Taichung — Local services in Taichung

Taichung City is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.82 million residents and is currently the second most populous city of Taiwan, next to New Taipei City. It serves as the core of the Taichung–Changhua metropolitan area, the second largest metropolitan area in Taiwan. Located in the Taichung Basin, the city was initially developed from several scattered hamlets helmed by the Taiwanese indigenous peoples. It was designated as Taiwan-fu in the late Qing dynastic era when the city was constructed to be the new capital of Taiwan Province in the Qing Dynasty between 1887 and 1894. During the Japanese era from 1895, the urban planning of present-day city of Taichung was performed and developed by the Japanese. After the start of ROC rule in 1945, the urban area of Taichung was organized as a provincial city, until 25 December 2010, the original provincial city and Taichung County were merged into a new special municipality. The city is home to the National Museum of Natural Science, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, the National Taichung Theater, the National Library of Public Information, and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, as well as many cultural sites, including the historic Taichung Park, the Lin Family Gardens, and many temples. The Atayal Taiwanese aborigines as well as several Taiwanese Plains Aboriginal tribes (including the Taokas, Papora, Pazeh, Hoanya and Babuza people) populated the plains that make up modern Taichung. They were originally hunter gatherers who later lived by cultivating millet and taro. In the 17th century, the Papora, Babuza, Pazeh, and Hoanya established the Kingdom of Middag, occupying the western part of present-day Taichung. In 1682, the Qing dynasty wrested control of western Taiwan from the Cheng family (Kingdom of Tungning). In 1684, Zhuluo County was established, encompassing the underdeveloped northern two-thirds of Taiwan. Modern-day Taichung traces its beginnings to a settlement named Toatun (Chinese: 大墩; pinyin: Dàdūn; Wade–Giles: Ta4-tun1; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Toā-tun; lit. 'large mound') in 1705. To strengthen Qing control, a garrison was established in 1721 near the site of present-day Taichung Park by Lan Ting-chen. North of the city, on the Dajia River, an aboriginal revolt broke out in 1731 after Chinese officials moved in and compelled them to provide labor. The revolt spread through the city as far south as Changhua County in May 1732 before the rebels were chased into the mountains by Qing forces. In 1786, another rebellion against the Qing, known as the Lin Shuangwen rebellion, began as an attempt to overthrow the government and restore the Ming dynasty. Unfortunately, as the rebels moved northward, they turned to slaughter and looting. They were eventually defeated by a coalition of Qing forces, Hakka, Quanzhou Fujianese descendants, and aboriginal volunteers. When Taiwan Province was declared an independent province in 1887, the government intended to construct its capital city at the centrally located Toatun, which was also designated as the seat of Taiwan Prefecture. Thus the city took the title of "Taiwan-fu", meaning "capital city of Taiwan", from modern-day Tainan, which had held the title for more than 200 years. Qing official Liu Ming-chuan received permission to oversee development of the area, which included constructing a railway through the city. However, the provincial capital was ultimately...

Taichung's version of Detroit. This is a place that I genuinely loath to go near. The place is crawling with the dregs of society and you'll feel unclean as soon as you enter it. From the loitering throngs of people with nothing better to do than to sit on the pavement and eyeball strangers all day to the countless homeless, alcoholics and drug addicts that have decided to call this place home. I have the utmost sympathy and empathy for the homeless and the destitute but it's not helping anybody to just leave them to their own devices and allow them to dwell around a busy public place such as a train station. Alas, this is the case for all train stations across the world; they have all become a den of depravity. It would be great if Taichung's government would do something to help these people instead of thinking "out of sight, out of mind." For when was the last time a local politician went to the train station...

The old Taichung Station The building is historical so it's nice to take pictures around. As for actual travel, the facilities are old and out-dated. It could no longer handle the huge traffic or accommodate its passengers properly.

Traffics on holiday, Friday and Sunday nights (after 5pm) are absolutely horrible. Tickets usually sold out 2 to 3 hours before departure time. Even if you got the ticket, good luck squeezing into the train.

The platform number is quite invisible so you might have to ask your way around, especially if it's your first time in the station.

It's not exactly disabled-friendly or baby stroller friendly, you would have to travel some distances to access those...