Taichung remains one of my favourite city to visit over a long weekend for its relax vibe and easy to navigate infrastructure. The city has a lovely park that runs through the middle of it and it is perfect for walking. As we are visiting Taiwan over NYE we have also included Taipei for the final 2 days. As Hong Kong as direct flights to both locations you can easily split this into 2 trips but I think 3 days is good enough to get a good understanding of Taichung. It is also a great place for design and art lovers.
This is one of my more budget conscious trip but by no means our accommodations and food were subpar.
TAICHUNG
Accommodations
Airline Inn Green Park Way is a no-frill hotel with all the essentials. The rooms were massive for the price we paid but the downside is that our particular rooms had no windows. It is just a bit out the way from city centre but it is still walkable.
Sightseeing
Calligraphy Greenway / 草悟道 Outdoor retreat offering grassy areas, sculpture & walkways, surrounded by eateries & an art museum.
Feng Chia Night Market / 逢甲夜市
Fengjia Night Market, also called Fengjia Shopping Town, is a night market in Xitun District, Taichung, Taiwan. The market is located next to Feng Chia University. It was claimed to be the largest night market in Taiwan. You can easily snack around here all night instead of a sit-down dinner.
Restaurants
Akuan Hot Pot / 阿官火鍋專家台中精誠大隆直營店
We have never heard about this place before but its a cheap and cheerful 1-to-1 Hotpot place. The food was mediocre but as you can tell some food are coming out straight from the freezer but for our first time this will have to do as it was getting late. Also as you get your own pots this is ideal for groups with individual dietary requirement. However if you have time to do some research I am sure you can find places with better quality.
酒巷一弄
We stumbled across the casual diner our hotpot dinner and this is a great place to get a few drinks and munch on their charcoal grilled skewers late hours. Staff was friendly and the food is decent as well.
Miyahara Ice Cream / 宮原眼科
This will probably be one of the most beautiful ice cream shop you will ever visit. The main branch is located near Taichung Station but they have 2-3 branches dotted around the neighbourhood as well. Do not leave Taichung without coming here.
Chun Shui Tang Chaofu Restaurant / 春水堂 朝富店
Chun Shui Tang claims to the original inventor of the popular taiwanese bubble tea. Either way with its traditional interior and the wide variety of regional cuisine making it a great place for lunch. They have a few branches but from my research this place has the best seating area and view as it's next to a canal.
Coffee Shops and Tea Houses
The pace in Taichung is notably slower than Hong Kong and Taipei. There are plenty of coffee shops and tea houses around the the various parks, so take some time to people watch and slow down. They all have their own individual characters so just go with your gut feeling.
Entertainment
Aman King
Aman King is a live music venue playing international and local music. It was pretty quiet when we visited on a Wednesday night but we still enjoyed ourselves
維康視障按摩廣場 - Massage Parlor
This placed is run by people with sight impediment. It's not the best place but its not too bad either. Saying that massage is a very person experience much like choosing the right hairdresser. I was satisfied with my masseur no. 12 and his business card is below. Most masseurs have their own number for their clients to rebook them more easily. This place is near the Feng Chia Night Market/逢甲夜市.
TAIPEI
As this is a fairly last minute trip we didn't have many options on accommodations so I will leave this section out for Taipei. Taipei is a popular destination in Asia for New Years Eve. FYI we stayed at Taipei Hsuanmei Boutique Hotel / 宣美精品飯店. It was a bit dated. Also we came here to party so didn't exactly do much sightseeing so I I will only do my restaurant listing.
Restaurants
Old Sichuan / 老四川
The above average Sichuan Spicy Hotpot place popular with the locals. Expect to wait to get a table. They have a good selection of seafood and local delicacies.
Local Taiwanese Beef Noodle
You cannot leave Taiwan without having their famous beef noodle soup. There are plenty of options in the Shilin Market / 士林夜市 area but we found this street vendor and we liked it. I can't remember the name of the place but it is on the dead end side of Xiaonan Street.
二月半そば - Wheat Soba Restaurant
We stumbled across this restaurant as we were walking around the trendy area of Chong Shan. They specialise in healthy soba and other veggie heavy dishes. I must say even as a meat lovely I approve of this place. They also serve good tea as well which you can buy and take home
Entertainment
指舞向陽足體養身館 - Massage Parlor
The technicians here seems to be more experienced and this is definitely one of the better massages I have had. Go for no.55. They are opened 24hrs.
Around Taipei
As an alternative to the city lifestyle, you can plan a hiking at Yangmingshan National Park / 陽明山國家公園 and enjoy an Onsen break at Beitou District / 北投區. You can do this as separate trips but we managed to squeezed both in on the same day. If you are not staying the night in Beitou there are many hotels with in room onsen which can rent the room at an hourly rate. This is perfect as we were able to just chill and shower before we head out for dinner. I can't remember the name of the hotel we used but I'm pretty sure its the Beitou Hot Springs Resort / 南豐天玥泉會館 as they have a large onsen tube big enough for 4 people.
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