Taichung Itinerary: Xinfeng Farm, Ah Liangโs Mushroom Garden, Lavender Cottage, Princess Annieโs Garden, Summit Resort, Carton King Creativity Park, Fengjia Night Market
โกย Day 1: Singapore > Taipei | Xinbeitou Hot Spring, Shilin Night Market
โกย Day 2: Taipei > Kaohsiung | E-DA World
โกย Day 3: Kaohsiung | E-DA Theme Park > Taichung | Fengjia Market
โกย Day 4: Taichung City Tour
Day 4 of our trip was pretty stress-free because weโve engaged a driver to bring us around. Heโll be with us for three days to tour Taichung, Cingjing and back to Taipei on the third day. We paid him NT$12,000 (~SG$515), and itโs going to save us a lot of travelling time and hassles from moving our luggage around.
Our driver, Mr. Yang (his contact was listed on this post), picked us from our hotel at 9am sharp. Heโs a very experienced and skillful driver (with more than 15 years of experience). He even prepared bottles of mineral water in his car for us, we were so touched by his kind gesture.
Most of our Taichung itinerary was suggested by him, except for Xinfeng Farm which I’ve specially requested. Reason โ Edison wanted to try-out strawberry picking but unfortunately, it was summer โ strawberries were no longer available. So, we planned to bring him to another fruit farm for some fruit picking opportunities. I chanced upon Xinfeng Farm from this website, so we thought of bringing him there.
Much to my surprise, Mr. Yang told us that he has never been there and he was kinda surprised that we asked to go there. He had to rely on his GPS to bring us there, and it was about an hourโs drive from La Vida Hotel that we stayed.
Xinfeng Farm ย ๆฐๅณฐ่พฒๅ ด
Xinfeng Farm provides a wonderful setting for a genuine fruit picking experience that kids and adults will enjoy. For a city boy like Edison, he truly enjoyed himself here as he experienced grape picking for the first time.
Jufeng grapes (ๅทจๅณฐ่ก่) grow here from June to August and from October to December. They have dark purple, thick and chewy skin, with a sweet and sour taste. We didn’t like eating the grapes because theyโre sour, but we still bought back those that Edison picked.
Admission to the farm is free. Visitors can purchase the fruits that they picked at a reasonable price. Tools for fruit picking will be provided. Apart from grapes, the farm also have peaches, tangerines, loquats and even oranges at different months.
Ah Liangโs Mushroom Garden ย ้ฟไบฎ้ฆ่ๅ | Website: http://www.aliang.com.tw/
This mushroom garden is located near Xinfeng Farm. To be honest, this place is quite boring so we left in less than half an hour. Perhaps a mushroom farm doesnโt look as interesting as a fruit farm because itโs dark and musty.
Over here, you can see how mushrooms are grown. There are a variety of mushrooms for both medicinal and culinary purposes, such as shitake, enokitake, oyster mushrooms, meaty king oyster mushrooms, and even lingzhi. Besides mushrooms, you can also purchase a variety of mushroom products here.
“Mama, can we go now? This place is so boring!”
Admission is free.
Lavender Cottage ย ่ฐ่กฃ่ๆฃฎๆย | Website: http://www.lavendercottage.com.tw/
Among all the places that we’ve visited in Taichung, Lavender Cottage is the most beautiful, interesting and enjoyable. So, if youโre visiting Taichung, this is the place that Iโd recommend.
The best way to introduce this place to you is to tell you the story of two young women. Many years ago, two coffee-loving and herb-loving young women enjoyed travelling around the world as they drew and record their feelings into music. Tired from working in the big cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, they decided to quit their jobs and started their new life as farmers.
They bought a hill in the middle of nowhere that even mobile phone signal was hard to pick-up. And there, they experiment with growing lavender, and built their dream of a hillside coffee shop surrounded by lavender. After years of hard work, their dream was realized and Lavender Cottage was born.
Interesting and inspiring, isn’t it?
Lavender Cottage is one of the cosiest, most beautiful and relaxing little gardens you can find in Taichung. As we stepped into the garden, we were amazed by the beauty of the purple lavender and its delightful scent. The grass is so green and the cottage is very tastefully-decorated too.
You can find lavender products such as soap, bath powder, fragrance and lip gloss, as well as souvenirs such as postcards here. You need to pay admission fee, but itโs redeemable for food and drinks.
Carton King Creativity Park ย ็ด็ฎฑ็ๅตๆไธป้กๅๅย | Website: www.cartonking.com.tw
Carton King is very popular in Taiwan, and in fact, I’ve heard of it many times before I had a chance to visit this place. Carton King Creativity Park is a pretty little garden with adjoining restaurant, honey store and souvenir store. As its name suggests, cartons are the main โingredientโ here. Itโs totally unbelievable that almost all the things here are made of cardboard – except the people and food, of course! In their restaurant, even the tables and chairs are made of cardboard.
Creativity is simply unlimited here. There are more than a thousand products made of cardboard, from furniture to decorations, toys, animals, lighting, photo frame, bag and puzzles. There is really no places like this elsewhere in the world.
Admission fee applies.
Princess Annie’s Garden ย ๅฎๅฆฎๅ ฌไธป่ฑๅ
This garden is somewhat similar to Lavender Cottage but on a much smaller scale. The garden restaurant provides ample seating varying from indoor to wooden pavilion and outdoor, with a wide variety of western cuisine, dessert and drinks. The garden has lovely decorations fit for a princess, but other than that, there is really nothing else to see here.
Admission fee applies.
Summit Resort ย ๆฐ็คพ่ๅย |ย Website: http://www.summit-resort.com/
Before we completely melted under the summer heat, we visited Summit Resort as our last destination before we head back to our hotel.
This European style castle is not left by European, but it was built by locals many years ago. Itโs a beautiful and scenic place to take a stroll and pictures. The atmosphere is nice and relaxing. Best to go during winter, but certainly not summer as it’s veryย warm and sunny.
Admission fee applies.
We returned to our hotel at around 6:30pm, took a shower and head to Fengjia Night Market for dinner. All in all, it was an enjoyable day in Taichung. Lavender Cottage and Carton King are an eye-opener that shows us the power of ideas and creativity.
