Half Day Excursion to Yilan – Zhangmeiama Farm

A few months ago, a friend recommended this boutique, instagram-perfect farm in Yilan called Zhangmeiama. I went on the website and realized that it was only 1 hour outside Taipei. So on a Saturday whe the kids were bored and I was almost running out of ideas of what to do, we decided to hop on an iRent rental car and drove all the way out to Yilan. My tweenage son was whining and complaining about what a baby activity we were dragging him to and refused to go at first. I told him I was taking his iPad with us when we leave the house, and then he had a quick change of heart.

After you pay the entrance ticket fee, you walk into this big, very picturesque garden. It almost took me back to Japan to one of those Japanese zen gardens…. almost. For those who are up for it, you can rent kimonos there, pretend you are in Japan and take photos with the animals. There were 3 types of animals mostly – deers, alpacas, and capybaras. Guess who loved feeding them the most? The tweenage boy.

The animals strolled around freely around the gardens, and appeared to be well looked after. One thing i did notice about the farm is that it is in great condition, well kept and clean. The staffs were very friendly and very attentive to guests and the animals as well.

Included with the ticket was another activity where kids got to make some mochi. They spent about 30 minutes doing it and were able to cook it on the spot and enjoy it then. Our trip was cut short because the weather turned and began raining pretty hard. If it had not, there was another activity for the kids to do – harvesting or planting veggies for 30 minutes. I wouldn’t mind the kids playing in the mud but the rain was coming down too hard so we left quickly after. A few weeks later, I went on their Facebook page, and it seems like they got even more animals now like sheeps, and kangaroo. It was great outdoor fun, even though we only spent less than 2 hours there. I would come back again and perhaps plan another activity after it, and then wrap the day at a local Taiwanese restaurant, because the food in Yilan itself is worth making a trip for.