We went there by train. It was a train similar to a TGV this time, but it didn't get to high speed. I guess because the East coast railroad track is just below the mountain range that crosses Taiwan from North to South. Anyway, I found it comfortable.
Hualien is the most populated city, a little over 100000 inhabitants, in the East coast, which is the less populated part of Taiwan. I suppose because it is one of the most montainous parts and it is also the region hit more often by the typhoons arriving from the Pacific Ocean.
This was then my first opportunity to see a different region of the island. It tooks us a while to leave behing the big Taiwan area with the many crowded houses, dirty anb with the typical tiles on the facade. Little by little, the land was emptying of houses, and everything became greener, with the mountains always in the background. Most of the mountains and hills that I have seen so far in Taiwan look like drawings, chinese or not. They rise very steeply and many seem to be isolated, so the effect is amplified. Some are not very high, but some really are (more than 3000m).
On our way there, I saw many of what seemed to be rice fields. It took me a while to finally see the sea, to my left. I saw several rivers, near Hualien, or something resembling rivers because they might just be wide ravines, with the same look: a wide and flat river bed, full of white stones, that cut across the mountains that plunged into the sea. Yes, some reminded me of places in el Garraf (near Barcelona).
So, we arrived to Hualien in a little over two hours. Then, we crammed our things into a taxi and went to the conference reception to grab something to eat.
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