[Taichung 台中 ☼ DayTrip日游] Qingshui 清水 @ Lynda's Taiwan-logue

< Visited in Jul 2019 >

If you have had enough of Taichung sights such as Rainbow Village, Miyahara and Fengjia Night Market, and are looking for more to do, venturing out of the city proper is an alternative. Qingshui 清水 district was one of my two day trips in July - the other being Wufeng 雾峰.

Qingshui 清水 in western Taichung and approximately 35km from the city central, got its name during Japanese rule. If the Lin clan is synonymous with Wufeng (雾峰林家), Qingshui's most famous personality must be the legendary Liao Tianding 廖添丁 - Taiwan's Robin Hood during oppressive Japanese rule.

Date of travel: Sat, 6 Jul 2019
*The unpredictable weather was not kind to me that day, starting to pour mere minutes before arriving at my destination, and persisting through a good 60% of my itinerary. While my stroll could have been a lot more comfortable and productive had I been blessed with the same fine weather I had at Wufeng, I managed to accomplish what I had set out to.

Duration of day trip: Approx. 11 hours (inclusive of travel to & fro)

Mode of travel: Bus to Qingshui + On foot at Qingshui + Railway back to Taichung city

Covered for the day:
❖ Tzu Yun Yen (Ziyun Temple) 紫云巌
❖ Zheng Pai Mi Gao Zhuang 正牌米糕荘
❖ Qingshui Shao Zha Guo 清水烧炸粿
❖ Yorimichi Patisserie 顺道菓子店
❖ Qingshui Elementary School Dormitory Cluster 清水公学校日式宿舍群
❖ Qingshui Art Village 清水眷村文化园区

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From a bus stop near Petrichor Hotel 朗舍行馆, I expected an approximate 25km or 1.5hr ride to my destination.

Staying at/near Taichung (TRA) Station 台中(台铁)车站 allowed me to enjoy many bus services to most of my destinations. To Qingshui alone, I had the following options.
(Click on bus route images for bus sites. Note: day/time of operations & frequency vary.)

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I eventually took Taichung Bus 台中客运 #9.
Boarding: Changhua Bank (Taiwan Boulevard) 彰化银行 (台湾大道) @ 8.50am
Alighting: Zhongshan Donggong Street Intersection 中山董公街口 @ 10am
(*Using an EZcard 悠游卡, bus rides can be heavily subsidized or even free in Taichung.)

Mere minutes before alighting, it started raining : (
Passing by Qingshui First Market 清水第一市场 by bus, an area I will walk back to later.

From where I alighted, Google Maps advised an approximate 300-metre / 5-minute walk. Though impeded by the rain, I forged ahead with my trusty brolly.

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Tzu Yun Yen (Ziyun Temple) 紫云巌
Website
@ No. 206 Da Jie Road 大街路206号

Constructed during the reign of Qing emperor Qian Long, the 300-year old temple worships primarily Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin 观音), as well as other deities. In 1972, the iconic temple commenced a 8-year long refurbishment with the support of many devotees, completing in 1980.

My intended first bite for the day at popular foodcarts outside the temple was thwarted by heavy rain, forcing me to seek shelter. The rain seemed to do nothing to deter an organized worship activity though, as devotees arrived by buses and set off firecrackers at the large front yard.

The temple of considerable size has 3 storeys worshipping a number of deities, and a beautiful garden at the back which I didn't manage to admire. There is a separate building that houses a small museum, cultural activity hall and a children's library. Unfortunately, the rain doused my urge to linger longer, and I kept to photo points within the sheltered main hall.

Catching a short window of subsiding rain, I continued my walk, famished and ready to eat (even more) at the next stop, 5 minutes away.

Spotting my destination in the distance!

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Zheng Pai Mi Gao Zhuang 正牌米糕荘
Website | FB
@ No. 75-1 Da Jie Road 大街路75-1号

Though named as a 米糕 (glutinous rice topped with minced pork and gravy, a popular Taichung delight) shop, this multi-generation eatery has many other items on their menu, including rice, noodles, soups and side dishes.

At a glance, the eatery looks to house not more than 50 seats, inside and outside. Business was brisk despite the rain, doing little to deter residents braving the rain on their bikes to takeaway local delicacies! I was happy to relax indoor, dry myself, keep warm and enjoy my food slowly while people-watching.

Completing my order and payment at the counter, I picked up my food shortly. My sumptuous brunch: their signature glutinous rice 米糕 NTD35 with a braised egg 卤蛋 NTD15 + pork ribs soup 排骨酥汤 NTD55 + stir fried vegetable 烫青菜 NTD30.

The premium pork belly (concealed by the coriander - my bad) is a fine mix of juicy fats and lean meat, flavourfully braised using a secret recipe, coupled with glutinous rice topped with a special gravy. The pork ribs are first deep-fried (thus 排骨'酥'), then boiled in the soup to tender goodness. Stir fried greens anywhere in Taiwan are a staple for me, often cheap for a generous portion.

I was happy to see that the eatery practises waste separation and recycling when I cleared my table - Taiwan is definitely a forerunner in the global move towards higher environmental awareness, boasting an amazing country-wide effort.

⇩ Qingshui Park 清水公园, right opposite the eatery - a quick distraction before I continued my walk in the rain.

⇩ From the eatery, Google Maps prescribed a 6-minute walk to my next destination, but midway, I was steered off course by a peek at Qingshui First Market 清水第一市場 (passed enroute my bus ride). The rain was intensifying at this point, so I was thankful for shelter (and some shopping) at departmental store POYA 宝雅.

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Qingshui Shao Zha Guo 清水烧炸粿
@ No. 206 Guang Hua Road 光華路206号
FB
*There are 2 fritter shops at this corner, right opposite each other. From what I read online, 1 operates in the morning (6am-1pm), the other in the afternoon (after 2pm~7pm). The one I patronised was the "morning shift".

