Do you love flowers? Do you love being out in the countryside and taking instagram-worthy pictures with interesting backgrounds? Are you up for an adventure on the Taichung public transportation system? Then read on.
The Zongshe Flower Farm (also sometimes called the Chung She Flower Farm or Houli Flower Farm) makes for a nice day tour outside of Taichung. It’s located about about 30km north of Taichung City. The flowers bloom year-round and the farm grows different species of flowers depending on the season. Tulips in the winter, sunflowers in the summer. The lavenders bloom all year round!
To go from Taichung City to Zongshe Flower Farm by bus, take bus 55 to Fengyuan Station. Ride the bus all the way to the end of the route, Fengyuan Station. In the same bus terminal, transfer to bus 6606. Bus 6606 is bound for Taipei city.
The bus ride on bus 55 from Taichung City takes about 45 minutes, while the ride from Fengyuan Station to Zongshe takes about 25 minutes. The bus 6606 stop is right across the road to Zongshe. Just cross the road and you are there! You can take bus 55 from Taichung Station Minzu Road, Gancheng Station, Taichung Park, Fengjia Night Market/National Taichung University or opposite Chungyo department store. There are frequent bus 55 trips, however the bus 6606 only travels once every hour. Zongshe is the 6th stop from Fengyuan. When you board the bus, you would have to pay the bus fare in cash, and remind the bus driver to inform you when the bus is at Zongshe.
To go back to Fengyuan, take the bus 6606 which stops right outside Zongshe Flower Farm.
The best time to go is in the afternoon, an hour or two right before the farm closes at 6pm. If you are taking the bus back to Fengyuan, do note that the 6606 passes by at around 5:30pm and 6:30pm so you will either have to leave the farm earlier, or wait for the bus for some time.
Alternatively, you could take the TRA, the regional train. You would be riding on the Taichung line or the Mountain line. To go to Zhongshe Flower Farm by train, take the TRA from Taichung Main Station to Tai’an Station (8 stations away). From Tai’an station, you would need to take a taxi to Zhongshe Flower Farm as it is too far to walk! The taxi fare is fixed, usually the drivers ask for NTD120-150 fares each way.
Lots of Flowers and Lots of Props Makes for Lots of Photo Spots
Have a great time at Xongshe taking lots of photos. We visited in the summer and they had manicured flower beds of great big sunflowers, colorful daisies, dainty lavenders and sweet rose bushes. They also have lots of props, like a white piano in a sea of lavender blooms, romantic white swings, arching bridges and Holland-inspired windmills. There is also a pond full of lotus flowers.
The surrounding fields are planted with rice and vegetables, and in the distance are the mountains. You can really enjoy the wide open space here.
Entrance Fee: NTD120; NTD150 during tulip season. If you are eating lunch at the farm’s outdoor barbecue restaurant, they have promotional prices for the two activities combined.
Don’t miss the public buses in Taichung. Riding public buses is a great way to know a city, and feel its energy. Where better to take public buses than in Taichung? Some of the buses may be a bit old, and crowded, and the aircon not so great but never mind all that because the buses in Taichung are free! Yes, free. Its the only city in the world we have ever been to where the public buses are free. Even in Taiwan’s main city, Taipei, you have to pay for bus rides in Taipei.
I can not say it enough, Taichung buses are free to ride. Well at least for the first 10km, but as most of the well loved destinations would be within 10km of each other anyway, its no issue.
Get an Easycard
The first step to enjoying Taichung’s free public buses is to get an easycard. You can get the easycard from any convenience store. It cost NTD100 just for the card itself plus NTD100 deposit, so initial cost NTD200. You may want to add more cash value to it because you can also use the easycard in trains, inter-city buses, and to pay in shops.
Download the Taichung Bus App
As I described in my Taichung Survival Guide article, the Taichung Bus App is a livesaver. With this app you can plan your route, anticipate the arrival time of your bus and once on board you can track the bus you are riding to see how many more stops before your desired bus stops.
Things to know:
The buses only stop at designated bus stops.
To hail a bus, bring up your arm and keep it up. This is a Taichung quirk, the locals don’t wave their arms up and down like we do when hailing a bus.
Most buses have two doors, front and rear. You can enter and exit either doors. Whenever you board and get off a bus be sure to tap your Easycard. If you don’t tap out, your card will be charged the price of the entire bus route until terminal!
To get the bus to stop and alight, press the stop button.
The bus stop shows you the bus numbers that stop at that particular bus stop. Using your Tachung Bus App you can find out the timing of the next bus thats coming your way.
The app has a route planner. It can give you suggestions on what bus to take from one place to another.
Most buses have onboard flashing tickers and audio recordings that tell the approaching bus stop. The flashing screen and audio together with your bus app will help you navigate and figure out where you are at any given moment.
