Toucheng Township - The Perfect Place to Unwind from the City Rush
Toucheng Township - The Perfect Place to Unwind from the City Rush
IRINA CRISMARIUC November 18, 2021
Toucheng, Yilan County: The view to the Turtle Island from the Wai’ao Beach(own photo).
Trips to the seaside in winter were always my favorite way to recharge the batteries after long weeks of urban lifestyle. The emptiness of the beach and the sound of the crashing waves create a sense of calm and relieve the accumulated stress. As I used to live far from the sea such a trip was a gift I was giving myself twice a year. Now when living in Taiwan I can afford it anytime, but I never thought I would find such a gem as Toucheng just an hour away from the busy Taipei. And I got to do it with my friends I meet while being a docent at National Taiwan Museum. Shortly, the weekend could not have turned better.
Toucheng township is situated on the Northeast coast and can be easily reached by train or bus from the capital. It is mostly known as a good spot for surfing, especially for the ones who are just starting to learn it as the waves are not too big. But, the weekend trip to Toucheng showed that it hides way more attractions than the Waiao Beach and the Turtle Island. Come explore with me!
DAY 1
We boarded the bus 1877 from Yuanshan Station at 7:10. A pretty early time if you have not packed a day before and you live at the end of the green line. But hey, is worth sacrificing some weekend sleep to include more attractions in your traveling schedule. If you are not a morning bird, no worries, the buses and trains to Toucheng are so often you can go there anytime. Around an hour and a half later we were in the center of the town.
The staff from the Toucheng Leisure Farm welcomed us. She was the one who prepared the travel itinerary for us and help us travel from one location to another. I would like to express my sincere thank you to all the help we have received. The trip would have not been the same without the support of the locals and the SGA Association. I was once again touched by people’s kindness and hospitality in Taiwan.
Toucheng Old Street
The first spot on the travel schedule was the Toucheng Old Street. It was interesting to see how the historical site blends with the town's life. First, you pass busy stands with vegetables and fruits, breakfasts shops, convenient stores, and after a turn everything becomes calm and somehow magical. It mind sound bizarre, but when I saw the red brick houses and the amount of plants around I felt like in Wonderland.
The reason why the Old Street turned up quiet was possibly the weather. Unfortunately the weather during autumn and winter in the north of Taiwan is changing very fast. One day is sunny and hot, another day is rainy and cold. The gloomy, rainy days are usually predominating especially close to the seaside and we were lucky enough to travel on such a day.
But, the rain somehow made everything better. It made the colors of the old street vibrant and the contrast of the green and red more prominent. The inconvenience was holding the umbrella. Luckily, after a couple of years in Taiwan, I started to understand that the umbrella is a daily accessory, and is possible to get used to it. We have got to experience the “Yilan weather” as we got informed by the locals. I guess this was one of the first things that created the connection with the community there. At least this is how it felt.
The Toucheng Old Street is a combination of history and art. In addition, is full of small details that are pleasant for the eye. A terrific combination for a person like me who likes observing. If you belong to the group of people who enjoys tiny elements you should come visit the old street.
It was established during the Qing Dynasty and was prosperous economic hub back in the day. While walking around the alleys visitors can follow the changes of the old street throughout the time. The western-style architecture common during the Japanese colonial period combines with the traditional Chinese style. Every door has its own style and tells a different story of the family who once lived inside the house. Those who love aesthetically driven will be fascinated by the tiles on the top of the door.
The Old Streets also hides thematic alleys dedicated to prominent figures. The Book Alley contains works of the local poets and writers. The books are not real but visitors can read the titles from the stone replicas. There is an alley dedicated to the painter Yang Chien-chung, who tried to show the town in an abstract way. The bright blue walls of the buildings create an interesting combination with the colorful paintings. Except for these, there are a lot of vintage 3D murals that form a feeling of nostalgia for the past.
Wu’s Harbor Contemporary Cuisine
After around two hours of strolling around the old street, we moved to the next, thistime, culinary attraction, the restaurant Wu’s Harbour Contemporary Cuisine. The place provides one of the best seafood cuisine in the town and has daily fresh sea products right off the boats. It is situated right next to the beach and has a really beautiful view to the sea and the Turtle Island.
The style of the place reminds the modern Greek architecture as it combines white and blue. I was afraid that I will leave disappointed as I was sure the dishes will be an unsuccessful fusion of Greek and Taiwanese cuisine but I was strongly mistaken. As we have been told later, all the details in the place from the walls to the plates were carefully chosen to tell the story of the harbor.
