On Taichung’s western coast is a vast tidal flatland where the sea intrudes into the land and creates the marshy wetlands of Gaomei. Here you can watch spectacular sunsets over the vast open space, breathe fresh salty air and walk with the sea critters that live in the watery coastline. Its not your usual tropical sunset over a beach with a defined surf. Instead its vast and expansive, its flat and its water logged, muddy and wet.
There are big wind turbines lining the side of the winding road, and its in the eye of the beholder whether you think the wind turbines add or detract to Gaomei Wetlands’ appeal. On the opppsite shore there is a 800m boardwalk through the marshes so you can get up close to the sea environment without trampling on the mud or destroying any precious ecosystem.
How to go to Gaomei Wetlands from Taichung City by Bus
To get to Gaomei Wetlands from Taichung City, the most straightforward way is to take the bus 309. The bus stops along 3 places in Gaomei Wetlands before it terminates at Wuci Fishing Port: Gaomei Wetland Shansunlun Road, No. 18 Wind Turbine and No. 9 Wind Turbine. We suggest that you alight at the middle stop, No. 18 Wind Turbine. From here you can cross the blue Gaomei Wetlands bridge to the visitors’ centre and to the boardwalk.
On weekends, you can also catch bus 655 from The Rainbow Village or Xinwuri TRA Station (the Xinwuri station is adjacent to the Taichung HSR). This bus also terminates at the Wuci Fishing Port and stops in front of the visitors’ centre and No. 9 Wind Turbine.
Bus 309 originates from Taichung Station and terminates at Wuci Fishing Port. The bus pass through the main thoroughfare Taiwan Boulevard so you can catch this bus at the 2nd Market bus stop, the National Museum of Natural Science bus stop (near Sogo), Taichung City Hall bus stop or Shinkong Mitsukoshi/Top City Department Stores bus stops. Travel time takes 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on traffic conditions. When we took the bus, it took us 1 hour to reach Gaomei Wetlands but the return journey took only 30 minutes.
Most people go to Gaomei Wetlands to watch the sunset. The overhead sun can be scorching so the best time to visit would be past 4pm. If you happen to arrive earlier or you still find the sun too high or too hot for your liking, or suddenly feel hungry, don’t alight at the wetlands. Instead take the bus all the way to Wuci Fishing Port which is the last stop of the bus and only one bus stop away from Gaomei Wetlands. There is a market selling fresh seafood (but of course), restaurants and lots of shops selling foodstuff. The port is worth a visit if only to pass the time before sunset. When you are ready to head back to Gaomei Wetlands just take the returning bus 309.
Spend sometime in Wuci Fishing Harbor …and try out the spicy seafood…or an ice lolly.
One disadvantage of taking bus 309 though is that you will alight along the main road and from here its still a good 30 minute walk to the boardwalk.
Take bus 309 on the opposite side of the road to return to Taichung City. The last bus leaves Wuci Port for Taichung City at 7:30pm during summer (April-September) and 6:30pm during winter. This is a pity actually as we would have liked to linger longer but we have to catch the bus back. Still we were grateful to have been to Gaomei Wetlands and see its unique environment.
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.
Lee Womens Hospital in Taiwan is fast becoming a popular option for Filipino couples trying to conceive. My husband and I first heard of friends of friends who had a baby at Lee Womens Hospital in 2018. We considered going to Taiwan for our first IVF cycle but chose to stay in Makati and try Kato. For our second IVF attempt we decided to go to Taiwan.
The success rate at Lee Womens Hospital is quite high with their fb page claiming success rate of 80% in one cycle. Indeed when we visited the hospital, my husband and I met several Filipino couples in the hospital who either just got good news of a positive pregnancy test or already had a first baby at Lee Womens Hospital and were trying for their second already. Do take the success rate with a grain of salt because there are so many factors that can affect your own success rate such as the woman’s age and medical conditions. In addition when clinics quote success rate they usually mean a positive pregnancy test, not necessarily a live birth. Anyway suffice it to say that because of the success stories we heard we were encouraged to go for another IVF cycle.
We emailed Lee Womens Hospital and scheduled an appointment. They asked us to scan and send them copies of our passports, marriage certificate and a second ID. We were given choices of 4 doctors and we chose a lady doctor. Most Filipino couples that we met chose to go with the hospital founder, Dr Lee.
