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ABSTRACT: Of all the provinces in Central Taiwan, Taichung is the greatest. I've been here before in Taiwan Day 553&554 and two days wasn't enough to see all of its attractions. Dinosaurs, a colorful village and a European style train station became a part of “Next Stop: Taichung.” On what seems to be a sequel of my first visit, what else can I see in Taichung? I've heard of a beautiful mansion owned by a famous family in Taiwan and an earthquake museum that you won't believe a tourist attraction like that would exist. There was also a news about a sea of flowers that only appears during autumn and delicious foods in night markets that will make your stomachs full. Will these places be as exciting as the attractions I visited before? Let's see if Taichung would meet my great expectations.
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ABSTRACT: Of all the provinces in Central Taiwan, Taichung is the greatest. I've been here before in Taiwan Day 553&554 and two days wasn't enough to see all of its attractions. Dinosaurs, a colorful village and a European style train station became a part of “Next Stop: Taichung.” On what seems to be a sequel of my first visit, what else can I see in Taichung? I've heard of a beautiful mansion owned by a famous family in Taiwan and an earthquake museum that you won't believe a tourist attraction like that would exist. There was also a news about a sea of flowers that only appears during autumn and delicious foods in night markets that will make your stomachs full. Will these places be as exciting as the attractions I visited before? Let's see if Taichung would meet my great expectations.
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Stepping out of the Taichung train station, a man suddenly approached me and my Travel Buddy Kiran. He was a Japanese and a member of the religious groups Jehova's Witnesses. He knew that we were foreigners based on our looks. He talked to us and he gave a copy of his group's religious publications. I just thought that Japanese people are Shinto believers or Buddhist. I never expected that some of them would become followers of Jehova's Witnesses. The short talk to a strange man on a familiar place like Taichung Station was a welcome greeting for my comeback adventure in Central Taiwan.
The Central Weather Bureau predicted that it would be a sunny day in Taichung for the weekend. However, the prediction turned wrong for this Taiwan Day 812. It turned out that it would be a cloudy day making it impossible to see the sunset in Gaomei Wetlands. Kiran and I proceded with the approved travel and we would just adjust the plan for the night. We boarded Bus 100 from in front of Taichung Station. The Wucheng Lin Family Mansion and Garden was our first destination.
Exploring the modern street of Taichung was quite fun in Taiwan Day 553&554 but traveling along its lesser known towns was a challenge. The street signs were mostly in Chinese making it difficult to check on my printed map on where on Earth me and my Travel Buddy where. Alighting at Wufeng stop from Bus 100, we asked locals on where the Wucheng Lin Family Mansion was located. Surprisingly, they even didn't know what Wucheng Lin Family Mansion was! What's even more shocking was that I already presented them the Chinese name of the mansion and still they didn't know what we were talking about. haha!
I knew from my travel plan that Wucheng stop would be the nearest point to the mansion and by walking along the Zhongzheng Road Kiran and I later found the street leading to the mansion. We were surprised that it was inside the Ming Tai High School. I gave my student ID to enter the school's premises and we began taking photos. There are many wealthy and famous families in Taiwan and the Lin family is one of them. They owned big homes and their mansion in Wucheng town was an example. It was built in 1893 and most parts of the mansion were damaged by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in 1999. Sad to say, what we saw was a house that seems to be a replica of only one part of the mansion complex.
The house was a mixture of western and oriental architecture. Red bricks forming arches were fun to look at while the patterns in its roof remained a mystery to me. I haven't see such a roof design like that in Taiwan. My wild guess was that the roof designs were Thai rather than Chinese. There was a bridge that connects the mansion to a platform surrounded by a lake. Old local visitors greeted us and have a short talk to Kiran. My Travel Buddy really has a charisma towards old people in Taiwan. haha! I remembered Uncle Sam in Taiwan Day 763 (Lion's Share) and just today in Taiwan Day 812 was the Japanese man in Taichung Station.
The historic place was already old and so were the trees. A mausoleum also stands near the mansion and we have fun taking photos especially the stone elephants. We rode the elephants like kids on a amusement park. There were also other tourist in the place and everybody got interested on a stone inscription with a face drawing on it. Kiran hinted that the facial features doesn't look Taiwanese and more like of an Indian. Hmmm... Who could be the person on the stone? (To be continued...)
