scene even more beautiful than it usually is.
In summer, you may also see sunflowers in the same field. Neither flower is guaranteed, though – it depends on what the farmer decides to plant every year. But when it’s there, it attracts loads of local photographers, who wait for the chance to photograph it with a train going by.
Meanwhile, you can also see fields on rapeseed in Chishang, a popular cycling destination in Taitung, around the first two weeks of February.
Shilin Residence Tulip Festival
The Shilin Residence Tulip Festival (士林官邸鬱金香展) is the second of two annual flower festivals to take place at CKS Residence in Shilin district.
At this festival, which goes from late February to early March, you can see 40,000 to 100,000 tulips (depending on the year). The 30+ varieties of tulip were brought in from the Netherlands and Japan.
Just like the chrysanthemum festival before it, there are also some fun props and backdrops for photo, and it stays open in the evening.
You can walk here (10 min) from Shilin MRT station. Here’s a page with the latest info.
Taipei Rose Festival
This display of roses takes place here in Xinsheng Park in March. Around 5000 roses of different varieties are planted in a garden, with a few fountains and arches you can walk under.
Xinsheng Park was one of the venues for the huge Taipei International Flower Expo (2010-2011). Those parks are now collectively known as Taipei Expo Park, and the rose garden is one of the reminders of that event.
To get there, take the MRT to Yuanshan, then walk through the other Expo Parks (Yuanshan and Fine Arts Park). Xinsheng Park also has an excellent children’s playground and Garden Maze. Sere more info here.
Azaleas, Taipei
The azalea (杜鵑花) is the official flower of Taipei city, and it is sometimes called “the city of azaleas”. A type of rhododendron, the ones in Taipei are pink or magenta in color.
In Azalea season (March), you can see the flowers blooming at National Taiwan University (NTU) campus, Da’an Forest Park (here), and at the Azalea Garden (here) in Yangmingshan National Park.
Calla Lilies, Yangmingshan
White calla lilies (白色海芋) are one of the three most famous flower seasons in Yangmingshan National Park (the other two being cherry blossoms before them and hydrangeas after them – see below).
Fields of the white lilies attract masses of people to Zhuzihu (Bamboo Lake) area of Yangmingshan National Park in March and April, just after the end of cherry blossom season.
Several flower farms in Zhuzihu charge around TWD 100 to enter. Take bus S8 from Shipai MRT or S9 from Beitou to get there. Try this tour or hire a private driver to visit.
Bougainvillea, Kaohsiung
In March and April, you can see bougainvillea (九重葛) trees with dark pink flowers blooming in many places in the streets of Kaohsiung. Here are some examples.
You can see an especially nice display at Taiwan Sugar Museum in March and April.
Here’s a Taiwanese article to give you an idea of what it looks like.
The Taiwan Sugar Museum is a recreational area on the grounds of a Japanese-era sugar factory. Get off the KMRT at Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station to access it.
Wisteria, Tamsui
At the Wisteria Coffee Plantation (淡水紫藤花園, here) in Tansui district of New Taipei City, the masses arrive for the short but beautiful display of wisteria flowers in early April.
Some of the purple flowers are draped from panels above head, so you can walk below them. Here are more photos of it.
Because the flowers only bloom for a couple weeks, the display is popular and crowded, especially if you come during the 4-day Tomb Sweeping Festival long weekend.
Entrance to the farm is TWD 300. Get here by bus from Tamsui MRT station or Tamsui District Office on the Danhai LRT line.
Tung Blossoms in Northern Taiwan
Tung blossoms (桐花 or 油桐花) are white flowers which are associated with Hakka culture in Taiwan.
Their location matches where you’ll find lots of Hakka people, and the Hakka hold a large festival related to the flowers. They also use the tree to make tung oil, which has a variety of uses.
For most Taiwanese, they hope to take photos of the white blossom petals falling from trees or covering the ground, which they feel looks like falling snow. This is why the flower season is also called April Snow or May Snow.
Locals will also make arrangements of the fallen flowers on the ground for their photos, such as heart shapes.
From April to May, you can see the blossoms in multiple locations, such as here in Taoyuan, here in Hsinchu, and here in Miaoli. Copy paste the flower name in Mandarin to GoogleMaps to find many more.
Hydrangeas, Yangmingshan
About a month after the calla lily season ends in Yangmingshan National Park, pink, blue, and purple hydrangeas (繡球花) come alive in the same fields.
Just like for the calla lilies, the farms in Zhuzihu village change a small entrance fee to enter and see the flowers. There are big clusters of them with walking paths between them.
Try this tour or hire a private driver to visit.
Lotus Flowers in Taipei, Tainan, and Kaohsiung
You can see ponds filled with blooming lotus flowers (蓮花) in these three cities in spring to early summer. The flowers are often associated with Buddhism – the pretty flowers grow from muddle ponds, making it a symbol of purity.
In Taipei, go here in Taipei Botanical Garden (which is also a great place to view many other flowers) in May to June to see a pond filled with them. In Tainan’s Baihe Lotus Park here they bloom from June to August.
And in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying district (near the HSR station), the aptly named Lotus Pond has lotus flowers blooming also from June to August. There’s a lot of them around the famous Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, the most popular of several temples and shrines around the lake.
Sunflowers across Taiwan
I’ve seen sunflowers (向日葵) in various locations around Taiwan. They have a long blooming season, from May to October.
In Taoyuan city, Sun & Green Farm here has them. There’s a TWD 100 entry fee – here’s their official site. You’ll need to drive or take a taxi from one of the stops on the Airport MRT line in Zhongli area of Taoyuan City.
In Taichung, the easiest place to catch them is at Zhongshe Flower Market (see first entry of this list). Houli Huanbao Park, which hosted the huge 2018-2019 Taichung World Flora Exposition, also usually has some.
I’ve also encountered random fields of sunflowers when doing road trips down the east coast of Taiwan, but unfortunately I don’t have any specific locations to pin!
Day Lilies at 60 Stone Mountain, Hualien
At Sixty Stone Mountain (六十石山, here) in southern Hualien county, entire hillsides are covered in orange day lilies.
The display takes place from July to September, with August being the peak month. You will need a car to visit. It makes for a nice little detour if doing a road trip down Highway 9.
The single road up the mountain can get very busy in season, especially on weekends. There may even be traffic controls.
60 Stone Mountain is not far from Chishang, a popular cycling destination. You could ride a bike over (2 hours each way) if you can handle some uphill cycling, or rent a scooter in Chishang to drive there.
Silvergrass in Northern Taiwan
My final entry is not a flower but a type of grass called silvergrass (芒草). In fall, the grass blooms with soft, silvery spikelets on the tips.
Entire hillsides are covered in it, and the silvergrass sways beautifully in the wind. This takes place from October to December, with November being the peak month.
Caoling Historic Trail in New Taipei City and Yilan is practically synonymous with silvergrass. At that time, the trail gets packed with locals.
Yangmingshan National Park is another great place to see it – try the easy Qingtiangang Circular Trail.