We have been served by the son of the owner who disclosed some secrets of the history of the place. The restaurant was opened first as a hostel and then the owner decided to expand his business and change the first floor into a restaurant. The logo of the restaurant was designed by the son himself. The number 5 represents the harbors in Toucheng and 3 stays for the Turtle Island picturing the shape. The logo also has in it 3 fishes with the illustration of the head of the most beloved species - the rosie seabass. I will however not disclose where are all the fishes situated in the logo and leave you to find them next time you visit the restaurant.
We have asked for some recommendations when deciding what to order. Of course the owner recommended the lunch set with the baked rosie seabass. The son of the owner informed us that 90% of the customers love it as its meat is tender and sweet. It was indeed delicious. Besides that, we have got a set with steamed squid and a set with baked sebastiscus albofasciatus. We also were told to try the raw fish (sashimi) and roasted shrimps which were tasty too.
The food was very fresh. The son of the owner told us that get the ingredients in the same area to decrease the carbon print. The vegetables and fruits are from local farmers and, the fish is from local fishermen. The set includes the main dish, rice, pickled veggies, miso soup, steamed egg with seafood, and salad. The meal was given in decent portions, for an affordable price. One set is around 450 NTD depending on the fish you chose.
Super George Surfing
After a satisfying meal with some sea gazing, we moved to the next attraction. It was the thing that was stressing me out from the moment we got informed about the schedule - surfing. I was excited at first but with every single minute approaching the activity I was more and more nervous.
As Toucheng is a surfing spot it was a “must try”. I never surfed before and it was raining and cold and I was keeping thinking about a last-second excuse to escape the situation. In my brain, sea in winter was always only for looking, not swimming or trying to ride the waves!
I will now like to address all the introverts or people who are afraid of trying new things - just do it! Yes, it was scary at first but it was one of the most colorful memories of the weekend trip. After an hour of fails, I managed to successfully stand on the board and as success is addictive I am looking forward to going surfing again.
My little success was only thanks to the trainer from the Super George Surf school. One of the best surfing schools in Taiwan. The trainers are known for preparing surfers for professional competitions. They have a very serious approach and focus on the correct technique. The trainers are adjusting the practices to the needs of the particular person. As soon as you are taking surfing seriously you will be welcomed there.
Our trainer was very careful, kind, and patient. He explained all the basic techniques and let us practice a couple of times before going to the sea. Even during the practice in the school he approached every one of us individually and gave small suggestions on the things we do wrong. During the practice in the sea he found time to focus on every one of us and helped improve the technique and correct the mistakes. Without this, I think I would have never been able to stand up on the surfing board.
Practice makes perfect and sports make the time run faster, unless is the plank than can feel like forever. Two hours in the sea trying to catch the waves passed very fast. If you are wondering - it was not cold at all, the water temperature was ok and the suits kept the body warm. Some of us were sweating while at school.
The Super George Surf school is small but well equipped. It has a surfboards storage on the other side of the road. Except the boards it provides also the wetsuits for surfing. Outside it has showers with cold water, three cabins of showers with hot water that can be used as changing rooms and a table with chairs for resting. Inside, except the big room used for teaching, it has a toilet, a bathroom and a changing room and a kitchen. There are hairdryers and you can buy water or tea eggs on the spot.
Happiness 36 Dinner Restaurant
After a tiring surfing learning class, we got hungry. The next spot in the schedule was another “must go” restaurant in Toucheng that offers fresh seafood. The name of the restaurant is Happiness 36 Dinner Restaurant.
We have got there after 18:00 and, the place was packed already with families and groups of friends. Luckily the SAG Association took care of it and made a reservation for us. We have been told that the place is very popular among the locals especially on weekends and is a perfect place for families to gather.
The restaurant organized a huge feast for us and let us try all their signature dishes. The owner of the restaurant has two boats that bring fresh fish and seafood twice a day. The restaurant cooperates with local farmers and buys from them fresh vegetables and fruits.
The first dish served was a huge pan with steamed abalones with veggies. Soon after followed the most surprising and I would even call extravagant dish. It was a plate that resembled a boat full of delicacies like sashimi, fish patties, appetizers, and pickles. The boat with the dishes was decorated with various plants and flowers. If you are a seafood-lover this would be the perfect “birthday cake” for you.
After this, we got served a big plate of sticky rice with scallops and seaweed flakes; thick noodles in garlic sauce with steamed crab; chicken soup in medicinal herbs; clam soup; roasted pork ribs; steamed fish, and stuffed squid. As a dessert, we got a plate with local fruits: watermelon, passionfruit, dragonfruit, and pineapple. All the dishes tasted really fresh.
The presentation of the dishes made the dishes extremely appealing. The play with the textures, contrasting colors, and the used decorations made a huge first impression. The food was aromatic and vibrant and what is best about it is that was very local. Even if it was way too much for my stomach I savored a bit of every dish. My personal favorite was the scallops that were very soft and juicy and combined very well with the rice.