THE COMPLETE "GREAT EXPECTATIONS" SERIES
Taiwan Day 812: Great Expectations Part 1 “Expect the Unexpected”
Taiwan Day 812: Great Expectations Part 2 “Shake, shake, shake”
Taiwan Day 813: Great Expectations Part 3 “Help! I'm Drowning in a Sea of Flowers”
Taiwan Day 813: Great Expectations Finale “A Night with Fengjia”
THE COMPLETE "GREAT EXPECTATIONS" SERIES
Taiwan Day 812: Great Expectations Part 1 “Expect the Unexpected”
Taiwan Day 812: Great Expectations Part 2 “Shake, shake, shake”
Taiwan Day 813: Great Expectations Part 3 “Help! I'm Drowning in a Sea of Flowers”
Taiwan Day 813: Great Expectations Finale “A Night with Fengjia”
Sakura Series - Taiwan
2025 Forecast
Taipei 101 first flowers
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Taipei Flower Test Center
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Broadwood Park
Sunshine Sports Park kawazu sakura
Wuling Farm (武陵農場)
SYS kawazu sakura
Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
CKS Memorial Hall
Shibafen Yoshino Sakura
Hope River
Dongfang Temple
Tianyuan Palace
Neicou Stream Trail
Orange Garden Cafe
Yangming Park Visitor Information Center
Yangming Park Service Center Bus Stop
Huashan Road
Qianshan Park
Zhongshan Hall Entrance
Tenglong Sakura Farm
Flower Test Center Shōwa Sakura
Neihu Creek Trail
Shulin Land Office
Xióng Kōng Cherry Blossom Forest
Lung Yen Sakura Forest
Yangming Park cherry stream
Yangming Park fountain
CKS Memorial Hall Tairyō sakura
Wugu District Tianyi Road
CKS Memorial Hall yaesakura
Loving Farm
Yong Long Farm
Zhongbaling Sakura Road
Sun Link Sea
Tai'an Police Station
Cherry Hill Slope
Hsinchu Park
Taipei 101
Kāng Gào Kēng Creek
New Garden City
Broadwood Park
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Alishan Ranger Station
Alishan House
Alishan Police Station
Alishan Forest Railway
Alishan Station
Alishan Entrance
Alishan Gou Hotel
Alishan Magnolia Garden
Wulai tour
Wun Chang Elementary School
Bishanyan
Sanzhi Sansei Trail
Sakura Series - Taiwan
Nei Cuo Stream
Orange Garden Cafe
Sansei Trail
Tenglong Sakura Farm
Yangming Park Cherry Stream
Yangming Park Fountain
Flower Test Center
Broadwood Park
New Garden City
Yinghua Park
Pingjing St. Lane 42
Yangmingshan Visitor Center
Taipei 101
Tianyuan Palace backyard
Sakura Series - Japan
Kamonyama Park
Near the Nippon Maru Memorial Park
Shinko Park
Minato-mirai 21 area
Tokyo Tech Suzukakedai Campus
Onda River
Tenryuji
Byodoin
Kiyomizudera
Himuro shrine and Yakushi-ji Temple
Hōryū-ji Temple
Nara Park attractions
Tokyo Tech Ookayama Campus
Sumida River
Tsuruma Park
Gion
Maple Series
Taipei Aowanda
Shimen Dam
Alishan
Aowanda
Shanlinxi
Taoyuan Valley Garden
Fushoushan Farm
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| Yehliu to Jiufen? Yehliu to Shifen? Cheaper than yellow taxis |
The "Taipei kong mahal" (My beloved Taipei)
Always in my heart
MRT birdman
Valentine's Day
Tulips Festival
2018 Taipei Lantern Festival
City of Azaleas
Linji Huguo Temple
Nanjichang Night Market
Gudetama Chef restaurant
Dalongdong Bao'an Temple
Shilin hollyhocks
Ningxia Night Market
Ximending graffiti
Discovery Center of Taipei
Chunghwa Postal Museum
Double-Decker Bus
Shilin Cold Balls
Jingimoo
GomanMango
mud volcanic ice
Fire and Ice Dumpling
Opium Fen-Yuan
Ichiran Ramen
Liu Shandong Beef Noodles
hydrangea flowers
National Palace Museum
Other attractions in Taipei
Taipei on a budget
Japanese buildings
Dāoxiāomiàn beef noodles
Presidential Office Building
Yongkang St. and Elephant Mountain
CKS and SYS Hall
City tour
Beitou ramen
MRT Monopoly Game
Winter city tour
Zhicheng Park
Shilin Plum Blossom
Art museums
Shopping in Taipei
Summer desserts
Qingtiangang
Qixingshan hiking
2015 Calla lily
2016 Calla lily
Beitou tour
Beitou-Zhuzihu tour
NTU
Confucius Temple
2015 Dadaocheng Festival
Puppet Museum
Fantasy Ice World
2016 Bread Show
Strawberry picking
2015 Rose Garden
Modern Toilet
Shilin Night Market
NASA Exhibit
Raohe Night Market
Longshan Temple
2013 Taipei Zoo
Maokong Gondola
Lupin flowers
Taipei 101 day visit
Taipei 101 night visit
Tiger Mountain
Din Tai Fung
Taipei Story House
2014 Flower Show
Chrysanthemum Show
Miramar Ferris wheel
Miniatures Museum
Archery
1600 Pandas
Wulaoguo hot pot
Upside Down House
2016 101 Fireworks
New Taipei
Tamsui Pumpkin Tunnel
Shifen Waterfall
2017 Sand Sculpture
Dragon Caves
New Taipei tour
2016 Kite Festival
Pingxi Crags
Bitou Cape
2016 Sand Sculpture
2015 Christmasland
Juming - Jinshan
Houtong - Pingxi
Sandiaoling Waterfall
Jiufen foodtrip
Guanyinshan hike
Yehliu Ocean World
2014 Kite Festival
Pingxi Rail tour
Jinguashi tour
Vigor Kobo Pineapple
British Consulate
Yehliu Geopark
2014 Sand Sculpture
Paragliding
2014 Christmasland
2014 Pingxi Lantern
firefly watching
Yingge Ceramics Street
Jiufen tour
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