Taichung itineraries

Old town & the Greenway

Everything on foot from Taichung Station. Market radish cake for breakfast, the bubble-tea original, the dinosaur museum, craft shops in an old dorm village, then Miyahara ice cream and Yizhong street snacks after dark. Skips the big night-market crush and keeps the best bites.

Xitun & the coast, two days

Base in Fengjia. Day one: Rainbow Grandpa's village, I.M. Pei's chapel, sunset from a boardwalk over the mudflats, then Taiwan's biggest night market. Day two: the new-town parks, the opera house and mala hot pot. Barely touches the old town.

Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, Lukang

Base by Taichung Station. An afternoon of old-town temples and parks, a full day at Sun Moon Lake by bus, boat, ropeway and bike, then the 300-year-old port town of Lukang for oyster pancakes and temples before the evening train. Central Taiwan from one base.

Festivals & seasons

• 1 — Tulip season at Zhongshe Flower Market
• 2 — Sun Moon Lake cherry blossoms
• 2 — Lunar New Year week
• 4 — Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage
• 6 — Lukang Dragon Boat Festival
• 7 — Midsummer heat and typhoons
• 9 — Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival
• 10 — Taichung Jazz Festival
• 10 — Dry season, the best months
• 11 — Xinshe Sea of Flowers & Flower Carpet Festival
• 12 — New Year's Eve countdown

Souvenirs

• Sun cakes
• Miyahara pineapple cakes and cheesecake
• Chun Shui Tang tea tins
• Sun Moon Lake Ruby black tea
• Lukang phoenix-eye cakes and ox-tongue cakes
• Handmade goods from Shenji New Village
• Tunghai University milk and cheese