We flew from Manila to Taipei one hot and humid May morning in Manila and landed in Taiwan which was experiencing some gusts of winds and thunderstorms that time.
Lee Womens Hospital in Taichung
We met with the lady doctor and she asked us our medical history. I had blood tests done for hormone levels and a hysterescopy. My husband had a blood test and a semen analysis. All the tests were pretty standard. After speaking with the doctor and getting our results we decided to go with their IVF program. We bought the medicines needed for egg stimulation to bring to the Philippines back with us. For our initial visit, we spent 3 days in Taichung. We were asked to come back on the 7th day of my next menstrual cycle.
The medicines that our doctor prescribed were Letrozole, GonalF and Menopur. In Kato I also took Letrozole and GonalF, however I immediately noticed that the dosage for my medicines were much higher at Lee Womens Hospital than at Kato. At Kato I only injected myself once a day for 5 days. At Lee Hospital I injected myself twice a day for 10 days. So I thought to myself that this clinic is really aggressive which explains their higher success rate.
Once my next menstrual cycle started I informed the clinic and began taking the medicines and injecting myself with the follicle stimulating hormones. I went back to Taiwan on the eighth day for ultrasounds and blood tests. I was asked to come daily until eleventh day for blood tests (yes more pricking as if I didn’t have enough injections already) and ultrasounds to monitor the growth of my follicles. I had two big follicles and 2 medium sized follicles. On the evening of day eleventh I had a Pregnyl shot to trigger the maturation of the follicles. The follicles were harvested early morning on day 13th.
I arrived at the hospital very early on day 13th and went straight to the operating room waiting area. I put on the gown and hair net and an IV was put in my arm. I was also shaved down there. A nurse came to me and walked with me to the operating room. I noticed that all the nurses and anaesthesiologists were women. Arms and legs were put in restraints and anaesthesia was put in the IV and I went to sleep. I woke up and I was back in the waiting area already. I didn’t feel much discomfort after my egg retrieval. After I woke up from the anaesthesia I rested a bit and soon the IV was taken out and I was allowed to leave.
Because of my low ovarian reserve, we only got 3 eggs. Of the three eggs one egg was immature and not usable. The other two eggs were fertilised by ICSI. My doctor recommended that we freeze these embryos and we do another round of egg retrieval. She wanted me have as many eggs as possible as their clinic recommends 4 embryos are transferred each time for women in my age group (40s).
My husband and I talked about it and decided that we will go ahead with the transfer using my existing 2 eggs. So my transfer was arranged for day 16 of my cycle. Our embryos were 3 days old then.
On the day of the transfer we found out that both embryos have made it so far (day 3) and had good morphology. Hubby and I were so happy. An ultrasound was done to check my lining and one final blood test to confirm good hormone levels and all checked out good. We were proceeding with the transfer.
The transfer procedure at Lee hospital was the best part of our IVF cycle. I stayed at a private room (the staff called the rooms VIP rooms) and was given a 30-minute massage by the hospital masseuse to relax me before the transfer. Unlike in Kato, I did not have to leave the room to go to an operating room for the transfer. The doctor came in and wheeled in an ultrasound machine. The transfer itself was done in my room. The tube containing the embryos were inserted inside and the embryos released into the uterus. It was over in less 10 minutes. I was told to keep my hips up over a pillow and my knees raised for the first hour after. Legs were straightened on the second hour and I moved to either side for 30 minutes each after the second hour. All the while the hips were kept elevated. My transfer was at 10am and my husband and I stayed in the private room up to 5pm. It was quite cozy.
Cozy VIP room for transfer
After the transfer was the dreaded two week wait. It’s up to God now. Will the embryos stick? Will we finally be parents?
After the transfer, I was given aspirin, anti-rejection drugs, progesterone and estradiol tablets. I also had Pregnyl injections every 3 days. After the transfer it’s up to patients whether they want to go back to their home countries or have the pregnancy test in Taiwan.
These are the most frequently asked questions about Lee Womens Hospital.
1) How many visits do I need to make to the hospital?
You should schedule at least two-three visits. The first visit is for consultation. This usually lasts 3 days during which you meet the staff and your doctor. During this visit you may decide to buy the medications for follicle stimulation.
