Day 276: Taichung

Guys….we aren’t cool enough to visit Taiwan. This country has a level creativity and style that is unmatched in anything we’ve seen thus far. Colorful pictures incoming.

Between Chiayi and Taipei is the city Taichung which is an up and coming area for folks who want to pay less, but still commute to Taipei. We decided to stop in the city for the Rainbow Village!

After the national government fled to the island, there were many soldiers that needed to be housed. The government built entire neighborhoods and villages for these troops. Overtime, the houses became run down and developers bought out the area to build huge complexes.

One veteran, Huang Yung-fu, refused to move. He was alone so he started to paint his neighborhood and houses to save them from demolition. University students discovered his artwork and petitioned to preserve the village. The village stands today with colorful paintings and art from new artists based in Asia. Sadly, Huang Yung-fu passed away this January at the age of 100 🥺

We bussed to the village and admired the incredible artwork. Furthermore, a Taoist temple stood nearby and we made a short stop to view the structure and statues. It was 100% worth the stop.

We continued to our apartment in Taipei which is in the heart of the Ximending walking district, famed for entertainment, shopping, food, and street art. We went to a soup dumpling restaurant for dinner and accidentally ordered two large beers.

Ximending at night was a sight; we saw street performers and girls handing out snakes. The crowd was huge and you just had to move with the flow nice and slow. After parading through the district, we found a quieter street with amazing graffiti and murals. It was soooo 90s hip hop and the music coming from surrounding bars elevated the experience. Kids/models dressed up super cool were taking pictures everywhere. Clearly, we weren’t ready for Taipei.

Food:
Soup dumplings

Spots:
Taichung
Rainbow Veteran Village
Ximending DistrictRead more