Messy Taichung Travel Notes: City of Mixed Feelings

taichung city is a special municipality that makes up the central western side of the island. it’s a weird mix of concrete, mountain terraces, and wetlands, all jammed together in a sprawling 2,214 km² footprint. i’ve been bouncing between the lishan foothills and the gaomei wetland for a couple of days now, and my brain feels as jumbled as the streets.

if you want a visual, here it is. the place used to be scattered hamlets of aboriginal folks before the qing turned it into a provincial capital. the japanese later gave it that weird grid‑like vibe that still shows up in the streets, even if i can’t quite pinpoint where. the 2010 merger with the county turned it into a huge municipal monster, now over 2.86 million people live here.

inner taichung is the old core, with its cramped lanes and neon signs that never sleep. datun to the southeast is a little less chaotic, but the mountain line north still feels like a different world. the coast line at the southwest is where the road gets muddy after a rainstorm, and the smell of fish markets drifts in.

i just checked and it's 26.4°C, feels like 26.4°C, a high of 29.1°C and a low of 26.2°C, humidity 45%, pressure 1015 hPa there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. someone told me that the valley traps pollutants, so the air can be sticky even on a sunny day. it’s a thing you notice when you walk by the dadu river after a dry spell and the sky is hazy.

someone told me that the gaomei wetland looks prettier on the calendar, but the birds are actually less active now because the water level dropped. still, i spent a few hours there and the bolboschoenus planieulmis grass swayed like a whisper.

the calligraphy greenway is a 3.6 km path that stitches together a handful of museums, cafes, and a few stray stray dogs. the national museum of natural science sits right next to it, and i had to fight through crowds of kids who were louder than the exhibit explanations.

guguan hot spring sits amid the basian mountain, where you can soak in a river‑like pool and hear the dajia river gurgle underneath. the water is lukewarm, but the setting feels surprisingly peaceful.

taichung central park is 67 ha of trees, and it’s officially called the 'lungs of taichung.' i went there for a jog, got lost in a maze of bamboo, and ended up having a lunch in a food stall that looked like a cardboard box with steam.

the international airport is a bit of a joke. it’s actually the old ching chuan kang air base repurposed, and it's 20 km outside the city. you’ll either take a bus that never arrives on time or a taxi that charges you by the minute.

if you get bored, miaoli county, changhua county, nantou county, hualien county, yilan county, and hsinchu county are just a short drive away.

still, there’s something about taichung that feels like a half‑finished puzzle i can’t put down. the mountains, the wetlands, the endless street food stalls that never close, all blend into one chaotic whole. i guess i’ll keep coming back, even if the air is a little thick and the traffic never stops.

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