Words and photos provided by Industrial Development & Investment Promotion Committee of Taichung City (IDIPC)
How do you plan to spend the three-day vacation to welcome 2021? If you don’t have anything planned yet, we recommend that you consider a unique New Year holiday with little-known Taichung scenic attractions and its most popular souvenirs.
Announced on Dec. 6, winners of the 2020-2021 12th annual Top 10 Taichung Gifts Festival are OKLAO Specialty Coffee; Fong Den Favor Desserts; Chen Yun Pao Chuan; Pig Lady Bakery; Day By Day; AR’s Patisserie; Shulin Biscuit Co., Ltd.; Great Taro Wonderland; Ching Wood; and FineHerbs.
Taichung City Mayor Lu Shiow-yen said that Taichung is well-known for its pastries and noted that this festival was a major annual event for the city. It also means that visitors can enjoy visits to these 10 businesses as part of their Taichung explorations and purchase some authentic local products to take home.
Taichung’s equivalent of Mount Hakodate’s panoramic views of its namesake city is Wanggaoliao Night View Park on Dadu Mountain, offering a must-visit venue for night views, fireworks show and sunrises as the new year is welcomed. About a 10-minutes drive away is Taiwan’s most beautiful church, Tunghai University’s Luce Memorial Chapel, and the nearby Pig Lady Bakery, allowing you to savor its Taichung Nostalgic Cake Rolls on Tunghai University’s green lawn as you welcome a new year sunrise. The most representative agricultural product in Taichung is Bin Lan Shin taro (Colocasia esculenta). If you head towards Taichung’s coastline, you can visit not only Mitsui Outlet Park mall, Gaomei Wetland, Dajia Jenn Lann Temple and other destinations but also Da’an’s Great Taro Wonderland, offering DIY handmade taro balls, a visit to taro fields and other fun, Asian-style parent-child activities.
If you prefer a cultural-oriented journey, try stopping off at Dakeng Scenic Area’s OKLAO Coffee Farm where you can arrange a day of leisurely DIY coffee roasting and enjoyment of coffee-flavored desserts, and creating your own wood-crafted items at Ching Wood in nearby Tanzi District. Besides making a unique handmade pen, your one-day cultural experience can also include taking photos and checking in at FineHerbs, with its museum-like ambiance.
Returning back to downtown Taichung with its abundance of culinary options, don’t pass up a wide range of legendary traditional eateries and shops, combined with recently-opened stores that are already attracting long lines. After a satisfying meal, there’s always space for dessert and we recommended Fong Den Favor Desserts’ Passion Fruit Mung Bean Ice Cake, Chen Yun Pao Chuan’s Lemon Cake, Day By Day’s Bin Lan Shin Creme Brulee Cake, AR’s Patisserie’s Lemon Tarts, and Shulin Biscuit’s Creative Cookies. These desserts offer both sweet and tart flavors, just like the sensations of falling in love.
The Top 10 Taichung City Gifts Festival, sponsored by the Industrial Development and Investment Promotion Committee (IDIPC) of Taichung City for a dozen years, saw the Industrial Policy Association announcing the city’s top 10 gifts as selected by 13 industry, government and academic experts and via public online and festival on-site voting. Taichung City IDIPC noted that these selected business’s products were prepared with locally grown products, ranging from Da’an District taro to Xinshe District coffee. When you give these special Taichung gifts to your family and friends, you’ll give them the chance to savor the unique flavors of this city. In addition, this year’s winners include a category of non-food items focused on recycling concepts, offering yet more creative and meaningful gifts.
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