Maokong Gondola 貓空纜車

Posted July 14th, 2007 by david

Maokong Gondola in Taipei City

Update: On 1 October 2008 operations of the Maokong Gondola were suspended for one month. This was because of erosion under a pillar caused by rain from Typhoon Jangmi.

Maokong Gondola closed for evaluation of erosion - Taipei Times

The Maokong Gondola (貓空纜車; Māokōng lǎnchē) is a four kilometre long cable car system in the mountains south of Taipei. It runs between the Taipei Zoo and Maokong with intermediate stops at the Taipei Zoo (inside station) and Zhinan Temple (指南宮; Zhǐnán Gōng).

You can take a short ride on the gondola to visit the Taipei Zoo or you can go further to Zhinan Temple and Maokong. There are hiking trails further up into the mountains from both these places. Maokong is famous as a tea growing area and has many tea houses where you can drink tea and enjoy the views of Taipei.

The Taipei Zoo Gondola Station is located about 300 metres from the Taipei Zoo MRT Station. Tickets cost NT$30, 40 or 50 depending on the number of stations. The system is operated by the Taipei MRT and you can use the Easy Card (悠遊卡) to pay the fare or purchase tickets in the stations. The gondola has proved very popular so expect long queues on the weekends.

The Gondola is closed for maintainence every Monday. This was because of numerous problems with the operations since the official opening (Taipei Times, 26 July 2007). The hours of operation are 9:00 am to 10:00 pm from Tuesday to Friday and 8:30 am to 10:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Maokong Station of the Maokong Gondola system in Taipei