:::   :::   When visitors go to Fenci Lake first time, they always ask the local people about Fenci “Lake”and try to find the lake. They didn’t know it is just a vivid description for a type of geographic environment. Fenci Lake is surrounded by mountains on the east, west and north sides, so it makes the place look like a dustpan. It is surrounded by clouds and looks like the shape of a lake, so people called it the “Dustpan Lake”. “Fenci Lake is really a lake of forests. You not only can experience the beauty of the forests here but also can feel truly healthy,” saidChen Rueihua, the chairman of the Fenci Lake Community Development Association, This is the opening remark when he talks about the Fenci Lake. It explains clearly why there is no lake on the map. This mountain town is located at an elevation of 1405 meters above sea level. It is a part of the Jhonghe Village in Jhuci Township and a middle station of Alishan Forest Railway. It used to be the largest station outside the Chiayi Beimen Station, a very busy commercial center for trading goods. People also call it “South Jioufen” or “Jioufen of Alishan”, because of the Red Cypress Ancient Street since the Japanese Occupation Era. Fenci Lake is famous not only for its box-lunch, tofu, grass rice cake, grandparents’ cake and other local snacks, but also for its ancient goods which are hard to find anywhere else, such as facial creams from grandma’s generation; among which, the most famous brand is the “White Bear Facial Cream”, more than 70 years old. In addition to the famous old streets and railways, because it’s surrounded by mountains on three sides, there are many natural landscapes near Fenci Lake. People generally divide them into five districts: the first district is around the Fenci Lake Old Street. Across from the Fenci Lake Train Station, there are square bamboos. The trunks and the branches of this type of bamboo are all square-shaped, so people call them square bamboos. So far you can find sthem only in Sitou and Fenci Lake. Fenci Lake is even the first place to plant those bamboos. The second district is at the Dadongshan Track. Standing on the top of the Dadongshan Sun-Watching Peak, you can see sunrise from the Jade Mountains in the east, as magnificent as the view in Alishan. The third district is the Gaozaikan Ancient Path around the Guanglunshan. The fourth district is between Shueisheliao and Fenci Lake. The Hero Cliff is a triple cliff with slopes of 60 degree to 90 degree, a stunningly natural danger by the prodigious workmanship of motherly nature. There is a more-than-1000-meter-deep natural barrier in between the triple cliff. Its turns and twists are even more threatening. The fifth district is between Guanghua and Fenci Lake. Trips of one or two more days, hiking with light equipment on the mountain trail or climbing deeply in the mountains, are all very good.