Centrally-located Taichung, being one of the largest cities in Taiwan, has a wealth of impressive activities and sights to tour. But if you’re only stopping by, and want to check off the most interesting attractions on the to-do list, what should you do? Below is an example itinerary of a fun day in central Taichung City.
Start your day at Shen Ji New Village (審計新村), an artsy cluster of stalls and restaurants. Even in the morning, the streets pleasantly bustle with shoppers overlooking locally-made stamps, jewelry, key chains, street food, etc. This is the perfect place to grab a souvenir, pick out a pair of delicate earrings, and have a quick breakfast before heading over to Taichung’s National Museum of Natural Science, which is only a twenty minute’s walk away.
The museum opens at 9am, closes at 5pm, and can be entered for at or less than 100 NT per person, depending on the package visitors purchase. There are multiple centers, halls, and exhibitions to view, including a giant squid specimen, preserved in formalin solution. Besides other taxidermy animals, the museum also has exhibitions regarding, for example, Eastern health practices and Pacific Islander art, as well as Taiwanese architectural miniatures and relics. The botanical gardens across the road, which are mostly open to the public, have multiple sections designed to familiarize city-dwellers with native Taiwanese plants and flowers. Furthermore, for a small fee, visitors can enter the Tropical Rainforest Greenhouse, which contains both domestic and foreign plant species inside of a simulated rainforest environment.
After a late lunch, catch a bus down to Painted Animation Lane (動漫彩繪巷), only twenty minutes away. While the alleys are small, it is packed with depictions of characters and scenes from multiple anime. This a perfect place to take pictures and marvel at the time and skills it took to portray the characters. The area also houses a few arcades and toy machines to pass the time.
In the late afternoon, take a fifteen minute bus ride to Miyahara, a famous ice cream shop and confectionery. Miyahara’s main building was formerly Taichung’s largest ophthalmology clinic during Japanese occupation; since a lot of the older architecture was preserved during the building’s reconstruction, this can be seen in Miyahara’s red brick exterior and stone entryway. Nowadays, visitors can purchase all manner of baked goods - pineapple cakes, sun cakes, tin cookies - as well as other goods, like tea, chocolate truffles, coffee, and, of course, icecream, which is traditionally served in a curved waffle bowl.
After stocking up on sweets, head to any of Taichung’s traditional markets. One of the closest to Miyahara is Taichung Second Market, which is only a ten minute’s walk away, but other markets like Fengjia Night Market or Zhonghua Road Night market are also good options.
Taichung City is bustling with things to do, see, and experience. While the above one-day itinerary is a good place to get started, Taichung’s many attractions are vast enough to last weeks.
