Warm service up and down the mountain
There is another route connecting Lishan to Taichung—through Dayuling and Wuling along PH 14A and through Puli. The small Fengyuan Bus No. 6506 goes that way.
From Fengyuan, 6506 passes through Shigang, Dongshi and Puli, and then on up via Wuling and Song Syue Lodge, before reaching Dayuling and finally arriving in Lishan. The entire route stretches 175 kilometers. The bus departs from Fengyuan Bus Station at 9:10 a.m., only reaching its destination of Lishan at about 3 p.m.
The 6506 route currently has three drivers, including Yu Jiade, who has been navigating it for 16 years. He recalls that when the route first went into operation in 2000, its three scheduled runs per day were almost always full. Since the Central Cross-Island Highway partially reopened, its passengers have dwindled and now are mostly local seniors. The service now runs only once a day.
Each time he drives the bus up into the mountains, Yu first stops briefly at the Qingshan tea shop along the Puli‡Wushe highway, where he picks up a stack of newspapers so that mountain residents can have an opportunity to read “today’s news.” (If sent by mail, the papers will be received a day after publication.) So long as he’s capable, he’s amenable to helping out as much as he can. Xu Qiuling, Qingshan’s owner, says, “The drivers’ relationship with residents along the route transcends the typical passenger‡driver relationship. When the weather is bad, the drivers do what they can to bring needed supplies up the mountain.” With his crow’s-feet wrinkles deepening as he laughs, Yu is visibly embarrassed upon hearing Xu’s praise. Yet the truth is that drivers have long been considerately carrying goods and people up and down the mountains without any fanfare.
From Fengyuan, at an altitude of 200 meters, the bus climbs to the highest elevation of any Taiwan highway in Wuling (3275 meters). With a difference of more than 3000 meters in elevation on the route, along with unpredictable weather in the mountains, Yu has experienced the inconvenience of being trapped in the mountains when conditions suddenly change. Nevertheless, Yu hasn’t wanted to swap routes. Mother nature rewards him with four seasons of beautiful scenery: spring cherry blossoms, verdant summers, autumn maples, and winter snows, as well as an occasional “sea of clouds.” These scenes have left indelible impressions on his memory.
Yu is very familiar with the winding mountain roads, and his driving technique makes them seem as smooth as silk. The roads are narrow, and buses and trucks that ply these routes are typically equipped with CB radios, so they can relay information about current road conditions and avoid meeting each other at pinch points. The radios are a driver’s small joy. The voices filling the airwaves can’t help but bring smiles to people’s faces.
On the small bus, everyone has their own life story to relate. They take to chatting easily even when they aren’t at first familiar with each other. One old couple on their first visit to Taiwan, who came all the way from Beijing, boarded at Puli. They are visiting their uncle in Lishan, who came with the Nationalist government when it decamped for Taiwan in 1949. The 6506 bus ride is the last leg of their long journey.
After resting for a bit in Lishan, at 5:00 p.m. Yu swaps out the 6506 sign for No. 6508 (Lishan to Wuling Farm) and goes to Lishan Junior High and Elementary School to pick up students, who are out of school for the day. The bus fills at once with life and laughter. Yu says he enjoys the innocence of children. He’s been transporting these kids for nine years. Along the way, the bus stops and the children swarm outside to a general store, where they purchase snacks for the rest of the journey. The sight of the children satisfied and laughing is another scenic image captured along the highway.
Fengyuan Bus Transportation’s route No. 6506 ascends to the highest elevation of any highway in Taiwan.