Luce Memorial Chapel, Taichung

One of Taiwan's architectural masterpieces

The Luce Memorial Chapel (路思義教堂) in Taichung is one of the most beautiful places of worship I have ever seen and experienced. I've been to many churches and temples before, but I've never felt so welcome and so relaxed like in this amazing structure. Those who read my blog know, that I don't particularly like Taichung City, but seeing this building slightly changed my perception for the better, as I am a big architecture buff. The church is located at the Tunghai University (東海大學), amid a very beautiful park. I was very surprised, when I've read, that the church dates back to 1963, because it looked like it was built just recently. The design is timeless.

What impressed me most was how the roof literally connects the sky with the ground, figuratively connecting heaven and earth, God and his worshipers. And not only that, the roof is at the same time the wall, maybe the symbol of God as the protector? There are so many things one can think about, when you sit near this beautiful chapel and admire its design and the location. The park is beautiful as well. But you need to go inside to experience something even even more overwhelming.

The Luce Memorial Chapel from the outside.

The chapel is attracting a lot of passionate Taiwanese photographers.

The reflection of the afternoon sun.

The cross on top of the roof is very modest.

And then we went inside. The interior is very simple, but genius. You have the feeling, that the chapel will collapse any time, but some higher power is keeping it intact. There was a group of Christians singing songs, that were so beautiful, that even an atheist like me was moved by them. My wife and I sat there on the bench, drank water and listened. Outside was very hot and humid, inside it felt peaceful and soothing. This was probably the first time, that I really felt something positive connected with the Church, because in my home country that institution doesn't have a good reputation. But this experience was like something completely different, I saw the cross and I thought of Christianity, but without all the cultural and historical baggage attached to it. Seeing that sun coming inside the church and completely outshining the altar and the performance of the choir, I felt very small and humbled in that moment. It was a surreal experience, but one that I truly enjoyed.

The sun as the part of the chapel's interior design.

The lonesome ROC flag. It felt very small in that corner.

I think the best way to let you experience a glimpse of this chapel's magical atmosphere is the video below, which I took with my mobile device. The quality is not the best, but at least you will get an idea, what you can see and experience in this wonderful piece of modern architecture.

If you want to visit the chapel, you will find it on this map. The Tunghai University campus is located outside the city proper, best is you take a cab. Once you arrive at the campus, you will need to walk for about 15 minutes, but it's truly worth it, as the area is very green, with trees, bushes and a small creek. There are maps, you won't get lost. I don't think Taichung has a lot to offer to a spoiled European tourist like me, but this one is an exception and definitely won't leave you unimpressed.

All information taken from taiwan.gov, read more>>

[My TAICHUNG page][My ARCHITECTURE page][Photos and video by MKL, 2011]

Taichung's Fengjia Night Market Madness!

How we nearly got killed! I'm not kidding!

I'm pretty experienced when it comes to night markets (or so I thought). Before I visited Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市 in Taichung, I've been to over 20 night markets, mostly in Northern Taiwan. When I saw the huge crowds in Luodong, Taiwan's most crowded night market in the north, I have never ever dreamed that there can be a night market as crowded as that one. But I was so wrong. The Fengjia Night Market in Taichung on the evening of April 3rd completely overwhelmed me. I have never seen so many people at one place in Taiwan and it was the first time I really feared for my life. I kid you not: I was scared! I will tell you why.

The Fengjia Night Market in Taichung is the biggest night market in Taiwan and after my own experience, I can completely sign that statement. I haven't seen any night market in Taiwan comparable in size and the number of people. It was like on a rock concert. It was surreal. Of course we made a big mistake by visiting the night market before the Tomb Sweeping Day, a national holiday. The roads in Taichung were completely clogged with cars, buses and scooters and I've never seen such a big traffic jam in my life.

We needed 1h and 30min from Taichung Station to Fengjia Night Market by bus. And we had to stand. The traffic was so slow, even the bus driver has never seen something like that and kept apologizing.

Once we reached the area, we were let out, the driver said we'll be faster by foot.

Once we reached the night market, the crowds were ridiculously huge.

This is the video I made while walking 2m per minute.

Once we were stuck inside, we hoped that later the crowds will be less. We were so wrong! We kept walking and walking and there were more and more people. At one point we were stuck and couldn't move into any direction.

