And for many tourists who visit the island, Alishan is Taiwan. Primary school textbooks state that the best way to go up Alishan is to take the steam train through the forest. Whistling brightly, the train passes through tropical, sub-tropical and temperate forests. A ride on the forest train allows one to appreciate the whole spectrum of Taiwan's beautiful forests.
小學課本中提到，上阿里山最好的方法是搭阿里山蒸汽森林火車，在汽笛的嗚嗚聲中，火車會經過熱帶林、暖帶林、寒帶林，坐一趟阿里山森林火車，也就完整地欣賞了一次台灣特有的美麗林相。