Taichung and the Central area

The 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan is a national museum in Wufeng District, Taichung, Taiwan. The museum is dedicated to the 7.3 earthquake that struck the center of Taiwan at 01:47:12.6 TST on Tuesday, 21 September 1999.

Entrance fee per person is TWD 100

The theater is designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito. Using the concept of the primitive caves and holes, Toyo Ito designed the world first and only Sound Cave Curved Wall for National Taichung Theater. There are no vertical and horizontal structures and it's the world's first curve surfaced hanging structure architect. 

When the architect of the opera house Toyohio Ito was traveling to Portugal, he attended an outdoor concert on the street. The music and the crowd cleverly blended, filling the air with a joyous atmosphere like a music festival.
When later he conceived the building of the opera house, he wanted to incorporate the concept of street concerts, using well-connected caves and holes to let the sound circulate in the architecture, exactly as in an open-air concert. 

A space close to nature, composed of non-geometric organic lines in nature, hoping to recall what people have long lost in geometric space. 
The opera house is composed of high and low undulating curved walls as the main structure, forming large and small caves, where people can feel the changes of natural elements and awaken human sensory instinct; large glass curtains and unbounded spaces allow the opera house to become an open building that integrates inside and outside.

In addition of just being a theater stages for domestic and foreign performing artists, the Opera House also offers permanent exhibitions or theme exhibitions of digital/visual/soundscape arts to connect with the daily life of citizens.

The Rainbow Village  is a “one man show” painted by a very talented, and rather visionary, old veteran soldier, MR. Huang. Rainbow Village was originally the home for the military forces, originally built to house KMT soldiers from China. it was then abandoned, except from one ex-Chinese soldier, Huang Yong-Fu, who refused to leave. To convince the bulldozers to stay away, he began painting the walls of his home in psychedelic colors and designs.
Mr. Huang, or Rainbow Grandpa (彩虹爺爺), now is 98 years old and still lives there, you can easily meet and chat with him ( if you speak chinese! ).
If you are an instagram lover, you cannot miss this place! 

A perfect place to enjoy the sunset and the cool breeze from the sea. Covering an area of 1,733 acres (701.3 hectares), Gaomei Wetland is a mix of mud and sand. It is a famous habitat for a diverse number of birds, fish, crabs, invertebrates, and plants. Discover the ecosystem and  the little inhabitants of this land: the fiddler crabs.  They are really unusual as they have an extremely large claw. Take a walk along the 800 meters long boardwalk, build to preserve the delicate environment of the sedge grassland, at the end of the boardwalk, take off your shoes and walk on the silt.


 

If you want to feel like a tourist in Taichung, head directly to Miyahara, located in the Central District of Taichung, nearby the Central train staition.

Miyahara (宮原眼科) used to be the largest ophthalmology clinic in Taichung during the Japanese colonial period. It was the creation of Miyahara Takeo, a Japanese ophthalmology doctor in 1927.

After Japan's surrender in 1945, the building was converted into Taichung's Health Bureau. But it has been partially destroyed by the 921 Earthquake, until a pastry company famous for their pineapple cakes, bought the building and began the restoration and renewal.  

Miyahara is today a (very! ) popular tourist attraction, a restaurant and a retail store that sells chocolate, cookies, and traditional Taiwanese pastries, including pineapple cake and sun cakes.  

But this is not simply "a shop"...bring a camera to take snapshots of the beautiful Harry Potter-esque interiors!! This is also one of the best place to find souvenirs to bring home from Taiwan.

If you are looking forward to taste the delicious icecream, just be ready to queue! 

Taichung Criminal Affairs Institute Martial Arts Field, was built in 1937, during the Japanese occupation period, as a martial arts training center for prison officers and policemen to practice daily martial arts. It was the only martial arts field in the city. 

In 1945 when the Japanese colonial era ended, the Martial Arts Hall and the community of dorms around, was converted into a Military Village to solve the housing crisis caused by the amount of refugees who fled from China.

Damaged by the devastating 921 Earthquake in 1999 and in 2006 by a fire during the restoration process, the building today offers classes on Japanese art and culture which include Kendo, Kyūdō, Japanese tea ceremonies, Calligraphy, Japanese ink painting, Origami and more.

The original historical appearance is well-preserved and during the hot summer people enjoy the shadow of the beautiful century year old banyan tree, adorned with Japanese lanterns.

Lukang, formerly known as Lugang was, until the end of the 19th century an important commercial center, second only to Tainan. Lukang Town is one of Taiwan's oldest village and Lukang Old Street was the main business district of Lukang Town back in the early days.  The end of the glory of Lukang arrives when the harbor silted completely – now the sea is more than 2 kms away - and by the Japanese invasion, that shut down most of the trade with mainland China. The city became simply too poor, but its glorious past it is still visible as you can find here some of the most gorgeous temples in Taiwan. 
The two most famous temples in Lukang are Longshan Temple and Tienhou Temple. Lukang Longshan Temple is also the largest temple in Lukang.
Several old buildings, instead of being demolished to make room for new ones, as happened in the rest of Taiwan, have remained until today.
Lukang Old Street is filled by traditional Taiwanese style houses with carved doorways and windows, intricately designed arches over the main entrance, thin red brick walls and red tiled road, as well as retro green mailboxes hanging outside the houses boasting an antique charm. 
The red-brick streets of the Lukang Old Street area are lined with traditional buildings and snack shops.