Using the route planner
First you need to put in your starting point. Your starting point will by default be your current location (the app will use GPS to figure out where you are), but you can type over this the name of a place or a specific landmark as your starting point. Secondly, put in the place where you want to go. The app will then give you suggestions on the closest bus stop and how far it is, and which bus number to take. A note of caution though, some of the suggested routes are complicated or involve you walking long distances. You have to understand that the app is an algorithm not a real person and you can game it. You can play around with your starting point such as using current location or different landmarks such as a department store or park you are familiar with to get the best route.
The bus stops are named after the road where they are in for example XYZ intersection, or a building for example ABC Department Store. There will be signage that show the name of that bus stop, the buses that stop at that particular bus stop and bus routes. However, only the starting point and beginning point of the route will be in English! The middle stops will be all in Chinese. Now what? Thats where your app will come in handy.
Where it again gets a bit complicated is when you realise that bus stops on opposites sides of the road, that is buses going opposite directions, have the same descriptor. For instance you can have “Taichung Station Taiwan Boulevard” on the bus stop this side of the road, and on the opposite side is also “Taichung Station Taiwan Boulevard”. To go around this conundrum, look at the bus routes pasted on the bus stops to help you figure out if the buses on your side of the road are going in the direction you want to go.
After sometime you will get the hang of the Taichung bus system. Buses originate and end mostly at Taichung Park. Two or three stops away from Taichung Park (areas around Gancheng Station and Taichung Station) are the historic and touristic sites such as Taichung Bus Station, Taichung Railway Station, Miyahara Ice Cream and ChunShuiTang Pearl Milk Tea). Beyond Main Station is Taiwan Boulevard, the main road that will bring you to the Natural Science Museum, Fine Arts Museum, Taichung City Municipal Hall, Sogo Department Store, Mitsukoshi/Top City Department Stores and Tiger City department store. Public buses that are in the 300 series (300, 301, 302, 307 etc) ply this main route. To go to Fengjia Night Market or Chungyo Department Store from Taichung Station Taiwan Boulevard, you can check out buses 82, 201 or 901 among many others. Bus 55 is also a favourite to go to Chungyo/Night Market but its bus stop is at Minzu Road.
Want to get off the bus? Press the red button, duh. In newer buses the button may be located along hand rails and poles.
Onboard a typical Taichung bus. Note the flashing screen overhead front where the next stop is shown. In this bus the stop buttons are located on the poles (yellow plastic protrusions).
Typical bus stop showing the buses that stop by.
Bus route. It’s all in Chinese except the starting and end points but don’t worry the bus app will help. In this picture, bus 33 is heading towards Overseas Chinese University.
Route Planner. I want to go to Ikea.
Bus tracker. I’m onboard the bus and it’s 6 bus stops to Ikea.
See more of our How to Use the Public Buses in Taichung:
Flying in to Taichung There is no direct flight from Singapore or Manila to Taichung. The only direct flights I found originate from HK and Macau. If you are going to Taichung your best bet is to fly to Taipei. More accurately, fly to Taoyuan International Airport which is located outside of Taipei. Taipei is 50km north of the airport while Taichung is 140km south of the airport. Fun fact Taichung actually means central Taiwan.
How to go to Taichung from the Taoyuan International Airport? There are four options how to go to Taichung from Taoyuan airport using public transportation: taxi, high speed rail, bus and provincial trains.
Taxi or private car: I had a quote for the one way trip at NTD3,000. This is an option if you have a lot of luggage.
By MRT and High Speed Rail The Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the bullet train, similar to Japan’s Shinkansen trains, traveling with speeds of more than 250kms per hour. To get to the high speed rail, you first have to take the MRT from the airport.
To go to the High Speed Rail Station, take the MRT from Taoyuan Airport. Taoyuan HSR station is 5 stops from Terminal 2.
After exiting the immigration area, turn to your left and follow the signs to the MRT. The MRT station is located behind the check in counters of airlines. You can buy a token for NTD25 from the machines or use your pre-paid easycard. Enter the station and take the train bound for Huanbei/Zhongli. Note that at this point, you are travelling away from Taipei going southward. Alight from the MRT train at station: Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station. Exit the MRT station and walk to the adjacent High Speed Rail station. You can buy a ticket from the machines at the station (input the origin and destination in the machine: Taoyuan/Taichung) or buy from the ticket counters. Cash, debit and credit cards are accepted for payment at the high speed rail. THSR fare Taoyuan/Taichung costs NTD540 one way for a reserved seat. There is an outlet mall with a foodcourt near the station and a McDonalds next to the THSR so you can have a meal before boarding your train. You may also bring food and drinks into the high speed trains.
There are two kinds of seats at THSR reserved and non-reserved. Reserved seats costs NTD20 more and as the name suggests guarantees you a seat and gives you a seat number like you would get in a plane when you check in. Sometimes, such as during rush hour, trains are packed, the first train in would not have any reserved seats left. If you are in a hurry or want to save money just buy the non reserved seats. You may board the train of your preferred timing just that you may not be seated together with your companions or even have to stand if the train is packed.
