From a packed 台中 Taichung Day 1 itinerary (link), we continue our Taiwan Tour with more Taichung good food and attractions on day 2 🙂
The first photo needs no introduction. 彩虹村 Taichung Rainbow village demonstrates one’s man resolve to preserve his village. From one wall, then one house, whole street, the whole village was transformed in a few decades and is now a tourists magnet 🙂
More than the bright colourful backdrops, I love the meaningful couplets, emphasizing Family and Humane values.
More photos can be found on our Facebook albums (Day 5), and GPS are in our Google sheet.
01 – 動漫彩繪巷 Painted Animation Lane
(GPS 24.138346, 120.670445)
Wall murals, animations, your favorite cartoon characters.
There are cartoons and manga from a few generations, find your favourite and pose away 🙂
Even Daddy and Mommy got their own childhood idols 🙂
We heard many of the mural walls had been torn down a few years ago, but there are still enough to pose for 30 minutes 🙂
老夫子! My kids confirm cannot recognised them.
02 彩虹村 Rainbow Village
(GPS 24.133950, 120.610013)
A Pink village. The whole village is filled with cheerful characters and cartoon liked drawings.
Some souvenirs to remind ourselves of the interesting decals and interaction. It is already tough to paint your own wall (one tone), imagine painting the whole wall with so many motifs!
Not your usual “arts gallery”, but definitely captivating. Some houses are still occupied.
If you are lucky, you might get to pose with the famous Painter uncle too. Mr Huang is already 95 years old!
The whole village is his canvas. Uncle is no longer painting, but he will forever be Rainbow Village’s mascot.
We suspect Mr Huang is a romantic at heart, there are many loving couplets all around.
Can you identify some of the celebrities?
One fun excursion, you do not need to be artistic to appreciate the creative murals. We would recommend 30 to 60 minutes at this village.
02a If time permits, or if you are seeking some thrills, there is a popular Gokart nearby, Rosso (GPS 24.167208, 120.582386).
The price is much cheaper than Singapore and Google reviews are good. I know the kids would be thrilled, but we did not have enough time in Taichung (Read our GoKart experience in Johor and Tokyo)
The most famous Ice creams in Taichung!
Building interior looks like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts!
The Chinese name “宮原眼科” indicates eye clinic and we were initially wondering why eyes are related to ice creams :p
宮原眼科 Miyahara
Definitely one of the recommended Taichung good food, you will see tourists eating along the corridor. Besides the stunning interior, the boggling range of chocolate and side dishes are bewildering!
How do we choose our chocolates!
Many will recommend the house brand “日出乳酪蛋糕 Dawn” cheese cake too. I found it too creamy. You may grab souvenirs like 太陽餅 Sun cake, 鳳梨酥 pineapple cake too. (we still prefer the versions from 佳德 Chia Te )
For those who prefer to sit and enjoy the cool ambiance, there is another branch 200 metres away (GPS 24.138964, 120.681995).
The staffs at both location are super friendly. One “bowl” of ice cream costs NT360, it comes with two chocolate servings, a waffle and cheesecake slice. It is more than enough for 3 pax 🙂
Ice Creams lovers, remember 宮原眼科! (rated 4/5)
Miyahara is just 3 minutes from 臺中車站 Taichung train station.
Additional tips :
a)Do find some time to research for your sports attire and shoes. Taiwan’s sports shoes are easily 30 to 50% cheaper than Singapore (Adidas, Nike, New Balance etc). We would recommend you to buy in Taichung or Keelung, instead of Taipei, the prices are the same but service attitude different.
Those branches outside Taipei are more friendly and enthusiastic, tip-top customer service and no hard sell.
Checkout 福星路 Fuxing Road (GPS 24.176875, 120.645167) just next to Fengjia Night Market. You will see many sports outlets and stores.
b) We mention before that Taichung public transport is not as comprehensive as Taipei’s. Transfer (train or bus) will take up considerable transport time, we had engaged 玩島玩旅行社 Round Taiwan Round (RTR) for a full day Taichung private tour.
Mr Gao was our driver and his Vito van ferry us across Taichung in comfort. You may read more about RTR’s services at the following link.
We will share more about Green Hotel and Fengjia Night Market in the next post. Do pop by below photo albums and previous Taiwan posts to view our Fun itinerary.
Photo albums :
–Day 1 Aowanda, Cing Jing
–Day 2 Cing Jing
–Day 3 Xitou Nature Education Area, Monster Village, Sun Moon Lake
–Day 4 Taichung (Zhongshe flower, ShengXin station, Cycling, Fengjia)
–Day 5 Taichung (Animation Lane, Rainbow, Miyahara)
–Day 6 Keelung 基隆 -Day 7 Ruifang, Jiufen and Shifen
–Day x Taipei HomeAway and Neighbourhood
–Day 8 永康, Xi Men Ding, 象山, 饒河 Raohe
–Day 9 and 10 北投 Beitou, Toyshop, 士林 Shilin
3D2N in 台中 Taichung, there are enough Taichung attractions to keep families entertained.
