Taiwan is becoming quite a tourist attraction for Asian populations. The one group I saw and heard the most of is from the Philippines. Of course there is somewhat a language barrier for non Taiwanese (one Chinese dialect plus some original indigenous people’s words) but most people I met spoke enough English to assist me or were just kind enough to use gestures and simple words in Chinese to get the message across. My Chinese is limited to food and a few phrases I learned long ago. Looking around town I understand most of the signage with the similarities with Japanese Kanji. This page on Taiwan (link here) will give you more information that might be helpful for visiting.
Taichung is a fairly quiet city and it seems the busy city center has moved away from the train station, to the west, so you might want to concentrate time there.
The old train tracks are a fun place to sit, have a coffee or tea and think about old times, or whatever. You can buy all sorts of things on the old platformHere is one of the older trains for people to view. You can see this generation train still used in Thailand on the very slow route from Bangkok to the Malaysia border.This is the new statioThis restaurant has inexpensive but tasty food variety on a plate. It is a well known with localsA famous Japanese Anime made into a TV series recently. Taiwanese people are crazy about everything Japanese. You probably know Taiwan was a Japanese colony for decades until 1945. However both countries are really the closest of friends.
The old train stationDelicious noodles with some WAN TANThis Thai restaurant has some good food. The cabbage order should have been made with NAM PLA (fish sauce) but I asked and they made it the Thai way for me. I think the owners are Vietnamese.Good coffee and excelent Mango cake is in a very hard to find coffee shop which you can find with the reference below.Your seat here is an old elementary school desk. The entrance is through a hall that looks like one for a janitor, then up steps to a locked door you need to knock on for the young lady to let you in. I asked the owner why this kind of setup. She explained the rent was low. An old construction from a past Chinese imperialist occupation.Hot pot with an old friend. It was very popular, not expensive and very fresh and delicious ingredients.
One of my very favorites, a gyoza type fried dumplings with SUI GYOZA. This shop is very popular and very delicious.Sometimes it is a challenge not being deflected to the street to walk around due to the over abundance of motorcycles parked in the way on the walkway. This part was ok.Would you eat at this Sushi restaurant? I waited to get back to Japan.When I was a kid there were very foamy “Ding Dongs”. These are different . Motorcycle parking lot. Reminds me of Vietnam.Taiwan style Italian Pesto Spaghetti with broccoli which was delicious.
A mural at an old shopping streetOld Chuan has a sour attitude but his food is so delicious. This SUI GYOZA was so delicious.This duck restaurant was not with the highest recommendation in Kaoshiung but it was very good. It was 2 dinners and one breakfast in one duck. The rest they did Taiwan style with the rest quick chopped, thrown in a wok and cooked up with spices, pepper and some sauce. The whole duck cost NT$500 ($17). Kids dressed up for an event in the underground metroThe main eventThis night market was huge.Kid’s gamePin ball parlor with old fashioned Japanese PachinkoTaro and Apple pieDeep fried seafoodJapanese style squidMore deep fried seafoodGrilled food on a stickSweet potatoes were easy to grow in your yard and became the sweet delicacy in Japan at the end of WWII since rice was hard to get. It is popular throughout AsiaSUI GYOZA (boiled gyoza)Busy night marketTaiwan style ODEN (boiled food)Fried riceUnlike Thailand, in Taiwan the fresh fruit smoothies are not made with sugar, something I appreciatedLook at all the 7-11sOld style pachinkoAn old temple
What is interesting about Exploring Hsinchu or for Taiwan for that matter? I find food will always by first on my list. The people outside the giant city of Taipei are all living a little slower life and so can spend time being more courteous and polite. The city of Hsinchu was reported by some as a “food desert”. I didn’t find that at all. It is a smaller city than Tainan or Kaohsiung or even Taichung but it has some very good restaurants and plenty of them.
I need to look harder to find the Moto Guzzi here.Duck, slghtly undercooked with rice.Starbucks in the old library, a 1923 designed Japanese colonial building with Frank Lloyd Wright hints. I am thinking they took some design hints from FLW’s Imperial Hotel designed 2 years earlier in TokyoAdapting to local tastes…..but Coffee flavor?The big department store. On the left you see the escalator taking people up to the food court on the 4th floor .Young people gathered outside dancing to an eventA game for parents and kidsDim Sum for kids with cartoon characters inside other charactersNot expensive, about $6.50What I found he 7th floor hadThe city scenery in the backgroundQuake makes a ginseng health drink?Tasty noodlesAnother Japanese colonial style buildingThe train station also left from the occupation