Arriving past noon, I was ready again for a bite. This three-generation eatery sells only 1 thing in its shabby-looking shop - fritters - but seems like a popular local snack in the blogs I came across. And indeed, most of the items were sold-out by the time I was here, though the steady stream of takeouts on bikes and quick dine-ins didn't stop.

The family worked their fryer non-stop, maintaining a limited amount of ready fritters at any one time, so they can keep frying a fresh supply.

⇩ A very modest menu, with only 4 types of fritter - (from right to left) meat (pork), oyster, savoury, sweet rice cake.

⇩ Only 2 items were not sold out when I was there: meat 肉炸 NTD35 & sweet rice cake 甜米糕 NTD20, which I requested in my own container (for easier takeaway).

I enjoy fried food (increasingly in moderation, as I age) very much, and these are pretty much to my taste. Meat and oyster fritters are common street food in Taiwan, but the sweet rice cake was a delight, reminding me of fried glutinous rice cake (年糕). There is a special chilli sauce on the side, which I did not try. While it is common to find non-spicy (and sweet) chilli sauce in Taiwan, this eatery's is known to be spicy.

I did not linger too long here as there were limited seats and a constant stream of customers. Moving on, again a short walk away and (almost) beside each other, I swapped the original order of the next 2 destinations, as I did not want to walk the grounds of precious old Japanese buildings with my wet shoes, brolly and attire.

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Yorimichi Patisserie 顺道菓子店
@ No. 81-2 Zhen Nan Street 镇南街81-2号
FB
⇩ Click on image for separate blog post

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Qingshui Elementary School Dormitory Cluster 清水公学校日式宿舍群
@ No. 59 Zhen Nan Street 镇南街59号
Website
⇩ Click on image for separate blog post

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At 3pm, I met the biggest challenge of my day trip - getting to my next (and final planned) attraction. I could try to find a nearest bus stop. Or attempt to call a cab. Or take a 25-minute walk advised by Google Maps. After 15 minutes of no response to my call for a cab (using a local app), I went with my trusty travel companion - Google Maps. To be honest, a 30-minute stroll would have been manageable, and even enjoyable (soaking in the sights and smells enroute), by my standards. Unfortunately the on-off rain (and worse, strong wind) was a hindrance, and made the extended stroll rather uncomfortable.

⇩ Spotting a random pineapple cart enroute. I love the Taiwanese variety which comes very sweet and juicy, without the sourish bite on the tongue that my native variety has (resulting in me not eating it much back home). On this note, there are just so many fruits to enjoy in Taiwan - do support these orchard farmers if you can, as they sometimes make little profit going through a typical supply chain.

⇩ Two very large stationery stores, where I found some cheap gems.

Including a couple of pit stops, partly for shelter and partly genuine interest to hunt for hidden gems, I completed my "hike" in about 45 minutes. Perhaps moved by my determination, the heavy rain FINALLY ran its course for the day, and I was blessed with cool, dry weather when exploring my final attraction.

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Qingshui Art Village 清水眷村文化园区
@ No. 41 Zhongshe Road, Xinyi Lane 中社路, 信義巷41号
Website
⇩ Click on image for separate blog post

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Wrapping up my itinerary at 5pm, I came to a bus stop right outside the art village. I had 1 more destination on KIV - Qingshui Night Market 清水夜市, an estimated 20-minute walk away (or a likelihood some bus may bring me there/nearby). Weighing the possibility that 1, open-air night markets may not (fully) operate in the unpredictable weather, and 2, I may be a tad early for the full glory of one, I decided not to risk making my way there, but to head back to Taichung city, after the 7-hour day trip conquered on foot.

From this bus stop, there are frequent buses that will bring me to Qingshui (TRA) Station 清水(台铁)车站, from where, I had a pre-purchased train ticket back to Taichung city. It was a deliberate move to experience both modes of transport (bus and train), each taking about an hour, with flexibility in accordance to one's itinerary.
(Just for reference, walking from Qingshui (TRA) Station 清水(台铁)车站 to 紫云巌 Tzu Yun Yen (Ziyun Temple) takes about 25 minutes, vs 5 minutes from where I first alighted.)

Right opposite the bus stop is an attraction that I did not include this time - Taichung Seaport Art Center 台中港区艺术中心 FB. From other blogs, it looks to be a family/kids-friendly destination, though of less appeal to me as I worked out my managable line-up. Perhaps, for the next visit ~

⇩ Passed these for the Seaport Art Center during my earlier walk to the Art Village

After an approximate 15-minute or so bus ride (in the company of 2 local ladies who also trekked their way around Qingshui, and a very chatty and helpful driver), I alighted for a 10-minute stroll towards Qingshui (TRA) Station 清水(台铁)车站.

A tad early for the next available ride to Taichung (checked prior on TRA's website), I rested my overworked legs at a convenience store nearby.

I had pre-purchased my train ticket upon arrival in Taichung city - for a train line that permitted same-day, unscheduled single use of your ticket (if you notice my ticket didn't indicate a ride timing). Alternatively, get your ticket over the station counter, or tap your EZcard when entering the platform area.

⇩ Distracted by an electronic mailbox, commonly seen at train and MRT stations in Taiwan...

⇩ ... before 2 entertaining feline residents

The TRA 台铁 railway line is much older than HSR 高铁, and operates on a much larger scale, covering smaller towns and remote routes. Despite its long history, stations are well-maintained and have been upgraded with wheelchair-accessibility.

⇩ Local train 区间车 #2627, 1834-1932hrs, Qingshui 清水 to Taichung 台中. Finally winding down on my leisurely ride, nodding off to sleep in sync with the rhythmic sound of a rustic railway.