This was the worst and the scariest part. I told my wife not to go in the center.

I pulled her on the side and we tried this popular snack, the only one we had chance to.

A banana dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with peanuts: Really delicious.

And then it got scary. We started to walk, but couldn't move, because near the stalls people were waiting for food, so we had to go in the central part. But once there, people pushed more and more and I got worried, especially for the wellbeing of my wife. At one point I was literally being squashed by many people at the same time and totally lost control of my body. I became worried for my wife, who was walking in front of me, I didn't want her to get hurt. If she fell down, she could've possibly been trampled to death. The situation reminded me of the stampede in Duisburg (Germany), where 19 people were trampled to death on a concert in 2010. So I tried to steer my wife to the right side, near the stalls and I think it was a good idea. We found small holes and made it to the part, that was less crowded.

I was so relieved, when I saw this area.

This experience shocked me. I couldn't enjoy the food and the atmosphere, I just wasted time and money and had great concern for my wife's life. This was probably the worse night market experience I had so far.

Nevertheless, I want to return here one day. I was advised to go during the week, where the crowds are less big. Fengjia Night Market has some of the best food in Taiwan, it's truly something I can't miss, if I want to call myself a serious "Night Market Blogger". It's just that I'm so busy lately, I have time to go so far out from Taipei. Those of you, who do have time, better don't go there on weekends and especially not before holidays. I'm not a big fan of Taichung. I like the good weather and friendly people, but that's about it. I have a good friend there and that's the only reason that makes me return to this city. The population density is so big, but there's no subway. It's really a disastrous situation. For a spoiled Taipeier like me, Taichung would be very inconvenient to live, even if I had a car.

[FOOD in TAIWAN][My TAIWAN page][My TAIPEI page][All photos by MKL, 2011]

[My TAIWAN NIGHT MARKETS list][My MAP of Night Markets in Taipei]

Taichung Park 台中公園

A perfect integration of nature in the urban area of Taiwan's 3rd biggest city

The famous Hu Xin Pavilion (also Zhong Zheng Pavilion or Sun-Moon Pavilion).

Taichung Park, also known as Zhongshan (or Chungshan) Park 中山公园 is over 100 years old. It was established in the 19th century during the rule of the Qing dynasty and further developed by the Japanese at the beginning of the 20th century, by adding beautiful pavilions, which became a symbol of Taichung (source).

I really like this park and I had the chance to see it twice. The second time was recently and I had enough time to walk around and take many lovely photos. I really like all the pavilions, but most delightful is the area around the lake with the red wooden bridge. That's my favorite spot. Let me share some photos with you.

See my Taichung Park photos here>>

You can also compare this park with the famous 228 Peace Memorial Park in Taipei.

[My TAICHUNG park][TAIWAN]Taichung Park history[All photos by MKL, 2010]

Shr-Hwa International Tower, Taichung

This is one of Taichung's landmark buildings

Shr-Hwa Int. Tower (or Shihua Int. Tower) is 192m tall and has 47 floors.

It was constructed in 2004.

Shr-Hwa Tower close-up. For even closer and bigger click here>>

A view from the bottom up. I love these shots :-)

A side lane near the Shr-Hwa Tower.

A nice restaurant inside. Most of the building is occupied by Hotel One and offices.

Shr-Hwa Tower's vicinity, a park and a square.

There's a dining place on top, on 46th floor. I plan to go up there one day.

View of the Shr-Hwa International tower from the park.

This building is also known as Taiwan, China and Thailand Financial Center. I love its shape and color, which reminds me of Taipei 101 a bit. I don't believe in the taller, the better, when it comes to skyscrapers, usually the shape and the symbolism fascinate me. And Shr-Hwa International tower is modern, simple and stylish. So are most parts of Taichung and that's why I love this city and I know I'll return many times.

[My TAICHUNG page][My TAIWAN page][Hotel 1 Homepage]

Related: Shr-Hwa hi-def photo[All photos by MKL, 2010]

The old Taichung

Let me show you the old 台中

Taichung's old part has changed significantly. Taiwanese have moved to other parts.

Few days ago I went to Taichung again to meet with my friend and explore the city a bit more. It's really an interesting place and I still haven't seen everything. I know I will go there for a third time. But for now, let me share some of the parts I've seen this time. Today I want to show you the old Taichung.

