Not to mention clumsy attempts at PR by fiat… 
Not to mention clumsy attempts at PR by fiat… [/quote]
Oh? I prefer touring Puerto Rico in a Miata, with the top down (weather permitting) 
I often wondered about that claim, too. I think it goes way back to when there was only the No. 1 Freeway and regular trains – but that’s like nearly 15 years ago now. With the 1 and the 3 and the HSR, there’s very little difference, or at least none that has ever inconvenienced me to any great degree. CERTAINLY not enough to merit suffering all the many negatives of Taichung.
Shit, I woke up at 11 am in Taipei on Saturday, fed and bathed the kid, took a shower, ambled down to the MRT station, caught the HSR and a taxi and was in Daken in plenty of time for lunch.
True – no need to stop in Taichung if you’re already heading north or south on the highways or the HSR, but there are plenty of bus routes, and a few trains available to places like Puli, Shuili, and Ali-shan. I’ve been here more than 20 years and have seen these links improve over time.
I bet the taxi ride took twice as long as train though eh? Whoever thought of putting the HSR all the way out there, and then providing little to no public transport to and from it, needs a swift kick in the ass.
There can only be one Headhoncho…the II!
I bet the taxi ride took twice as long as train though eh? Whoever thought of putting the HSR all the way out there, and then providing little to no public transport to and from it, needs a swift kick in the ass.[/quote]
YOU! YOU! YOU Redwagon! You just don’t love Taichung ENOUGH!
The taxi didn’t take twice as long, smartarse. The train took an hour, the taxi only took 70 minutes. So THERE!
Maybe those are the attractions he’s so proud of? After all, Taichung does boast the highest number of ‘special businesses’ per head capita. :discodance:
One misunderstanding I can disabuse you of however is the illegality of the KTVs, ‘clubs’ and motels Taichung is famous for. You can be sure they all have licenses and pay ‘tax’ to the ‘relevant authorities’.
For those tourists coming to Taiwan: Some tips for your info as below…
- Better visit Northern and Central Taiwan to pretty much get the picture of the Taiwan culture here, if you have more time, try south like Tainan or Kaohsiung… Focusing on either area only may still gives you fun, but would probably not give you a deep sense of this island. Most foreigners just focusing on Taipei/Northern area (due to time limit or other misleading info?) probably just get half picture of this country, it’d be pity I would say, especially if you are a culture-oriented visitor… Here are popular spots rating in tour mag (in order of rank):
(a) Chin-Jing Farm (central tw)
(b) Kenting (south tw)
© Taroko (east tw)
(d) Sun-Moon Lake (central tw)
(e) Alishan (central tw)
(f) Xi-tou (central tw)
- Both Taichung and Taipei could be good starts for your trip, depending on what kind of feel you look for ! I will skip Northern area for you may already get sufficient aids out of book or other visitors…For central Taiwan, here you go:
For Taichung city:
(a) Metro Park: taichungmp.cpami.gov.tw/taichung_mp_english/
(b) 6-star love motel: swmall.com.tw/web/mulan1/
© Feng-Chia Night market:
(d) Taichung Green avenue:
travel.tccg.gov.tw/scenic/index- … pe=16&id=4
wretch.cc/blog/yoke0918/9059117
(e) International Restruant avenue: yuminghui.pixnet.net/blog/post/24290588
(f) Secience/art museum: youtube.com/watch?v=T6EG1y1s … re=related
In the Science museum, you can also see detailed info of findings of 3000 yrs ago culture/civilizations found inside Taichung city…
(g) Taichung Park: travel.tccg.gov.tw/scenic/index- … e=16&id=24
For Taichung vicinity: all reachable by buses departing from Taichung train station
(a) leisure bike path: retrue.net/?p=1064
(b) Chin-Jing Farm: cingjing.gov.tw/photo/index. … x_m0_id=10
© Sun-Moon Lake: sunmoonlake.gov.tw/TW/02000088.aspx
(c+) The 9-tribe villiage playground: nine.com.tw/en/06_villa/villa.php
where you can see some culture-sides of 9 diffrent aboriginal tribes, and enjoy the cable car all the way down to the Sun-Moon Lake…
(d) Xi-tou:
(e) Lukang:
(f) Gu-Guan hot spring: blog.xuite.net/stuart_lin/nbxtour/32206103
I will find some time to furnish more info…
[quote=“Captain Stag”][quote=“kenlu88”][quote=“redwagon”][quote=“kenlu88”]
Well…well… :bravo: :bravo: You should be awared Oscar for the “Actor of the Year” prize…headhonchoII, lostinasia, tomthorne, sandman, Tazzie, and redwagon those ID, I don’t know “which ones” are actually just “one” YOU, they never show up at the same time, but have something in common: just left one meesage for a minute then run away, then show up with another ID again repeatedly…If so, don’t you feel tired of playing this? try not to abuse your fingers and brains that way, don’t you? 