Nature, Hiking, hot Springs, 文创 Cultural, FOOD! Hey we did cycling at Houfeng too, thus far our best family activity in 台湾 Taiwan. More photos in our Facebook albums (here).
I would recommend Taichung as a base to explore nearby counties.
1)East to 南投 Nantou (Cingjing), Xitou, Alishan and Sun Moon Lake
2)South to 彰化 Changhua, 台南 Tainan
3)North to Miaoli (Flying Cows and Strawberries)
Balmy 14 degrees, Blue skies, no more mist, and a pianist :p
Photo above show Ah Xin playing the piano at 中社觀光花市 Zhong She Flower Market.
We started the first 3 days of our Taiwan trip in the mountains and amidst the cold, cloud and mist, love it! But we sort of miss the Sun too. (Our itinerary here )
We headed to Miaoli from Sun Moon Lake (2 hour trip), bypassing Taichung along the way. Miaoli is famous for Flying Cow Farm, but did you know Miaoli is also famous for strawberries and grapes?
Chapter 1 Strawberries
And the most famous street in 苗栗 Miaoli for strawberries must be 大湖 Dahu. The whole street left and right is packed with strawberry farms for at least two kilometres!
Our driver recommended 六合 (GPS 24.443889, 120.873889) because the hydroponic method meant we can pick the strawberries with ease. Those traditional farms meant you need to squat and might be back breaking after 30 minutes.
This is the first season for Strawberries so many of them are still babies, not really plumb yet and slightly sour.
Part of the fun is challenging each other to find the biggest strawberry, snip snip. It will not take long to gather a full basket, make your payment (pay by grams) at the counter and enjoy some strawberry products.
These are not pluck by us, definitely looked richer and juicier!
On to the next stop, there are a lot of silver grass in the hilly country side, glimmering and swaying under the sunlight. Many cyclists are challenging gravity too!
Chapter 2 Hakka Lunch and old Train station
Xiao Li told us that many 客家 Hakkas are staying around this area.
Ok, there are at least three “百年” 客家 restaurants along the street. One of the best lunch we enjoyed in Taiwan was at 勝興客栈.
The internal decoration felt unchanged from the last decades, and the food was really delicious. The menu is written on the bamboo scripts (sorry we did not understand traditional Chinese and needed help with food ordering).
The whole dining experience felt like those 80s, 90s Hong kong dramas 客栈 (where are the 龙门客栈 swordsmen?), and the staff are super friendly.
Delicious home cooked food, the 扣肉 (pork) simply melted in our mouth.
Second round of rice for us, the chicken was a little bloody for the kids.
(Photo below) This is off the menu, camerised sweet potato. This is the bomb! Sweet, crunchy and appetising. Thank you 小李 for the lunch treat 🙂
Visited an old nostalgic Train station 勝興 across the road. 勝興車站 Sheng4 Xin 3 Train station is just across the road from our restaurant.
The cute Minion Kombi van was spotted in a carpark. Left photo (below) is the entrance, walk through and you will see the tracks.
Backdrop for more Instagram poses and selfies, you can walk inside the tunnel too. Not as happening and crowded as Shifen but interesting stop (literally) nevertheless.
You will see buskers and even a small street market along the street.
Chapter 3 Flowers! 中社花海
Fees apply, nice photo opportunities but go during the morning when the Sun is less harsh. I could imagined weekends will be super crowded.
Kids taking a photo with our friendly driver and guide, 小李.
(Many bloggers know him)
*Take note 中社花海 “Zhong She” is different from 新社花海 “Xin She” (flower photos in link), 新社花海 is free but exhibition is only available in Nov and Dec.
Although both exhibitions are famous for flowers and equally stunning, if you want to pose with Pianos, choose 中社花海 (GPS 24.334388, 120.730397).
Entrance fee for Zhong She.
Lavender fields and many other variety of blooms. We would recommend minimum 45 minutes at this area. If you love photography or flowers, spend 2 hours here with your darlings 🙂
Kids can feed the fishes in the pond too.
The pianos in the center of the flower fields are super popular! Looks so drama!
More photo opportunities, 花痴 haha 🙂
Love the swings, which visitors eagerly pose with. Depending on the season, different flowerbeds will be curated.
Our favourite is still the mysterious Lavender. Many photobombs inside the flower fields, be patient to capture the best angle.
Taichung attractions
As we head back towards the city, the setting sun lingers over the horizon.
Chapter 4 Dinner street food or restaurant
We heard Steak Akaoni 赤鬼炙燒牛排 is popular (GPS 24.176006, 120.645352). Presentation looks good but meal is so so (rate 3.5/5)
Some of the Northern attractions mentioned in this blog post are in the screenshot below, do a Google and you will find many more Taichung attractions.
We will blog about 逢甲夜市 Fengjia night market in another post. We love street food, thus we always order less for our main meals and complement with extra portions night Market !
Other attractions which you can try in Taichung, GPS all in our Google sheet. We will share some of them on our Day 2 Taichung post.
-薰衣草森林 Lavender Cottage -谷關溫泉 Guguan Hot spring
-大坑 Dakeng (choose from 10 hiking trails )