I truly recommend this place to people who plan to gather in bigger groups. The owner of the restaurant is very friendly and will help you choose the best lobster, crab, or fish from the aquarium. Do not worry if you cannot finish everything you have ordered, you can take it away.
Meet Love at Pacific Ocean Turtle Island
I spent the night in the homestay: Meet Love at Pacific Ocean Turtle Island. It is a place run by an old couple. It has 5 floors and offers rooms for couples, friends, and families. The homestay is situated in a quiet neighborhood with other homestay places and hostels nearby.
The place is close to Lanyang Museum and the Wushih Harbour, just a few minutes away by foot. It has a beautiful view of the Turtle Island. I guess this is where the name is coming from.
I have got the room on the 5th floor that is right next to the balcony that has the best view of the Turtle Island and the ocean. The owner told me that I can check the time of the sunrise and jump out for a few minutes to see it. Unfortunately because of the weather, the sunrise was faded by the cloudy sky, the view was still stunning in the morning.
The room was small but cozy. It had a comfortable king-size bed with fresh bedsheets and both firm and soft pillows. It also had a spacious private balcony with a view of the Lanyang Museum. The bathroom was clean with a large shower. The towels and hygiene necessities were provided. The room was equipped with a small fridge, TV, AC, and WiFi. The bathroom had a heater and hairdryer. The breakfast was included in the price which is 1000 NTD/night.
DAY 2
The second day of the trip was more of a solo trip. The weather was still gloomy but it was not raining anymore and it also was a bit warmer. After I finished the Taiwanese-style breakfast prepared by the owner of the homestay I got a ride to the next attraction — a popular coffee shop.
No.9 Cafe at the Beach
The No. 9 Cafe at the Beach is in the Waiao Scenic Area Visitor Center. Is situated right on the Waiao Beach and is a known place for surfers and tourists. The people who are driving can easily find the place too as the advertisement sign is visible from the distance.
The cafe was opened 6 years ago and currently has another two locations, one in Jiaoxi and one in Luodong. It is spacious with enough seats to facilitate a big number of costumers. The window seats were all taken even if it was 10:30 in the morning when I got there.
The sea view creates the atmosphere of the cafe and is the reason why the tourists visit it. Is the place people will go and have a snack or a drink after a long walk on the beach? During summer is one of the places where surfers will gather.
The cafe offers a wide menu with pizzas, snacks, and waffles. The drinking options include coffee, tea, bubble tea, soft drinks, and beer. I got myself a cup of latte and the fresh fruits waffles with honey. You can choose chocolate sauce if you are not a fan of honey. It was a perfect brunch as I prefer something sweet in the mornings.
I was curious about what are the most ordered dishes among Taiwanese and international customers. The most popular pizza is the Scallion pie with Smoked Duck Pizza. Foreigners prefer the Hawaiian and the seafood pizza. The most preferred drink among Taiwanese is milk tea. The customers from overseas prefer to order back coffee in the mornings and beer in the afternoon.
It was a very nice beginning of the day. I had time to contemplate a bit about my next week and observe the people on the beach. I recommend the visitors to come earlier to get a seat as in the afternoon the place is becoming crowded.
Wushih Harbor Traditional Ice-cream Shop
Wushih Harbour Traditional Ice-cream Shop is 16 minutes away by foot from the cafe. I chose to walk there instead of taking the car because I was curious about the surroundings of the Waiao Beach.
There is an alley for pedestrians that leads along the beach. The alley is covered by trees so visitors can only hear the sea. The interesting part about it is the row of surf schools, surfing rentals and surfings shops along the way. Just from this alley you can tell that Waiao is very popular for surfing.
The Wushih Harbor Traditional Ice-cream Shop has a permanent location in the building of the harbor. There is also a tiny ice cream trike that sells ice-cream around the harbor. I went to the permanent location and had a nice conversation with the owner of the shop.
The traditional ice cream shop was opened 6 years ago. It sells traditional flavors like tea, peanuts, and taro; classic flavors like vanilla and chocolate; fruits flavors like mango, dragon fruit, guava, passion fruit, and strawberry. All the ingredients for producing the ice-cream are bought from local farmers. The ice-cream is produced in the building nearby. The most popular flavor is the Guava flavor. The owner said that the guavas used to make the ice cream are picked from the orchard right next to the harbor.
Taiwanese customers prefer traditional flavors like taro, peanuts, and guava. Foreigners mostly chose chocolate or vanilla but also like the dragon fruit ice cream for its color. I chose guava, taro, and dragon fruit ice cream. The taste was natural and light. Is worth trying but might be more enjoyable in summer when the temperatures are higher. If you do not like the melting ice-cream in summer you should try it in winter!