Moderator: please kindly investigate this manipulation matter, I believe you have their IP addresses…I appreciate that ![/quote]
Notice my username appears in blue text? If you’d spent five minutes to work out how the site works before posting your ridiculous accusations around the place you’d know that I am indeed a moderator here. If you’re sure a moderator here is running several smurf accounts then you’d better hit the squeal button and summon Maoman the administrator. Or maybe he’s also me? 
I better check the IP’s as you suggest to make sure that one of my many split personalities isn’t posting under seven different accounts on my one computer…
On a side note, do you often feel you are at the center of life-threatening plots or conspiracies?[/quote]
Wow…that probably explains that !! You can stop my speech here or revise my postings as a moderator (if that is true), but not zip the facts and truths…Wow, sorry I am just getting started with this forum and if you are indeed the moderator, I am like a bunny jumping into a jungle of one person-controlled world that tries to manipulate the situation here… wow…what a terrible thing going on here. I am pretty sure you can get a good position in central gov of China, they do need your talents… 
Consider it not?[/quote]
kenlu88…You couldn’t be more wrong about this. The board isn’t as vicious as you think. But given the fact that you’ve backed yourself into the corner and lost sight of your original argument, it now seems like you’ve got the odds against you. No one is running double identities and conspiring to ‘control’ the outcome. Ditch the attitude and either a) make a good run at defending your views of Taichung City with concise and to-the-point posts without bad, sarcastic remarks or b) be humble and let it go…you won’t gain anything from weak accusations this far in. Lots of good discussions can be had on here and everyone is entitled to their viewpoint.[/quote]
That is good know, but can you please tell me what is the original point for this thread? Then you will see who is/should back off from his arguments…Jeez…seem I have to say this hundreds of times, “I would appreciate more if you can give more concrete examples/suggestions”, which would also help the OP more ! Well, I have shown many attractions above, and prove transportation is not a problem for thsoe…Again condemning Taichung and “delibrately” ignoring its good sides doesn’t level up Taipei let alone no concrete/detailed examples given, and also lose focus of what the OP wants, it is simply very cheap barbarian way of doing things… being humble to accept the info locals give you (as a foreigner) that you don’t know, I am not asking for a “thank you”, but will accept a “rain check”…Please figure out what Op wants and stop condemning others (if you want to compare, compare fairly.), then we can discuss more if you want…
Credit where it’s due: your post of what to do, with links, could be quite useful to potential tourists.
Mind you, I think we’ve scared away the OP, who perhaps has decided to go to Bellingham or Birmingham instead.
[quote=“lostinasia”]Credit where it’s due: your post of what to do, with links, could be quite useful to potential tourists.
Mind you, I think we’ve scared away the OP, who perhaps has decided to go to Bellingham or Birmingham instead.[/quote]
He just PMed me. Enjoying a summer holiday in Trenton, NJ.
Puhlease. 
You’ve admitted yourself you’ve been here just a few years and didn’t even know there was already a concert facility in the city. Two of us have been here 20 years and another 10. You are not local in Taichung, we are. Do not imagine for one nanosecond you are in any position to tutor any of us of what this city has to offer! I am not offering you any “rain check” and the only thanks you will get from me will be for keeping a civil tone while posting on this forum!
I lived a year in Taichung in 1986. Things are of course different now in many ways no doubt. But my take on things then (as different from Taipei) was that things were a bit more relaxed then Taipei. There was more open space to park your car it seemed (cept for downtown Taichung). Downtown Taichung was ok to go to now and then, nothing special or out of the ordinary. It was quite a trek to go somewhere scenic though. I did SunMoonLake a few times, did Kukuan a few times, almost made it to Tungshiao beach once. Did Chiayi and Alishan and back in a day as well. And hsitou. Basically it took a bit of a drive to get somewhere scenic.
good thing was that it was pretty much equi-distant to the south or the north of taiwan.
Taichung near where i lived was great with a lot of theme cafes that were a lot of fun (not sure if any of those types of places still exist).
All in all i liked the city quite a lot. People were nice too. Met up with a few of the female citizens of the chung back then and that was pretty fun.
Dont know what its like to live there in 2010.
Ken it’s nice of you to post links and express what you think are the great sights of central Taiwan but your attitude is exactly what is wrong with all promotions of Taiwan to westerners by Taiwanese: you just don’t listen.
