Beaches, beaches, beaches, I want to know more about the beaches near Taichung and on the West coast in general!!
Are they/the water clean? -I worry about the seepage from industry, argicultural and houshold pollution into the streams that ends up on or nearby the beach.
Where are they? -Names, location etc.
Any accomodation on/around the beaches?
Tell me, pretty please!!
HOTTALA!!
Is it really true that the air is better in Taizhong. I haven’t looked for a while, but I sued to check the air reports in the Taipei Times and Taipei had the best air out of all the big cities most of the time (maybe on account of there being no factories).
brian
[quote=“Boss Hogg”]Ahhhhh!!!
users2.ev1.net/~turton/driving.html[/quote]
Wow, how did I manage to survive in the place described in the link above? And I thought S
We once drove out to a beach called “huoli dianchang” I think, named after the power plant that sits right on the coast there. There were no waves to surf on, but there were some people playing at the edges of the water. Felt far too industrial for me to go near the water though.
You might want to try the surf shop above Frog’s, they might have a better idea where the true waves are located. They certainly weren’t there when I visited.
The waves is not the most important thing for me - I never got around to learn how to surf anyway.
I am looking for a reasonably tidy beach with reasonably clean water without too dangerous riptides or undercurrents - a place where I can bring the kids to play, with a good book and a couple of cold ones for myself. Accomodation near by would be a plus, because I don’t drive after having “the cold ones”.
Come on, give me those places, so I can surprise the kids in the weekend.
Of all the comments about Taichung, most are correct except the traffics, IMO, are far worse than in Taipei. IN Taipei, at least you have a choice of driving and not driving (MRT w/ buses will get you almost any point in Taipei, I once took the wrong bus and got to the tip of Taipei between Tamshui and Keelung Rivers [延平北路7段] )
In Taichung, even places served by bus have frequency of every one or half hour, unless you live near downtown and East/South part of the city. Getting to the western part of town requires either scooter, car, or taxi. Scooter is dangerous, driving will give you really big parking hassle and targets for gangs [worse than thieves], cab drivers will try to rip you off, especially after 9pm, so think about this before you come to Taichung. Just imagine Manhatten w/o subways and buses. My mom is from Taichung and I have seen this city evolved from a clean, pleasant midsize city to an uninhabitable concrete jungle.
To the coastline, I remember going west on 台中港路 , where Sogo is at, you’ll pass through Tunghai Univ, keep going west you’ll end up in Taichung Harbor 台中港 , the actual town is called Wuqi 梧棲 , however this spot is laid out for commercial fishing (there’s a fish market).
I didn’t know you were so serious about this. Maybe the following link helps:
You will have to remove " (Taizhong)" from the url, it gets inserted by the moronic “no, that’s not correct pinyin”-function even if I use the [url] tags
http://www.taiwanfun.com/central/taichung/articles/0108/0108CoverStory.htm
Or just click here and then on the only search result.
Anyway, don’t expect too much.
Have an nice WE,
Steve
[quote]To the coastline, I remember going west on
Da An beach in Taichung County - near Da Jia (Tachia) isn’t too bad. There is sand. And, from what I hear, ine of the beaches near Tung Xiao isn’t too bad either.
Lived in Taichung for my first year in Taiwan and if it wasn’t for a woman I’d probably still be there. Started out learning Chinese at Feng Chia Uni - very cheap - and later went to Tung Hai - very good and excellent grounds.
As for beaches, went up near Da Jia to some place that had a water slide and pool right next to the beach. Sand was black and strewn with rubbish. Then there was the thought of swimming in the great cistern of China. No thanks.
However, get up into the mountains and there are some great swimming spots. and seemingly clean water.
Totally agree with a previous comment on the traffic. Taichung is easy to get around but its the running of the red lights and drunken drivers that spook me. I personally knew two people killed in the year I was there, both by drunken drivers. Through friends still in Taichung I’ve since heard of several more. Public transport is there but you really need to know what you’re doing. The buses were quite cool actually, as I recall they used to play really tacky music.
As an aside why didn’t the original poster pose a broader question? I for one woul be interested in hearing comments on Tainan.
HG
Ah!
I have it - go to Mala Wan in WaiPu. $400NT and an artificial ocean.
The beach near Da Jia has semi - white sand, but I wouldn’t swim there. I think the east coast is best.
"I for one woul be interested in hearing comments on Tainan. "
Traditional and conservative, with much more of a small town feel than the three other major cities in Taiwan. It literally only takes 20 minutes to get from one side of town to the other on a scooter. Temples everywhere. The buildings look more rundown and not as modern as those in Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei. The garbage trucks speak English. A fairly big student population studying at university here. The pace of life is rather relaxed and dull, at least compared to the other cities - there’s only so many things you can do here in this town. Not nearly as many foreigners here as in the other cities - for a short time it seemed that there were Canadians all over the place, but right now it seems like the foreign community has really dwindled in the past few months (probably because of SARS fears, I’d guess). It’s only half an hour by car/one hour by scooter from Kaohsiung if the nightlife here gets too dull. It’s the major stronghold of Taiwanese nationalism - hardly any mainlanders or members of the KMT; most seem to support the DPP or one of the smaller parties. Lots of Taiwanese spoken here, and the Mandarin spoken here seems to come with a thick Taiwanese accent, at least compared to the ‘cleaner’ Mandarin spoken in Taipei. Mountains are a 20 minute drive away by scooter; as with most of the West Coast, nowhere to swim because the beaches are too polluted.
Beaches are polluted in Tainan too! Bummer.
Thanks for the info.
I don’t know why but I somehow pegged Tainan as an ideal little town.
HG
It is ideal if you want to live in a city of close to a million people, but with a small town feel. Life is quite relaxed here compared to the other Big 3, though you pay the price in increased boredom. Some people like that, though, as they can more easily avoid getting sucked into big city distractions as they would in say Taipei. I lived in Chiayi for a while and it’s got even more of that urban small town feel. I really wouldn’t live in any town in Taiwan smaller than that, as I’d get buggy.