Drifter’s Pizza Pub
For lunch, I decided to go to a well-known place among foreigners: Drifters Pizza Pub. The owner himself is an expat who came from Los Angeles, US, and settled down in Toucheng. My friend joined me as one of the locations she needed to visit was closed.
Initially, the place had to be an underground bar meant to offer a space for meeting and networking. At the very beginning, it was mostly visited by foreigners, but with time it became popular also among the Taiwanese visitors and of course locals.
The place offers live concerts on Saturdays. Outside is a scene with the instruments and some space for dancing. You can choose to sit inside or outside, but it was not too cold so we sat outside. The staff was at the outside bar too.
While the owner was preparing the food we had time to give some questions. As the American and Taiwanese taste differs I was wondering if the owner needed to do any adjustments to the menu to attract more locals. I was indeed right, but the change was rather small. The owner informed us that the only thing he had to change was the cheese on the French Pizza.
Initially, the French Pizza had blue cheese on it. This was the main point of the name. However, as the local visitors are not used to the taste of blue cheese he was pushed to change the cheese. Only the name was changed. If you like blue cheese you can ask the owner to add it.
The owner also shared an interesting thing about Toucheng and the area around it. Surprisingly it has a pretty big foreign community. As the town is relatively close to Taipei, some expats chose to live in Toucheng instead of renting apartments in Taipei or New Taipei City.
The prizes are way lower, you have a beautiful view of the sea or the mountains depending on where your window is heading. Families can afford to rent houses with two or even three floors where everyone can have their own room and you can even have an office.
Sorry for the digression, back to the food. The pizza was just right for my taste buds. It was the classic western flavor. There was not too much cheese or sweetness that you can usually experience in pizza chain stores like Pizza Hut or Dominoes. If you prefer a western style pizza you should try it.
The owner also engages in the community and offers seasonal work, especially during summer when is very busy. The locals and foreigners who are interested in gaining experience in hospitality area can always join the team. Interestingly the owner is also willing to teach about how to manage a pub/restaurant.
I left the place with a feeling of accomplishment and I was not sure if it was caused by the pizza in my stomach or just by the fruitful conversation I had. I guess both. If you love pizza and meeting people or you like live music this is a place for you.
Gangkou Village Tour and DIY
The last place in the schedule was the Gangkou Village. We had to have a tour around the place but there was a traditional place right in front of the building. As we were tight on time too we ended up only doing the DIY.
The DIY lesson was given by one of the local teachers of the craft class in the school. The teacher was initially working in the supermarket and found a way to relax by creating compositions from seeds.
We got our bag of seeds, plates, and hot glue guns and the lesson started. We had to recreate the map of Taiwan by ticking seeds and stones on the map. The teacher also emphasized that we need to take into consideration the geographical structure of Taiwan. Mountains had to be represented by the elevation of the glued seeds and we had to remember about the highest peak.
As I was never good at manual things I was afraid that it will be a failure. Also, I was never good at geography so I was sure will be a double failure and I will go back home disappointed with myself. As previously I was wrong.
The teacher explained that we need to start with the big seeds to form the base. Only after we need to fill in the empty spaces between the seeds with medium seeds and at the end we need to put the smaller or pretty seeds.
Sounds easy, right? However, our brain is tricky. I ended up wasting some pretty-looking seeds for the base, they were later covered by the next layers of seeds. So next time you will join the DYI workshop watch yourself and do not do your mistake.
As the teacher mentioned most of the seeds end up as waste so he thought about how they can be used. The rich flora in Taiwan offers a big number of various seeds of different size shapes and colors. You can also always “level up” your materials by covering them in chocolate paper or coloring them. Is enough to use your imagination.
The activity was very relaxing. The teacher was extremely helpful suggesting tiny improvements or pointing to the left empty spots. He does not only uses the materials for work on paper but also creates tiny figures of animals with the kids. I have attached a photo of some piglets made of seeds.
We left Toucheng in the afternoon. The weather was still gloomy but was not raining. However inside we were radiating happiness after such a nicely spent weekend. Mentally recharged and physically happy I went back to Taipei to prepare myself for another busy week.
If you are looking for a place to relax after a busy working week pack your backpack and come to Toucheng, Yilan. You will surely find the perfect activity to forget about your daily worries and learn something new. You will also find on the spot a very friendly community and delicious food. Even if you have already come to Toucheng you should do it again, there are still a lot of places to explore and this will be my next plan. I hope you enjoyed the imaginary trip while reading this blog and I hope you will visit Toucheng soon.
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