Share from tripadvisor - Tom. Very detail information for those who are interested.
Wulai
First off, getting there. MRT to Xindian and bus to Wulai, except this can be difficult. The 849 is the only bus, and given it's starts in Taipei, you can expect to have to wait for one! There were 50 people waiting at Xindian, only 15 of us got on. The journey itself is a typical bus ride into the mountains, hold on and hold on tight! The journey took 30 minutes. Taxis for the record, are fixed priced at NT$680 not $600 as seen elsewhere on the internet, and this has been the case for 3 years apparently.
I arrived in Wulai at 1125 - 1hr 30 from my hostel in central Taipei and it was surprisingly quiet. A quaint old street, without the crowds of Jiufen or Shifen. I walked to the waterfall in about 30 minutes or so with very few walking there. The waterfall was impressive, but it's the other side of the river, and drops into the river rather than being part of it. Nonetheless, a lovely sight and no huge crowds jostling for photos, yes I'm talking to you Shifen.
The cable car is 220NT and includes admission to the Yunshien resort, which was very quiet. Excellent views from the cable car and the Yunshien resort was surprisingly quiet. My time was limited, and regrettably only spent an hour there, although could have spent another hour easily, whether it was eating lunch - grilled partridge was tempting or trying one of the games. Archery was 80NT for 15 arrows and there was only me, and a small group of locals doing it! A great bit of fun, several arrows missing by more than a metre!
Heading back, I was in a cable car to myself! And I took the log train back, 1.6km which again, I was the only one on! The queue to get on, at the other end must have been 200 deep though and the look of amazement I got, stepping out on my own were a sight to see. Walk to the waterfall, log train back is my advice.
The old street was a bit busier at 2:15 than 11:25, but you could walk down it easily. The bus back took around 30 minutes to get back to Xindian. More of the same, hold on? cling on to the ceiling hooks! I eventually got to Xinzhuang before 4pm, wishing I'd stayed longer and done more archery!
Soooo, my advice on Wulai
-Go early - arrive midday latest to avoid the busier afternoon.
-Don't expect to get on the first bus at Xindian
-Walk to the waterfall, log train back
-Make sure you plan for 3-4 hours.
One of my favourite spots, and yet really not talked about in the same vain as other spots in northern Taiwan. There's a lot of hyped up places, Wulai is definitely one of the better.
I also stopped off at Xindian on the way back, I had previously hiked the Hemei and Shitou trails back in early April in rain. But it was too hot to do anything but have a sit down and kill some time before the baseball.
So yeah, Wulai, it's worth it!