The second visit is for the actual treatment. You may begin your medications in your home country (as the clinic may direct you) and only visit the clinic on your 8th day. Follicle retrieval will be anytime between day 10 and day 14 usually. You may do a fresh transfer straight away or opt to freeze your eggs or embryo as you go through another round of follicle retrieval.
One thing to note about Lee Hospital is that they are all about increasing your chances to conceive. Therefore they encourage women to retrieve as many follicles as possible through multiple cycles. For women of advanced age and/or low egg count like myself this may mean that they have to take follicle stimulating hormones and undergo multiple retrievals in so many cycles to achieve a good number of follicles. This means of course more rounds of payments for the medicines and the retrieval procedures. The clinic fertilise all the follicles so I’ve encountered couples who were already pregnant but with 5, 10 or even more embryos still kept frozen. This can be problematic if you believe (like the Catholic Church does) that the embryo is a human life from the moment of fertilisation.
The treatment schedule will look like this (days stay in Taichung):
Consultation: 3 days
First cycle to retrieve: 7 days minimum (day 8 until retrieval on say day 14).
Second cycle to retrieve follicles and transfer: 14 days (day 8 up to day 14 for retrieval second time, then transfer on day 17 (3 day old embryo), and 3 days rest).
A lot of the couples I met in Taiwan are really committed and many of them stay in the country for months at a time. Couples may choose to stay in Taiwan for the pregnancy test (two weeks after transfer), up to when heart beat is present (further two weeks after the pregnancy test) and even beyond.
2) How much does it cost?
The short answer is it’s not cheap, NTD200,000 thereabouts.
The long answer is that it depends on your own medical conditions. The clinic does not really give an itemised breakdown of costs but here’s what I gathered based on my own expenses:
Initial consultation: NTD10,000
Medicines for follicle stimulation per cycle: NTD20,000. (You may need more or less medicines depending on your response to the follicle stimulating hormones)
Ultrasounds and blood tests: NTD5,000
Retrieval: NTD30,000 plus NTD10,000 for freezing
Transfer: NTD60,000
If you have to undergo 2 cycles of retrieval, total costs for one IVF procedure is NTD200,000
Costwise its very close to what Kato costs.
The clinic does not accept credit cards or debit cards so payment is a bit of a hassle. Payment is cash in NTD or USD, or USD telegraphic transfer.
How about the accommodation costs? Westayed at Alice Hotel where they charged NTD30,000 for a 30-day stay. Taxis cost NTD85 flag down and to go most places will cost you only NTD160 or less. Buses around Taichung are free for the first 10km provided you have the easycard. Food in mall foodcourts cost NTD150 per meal on average. Alice Hotel has stoves and a microwave so cooking your own meals is an option.
3) My impression of Lee Hospital and Taichung
I can not speak Chinese at all. Despite the language barrier, my husband and I did not have a difficult time in Taiwan. This is primarily because the Taiwanese are super friendly, polite and accommodating. Filipinos are an important clientele for the Lee Hospital and as such they have a team of coordinators specially for foreign patients. The coordinators will welcome you and translate the medications and usage for you. All the doctors at the clinic actually speak English but nevertheless the coordinators are also present when you meet with your doctor, and you can ask them to clarify in case you miss something. The nurses in the operating room waiting room have bad English but they are very friendly and will put you at ease. They are the ones who put the IV in your arm and also shave you, and they are all very considerate.
Waiting time at the clinic is not so bad. They have queue systems for everything: ultrasounds, blood tests, medicine education and doctor visits. It does get busy sometimes especially Monday morning appointments and you may have to wait more than 1 hour for ultrasounds, medicines education and doctor visits. Whenever you have to use injections, the coordinator and a nurse will brief you (medicine education) on the proper use and administration. There is a central ultrasound room and most ultrasounds are done by ultrasound technicians. However at critical times like just before retrieval and transfer, your own doctor may do your ultrasounds so that they can check out your eggs and uterus personally. For ladies used to ultrasounds in the Philippines, it may come as a shock that there are no separate dressing rooms or privacy curtains in the ultrasound rooms. You strip in front of the technician and only get a towel to cover yourself with during the procedure.