Most of the places you listed are of little interest to westerners but are the kind of places the tourism board likes to promote.
The OP is a westerner coming to Taiwan. We other westerners who have lived here for decades are in a lot better position in most cases to advise him on what to see.
Taichung has very little to offer to western travellers however much it may or may not be an okay place to live.
(a) Metro Park: taichungmp.cpami.gov.tw/taichung_mp_english/
(b) 6-star love motel: swmall.com.tw/web/mulan1/
© Feng-Chia Night market:
(d) Taichung Green avenue:
travel.tccg.gov.tw/scenic/index- … pe=16&id=4
wretch.cc/blog/yoke0918/9059117
(e) International Restruant avenue: yuminghui.pixnet.net/blog/post/24290588
(f) Secience/art museum: youtube.com/watch?v=T6EG1y1s … re=related
In the Science museum, you can also see detailed info of findings of 3000 yrs ago culture/civilizations found inside Taichung city…
(g) Taichung Park: travel.tccg.gov.tw/scenic/index- … e=16&id=24
Basically all of those are what travel writers mention somehwat dismissively as “if you are in the area go see” sights.
Not a single one is a strong enough lure someone to go to Taichung.
The best sightseeing place in Taichung isn’t in Taichung at all: it’s Lugang.
Don’t really know why the OP has his heart set on visiting Taichung: it’s kind of like flying all the way to the US just to visit Fresno.
[quote=“paopaolong”]Damn, you guys are making me second guess Taichung 
Honestly, I chose it at first just thinking it wouldn’t be anything different or unique from the other. I planned to go to China a couple years back and then chose Dalian, over anywhere big like Shanghai or Beijing. I guess I just have a tendency to choose not the most obvious places! I’ll have to consider it. Either way, I’d be looking to stay for about two weeks, so during one of those days I’d no doubt take the high speed train to Taichung anyways just to check it out.
[/quote]
If I could play devil’s advocate for a moment, I kind of get what the OP is looking for here. Some years ago, following a whim, I took a special side visit to Sendai (仙台市) in Japan’s Tohoku region, N & E of Tokyo, while travelling in Japan in the winter. Sendai is about the same size as Taichung, and more or less shares the regional/service/banking niche that Taichung occupies in central Taiwan. It is not a tourist destination, and not a place most people seek out in the winter.
I wanted to see a bit of mundane Japan, outside of Tokyo & Kyoto and the usual hot-spots for visitors. I am not recommending either Sendai or Taichung to most casual travelers, but there is a kind of traveler who want to see the workaday parts of a country. Paopaolong deliberately set out for Dalien during a visit to China, for much the same reason I suspect. Maybe he’ll drop by again and let us now how his trip went.
[quote=“Chris”]The best sightseeing place in Taichung isn’t in Taichung at all: it’s Lugang.
[/quote]
I prefer Puli & Sun Moon Lake, which are in Nantou. Lugang is in Changhwa, as I imagine you know, but it is in Taichung’s larger orbit to be sure.
We all get what he is doing. We just are trying to help him avoid an unsuccessful gambit.
Having just spent a few days in Dalian I can say he made a lucky choice. If nothing else it has a beautiful coastline and some rather nice if pebby beaches.
Puhlease. You’ve admitted yourself you’ve been here just a few years and didn’t even know there was already a concert facility in the city. Two of us have been here 20 years and another 10. You are not local in Taichung, we are. Do not imagine for one nanosecond you are in any position to tutor any of us of what this city has to offer! I am not offering you any “rain check” and the only thanks you will get from me will be for keeping a civil tone while posting on this forum![/quote]
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I really don’t know the concert hall you are talking about on YingTsai Rd near art museum, maybe you can clearly indicate its location rather than groundless accusations to make people believe you, and calling a local non-local and claiming living in Taichung longer than me without knowing my age really make you feel good?..(that is way too ego, don’t you think that?). It is quite obvious that I could raise so many things to do and examples about Taichung and its vicinity for coming tourists, and what do you do as your so-called Taichung local? I wonder… Maybe soon you will call me something but Taiwanese, I will not be surprised… :loco:
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Please, I will be waiting for your location info about the concert hall you mentioned (I now probably can guess which one you are mentioning, but I would let you such “a local” to tell me, thanks in advance.)…But I have to tell you another thing: I am very very sure even there is, very few of my neighborhood know its existence let alone Taichung civilians, that is why I think comparing the concert hall in your mind with the New Musical Hall (to be built) is like comparing Titanic with Yacht…Can you get the picture and difference? I appreciate that.