And many Indonesians, Vietnamese and Filipinos moved here and sell their food.

But here's also the herbal street with very healthy traditional Chinese drinks.

Two cats were coming out, the black one was open for some tenderness :-)

The herbal street is named 青草街 ('green herbs street').

This uncle was very friendly. He chatted with my friend, explained the history of his drink and even gave us a free one and posed for me. His herbal drink is popular with tourists.

The old Taichung. Life's slow here, prices are cheap. But some parts are not very clean.

My friend and I had some tasty traditional Taiwanese noodles here.

The dish is called 肉羹麵, which means 'meat soup noodles'.

And then I left for the modern part of Taichung. More about it next time.

[Taichung][Taiwan][My first Taichung trip][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Taichung Station 台中車站

My photos and impressions of Taichung's main railway station

The main building of the Taichung Main station.

This is on the opposite side of the station. The tall building is called Golden Plaza. It's one of the tallest buildings in Taiwan, the top of the antenna is at 178m.

See all my Taichung Railway Station photos here>>

[My TAICHUNG page][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Traditional Taiwanese tea house 無為草堂, 台中

A wonderful afternoon in a Taiwanese tea house

My first visit of my dear friend Cherry in Taichung couldn't have started better. She invited me to a traditional Taiwanese tea house named 無為草堂 (Wu Wei Cao Tang), which was an unique sensory experience for me, something I haven't experienced before on my previous trips. And since I am always interested in Chinese traditions, architecture, culinary delights and tea, I couldn't be happier.

By entering a gate our journey has begun.

The main gate of 無為草堂.

We crossed a lovely small creek upon entering.

A marvelous image delighted our eyes: A pond with Japanese koi fish.

Like in the old days, except it's in the middle of a big city. 無為草堂 (wú wèi cǎo táng) is hard to translate, it means something like "Thatched cottage of leisure". A place to relax, enjoy some tea, food and good company.

You can choose a small room for yourself. We sat on the floor, it was made of tatami.

I ordered smoked duck, that came with rice, vegetables and a soup. It was delicious.

Cherry ordered grilled salmon with rice, vegetables and soup.

The view from our room was soothing and relaxing.

Another lovely sight of the wooden pathway.

We ordered the traditional Taiwanese tea and a girl showed us the old Taiwanese tea ceremony. It is called the Kung fu tea ceremony [工夫茶道] and you can read about all its details here. The tea we had was called Alishan Oolong [阿里山烏龍茶]. Oolong is somewhere between green and black tea, but it tasted more like a green tea to me. Cherry ordered the mild version, but the flavor was still intense, but not too strong. It was perfectly enjoyable for my taste buds, but that's because I like mild teas.

Taiwanese tea is really one of the best in the world! You don't only hear that from Taiwanese, but many Chinese from the mainland and even Japanese come to Taiwan to enjoy the incredible tea and they would confirm that statement. And so would I. On the photo above you can see informational sheets about how to make the Taiwanese tea the proper way, both in Chinese and English.

My lovely friend Cherry was in charge of the tea, after the girl left. And she did a great job: the tea tasted superbly good and we enjoyed it to the last sip. Cherry was a great host, guide and driver around the wonderful city Taichung (more about our day here).

A nice room for you. Do you want to come?

The inner yard with the pond. The fish were very lively.

The pathway. We were walking around the whole facility.

Koi fish. They're said to be very expensive.

We saw a room, that displayed old Chinese furniture.

This is another room on the other side. But our small tour came to an end here. We soon left the tea house, but we could stay there for hours. If you have the time and chance, I highly recommend you to experience this wonderful and peaceful place, even if it's just for tasting the tea. But be sure you have great company with you, the tea will taste so much better.

All together, the food (both dishes) and the tea for two people, cost around 650TWD, which is around 15€ (or 20USD or 68RM). Not expensive for Western standards. I must mention that Cherry treated me the whole time and would not allow me to pay for anything. I feel very appreciated by that. Thank you again, my friend!

Address of the restaurant:

無為草堂人文茶館
台中市公益路二段106號

106, Kung (or Gong) Yi Road,
section 2, Taichung

Their website:

http://www.wuwei.com.tw/

[Taichung][Taiwan][All photos by MKL, 2010]