When going to Taichung from Taoyuan board the southbound trains. When you get your THSR ticket, note the departure time, train number journey number (the train number) and your carriage number. Reserved seats normally board carriages 1-9, while non reserved seats are located in carriages 10-12. Look at your ticket and follow what it says.
Taiwan High Speed Rail
I find the high speed rail the most comfortable form of public transport from the airport to Taichung. The high speed trains are clean, have captain seats with good legroom and eating is also allowed onboard. It takes less than 2 hours from the airport to Taichung via MRT and high speed rail including waiting times. The trains are also frequent, with trains running every 30 minutes or less. One disadvantage of high speed rail is that the Taichung station is outside of city centre. There is a bus terminal located below the station however and you can take buses to Taichung proper. Take any of the buses terminating at Taichung Park to bring you to the city proper, journey takes about 30 minutes. If you are going to the Beitun area (Lee Hospital/Alice Hotel) take bus 33, journey time 1 hour because this bus route is a bit winding. Taxi from the THSR Taichung Station to city proper costs about NTD400.
Airport Buses: the bus ride from Taoyuan Airport to Taichung takes 3 hours and costs only NTD300. The bus terminates at the Taichung Bus Terminal near Taichung Main Station. You can find the bus terminal at Basement of Terminal 1 or right outside Level 1 of Terminal. You need to purchase a ticket from the ticket counters prior to boarding the bus. Airport buses are very roomy, have captain seats and drink holders. They are comfortable except I sometimes get motion sickness so I still prefer the THSR.
The buses run once every 1.5 hours so you may have to wait a bit for the next bus. The airport bus is the cheapest option for public transportation. Other advantages are that buses are end-to-end, there is no need to transfer trains and buses like you would if you use the THSR, and the buses bring you right to the city centre.
Provincial train: TRA trains. I have not tried this option. Based on what I read on tripadvisor you have to take the MRT all the way to terminal station Huanbei then take a taxi to Zhongli TRA. I will update once I have tried TRA personally.
Language No Chinese? No problem as long as you have your phone!
Google directions and maps will help you navigate your bus and walking routes. Google translate can try to translate Chinese menus too, but sometimes the results can be funny.
Older folks in Taichung generally do not speak English however the younger generation (20s and younger) speak very good English. Most taxi drivers will not be able to understand you if you give directions in English. What I find especially useful is to have screen shots of the address in Chinese and a picture of the building to show to the driver. For instance I screen shot my booking in Agoda as the hotel address was in Chinese and showed it to the driver. Once you have checked in your hotel the hotel staff may be able to help you write down place names in Chinese. Also keep a hotel calling card with you at all times.
Restaurants in malls will usually have an English menu however some food court stalls may not. In this case, the screen shot trick also works. I took pictures of the food I wanted to eat to show to the store owner to order.
Necessity is the mother of all invention, and you will find a way to communicate, do not worry. Never fear to approach the locals, the Taiwanese are very friendly and warm so you will be alright.
Public transportation There are taxis, buses and trains you can use to go around Taichung. Taxi flag down price is NTD85 and to go between most places within the city will cost NTD165 (USD6.00) only. Buses are essentially free around Taichung if you have an easycard. (Buses only charge fare beyond 10km.). Tap your easycard against the reader as you enter and exit a bus. Push the stop button when you want the bus to stop.
Get an easycard. As soon as you can, buy an easycard from any 7-11 or other convenience store. The cards themselves cost NTD100 plus NTD100 deposit. Add cash value because you can use this card at the trains as well as to pay in restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores. The cards work everywhere in Taiwan.
There are other versions of the integrated card (IC) that are used in Taiwan, the icash (usable mainly in 7-11 stores), iPass and HappyCash but some bus lines do not accept them. Just be careful that you get the EasyCard which has the widest acceptance.
Buses are the most popular travel option for locals. Hey, it’s free! It’s a must to download the Taichung bus app especially if you don’t speak Chinese. The Taichung Bus app was my lifesaver when I stayed in Taichung. Input the bus number and the app will show you (in English) the next bus stops and estimated time of arrival in real time. This app helped me to find out how soon my bus will arrive, and once onboard showed me when my destination is near. In addition, the bus itself has a screen and audio recording that tells the next bus stop in both Chinese and English.
Money Exchange I would advise that you plan your cashflow well. Outside of the airport, it’s not easy to find money exchangers. Only banks may exchange money and some banks only accept USD, HKD and Euros to exchange to NTD.
Alternatively you may also set up your atm cards to enable you to withdraw money locally.
Local SIM cards and other deals You can find good SIM card packages from Klook. One package we tried was phone with wifi for 10 days that cost less than USD10. You may collect (and return) the phone in the airport. The booth is located on the left, end of the hall, near the signage for the MRT.
Weather Taiwan experience four seasons with November-March being the coldest. Check out the weather before you go so you may bring appropriate clothing.
You may find navigating around Taichung a bit tricky because of the language barrier. Don’t let that stop you from exploring the city and getting around. When we let ourselves be open to new experiences, that’s when the adventure begins.
