How to get to the Old City of Lukang

I have just left Chiayi City and am heading to Taichung by train on this my seventh day going around Taipei with only public transportation. The purpose of going to Taichung is to travel to the old city of Lukang. Many years ago, the city elders decided they did not want a train station and all the unsavory development that it would bring. That was a good thing for us because visiting Lukang is like going back in time. We get a glimpse of life in Taiwan 50 or 100 years ago.

I will spend the night in Taichung and then take the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus to Lukang in the morning. The Taichung Railway station (TRA) is being modernized and enlarged. After arriving, I exited the rear of the station but took a maze to reach the front of the station. The hotel I selected is not a far walk from the train station. I try to pick nice hotels near the train stations on this trip around Taiwan. It makes life easier when I need to take public transportation.  My hotel in Taichung is the 1969 Blue Sky Hotel.  Probably one of the best values on my trip! It was a very cool modern-romantic industrial type of design that has been opened for only a short time.

Lobby of 1969 Blue Sky Hotel

Creative breakfast - 1969 Blue Sky Hotel

I need to travel to the nearby Taichung High-Speed Rail Station (HSR) to catch the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus to Lukang. I think there are local buses that leave from Taichung to Lukang, but most local bus schedules are in Chinese which I can't read, so I took a short train ride from the Taichung Rail Station to the High-Speed Rail Station.  Taichung will have an MRT soon that will link the downtown with the HSR station. Estimates are that this line will start in December 2018. By the way, I have never had a problem speaking English at any train ticket booth. 

Short train ride from Taichung TRA station
to Taichung HSR station

Finding the bus to Lukang at the Taichung HSR terminal is very easy. When you are in the main terminal of the HSR station, head down one floor to where the bus terminal is. I caught the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus at Platform 5 which also makes a stop at Changhua. There are helpful people at tourist information desks at the bus terminal and the main terminal floor. I had my Easy Card, so no need to buy a bus ticket!

The way down to the bus terminal

Bus Platform 5 to Lukang

One thing to remember, the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle does not stop at every stop. When you are getting close to your stop, you need to press the button on the bus. I was looking at Google Maps on my phone for the nearest stop to my hotel in Lukang, but I was too late. I ended up at the main bus stop in Lukang and had to walk some distance to my hotel. Lukang Old Town is not that large, so it was not a far walk.

The Changhua stop

Bus parking lot at Lukang bus stop

I stayed at a very new, modern, luxurious hotel called Union House. It is probably the best high-end choice in old town.

Union House hotel

Union House hotel lobby

Union House hotel reception

Time to explore the Old City! Lukang is known for its old buildings, small alleys where artisans still work, and its many temples. I could see the Longshan temple from my hotel’s window so that was my first stop.

Longshan Temple from Union House hotel

Longshan Temple

Now time to head up the street to the infamous Mazu Temple. There are so many food vendors around the temple, especially seafood.

Many food stands!

Wow! Those are big!

Pleasure for the eyes and stomach!

Squid on a stick

Mazu Temple

Time to explore some of the back alleys. It’s like a treasure hunt – you don’t know what you will discover.

This hotel was the only one I have stayed at in Taiwan that did not have a breakfast buffet. I think maybe it was because there were so few guests staying here. I didn’t see any other guests, but I saw lots of staff.

Union House hotel breakfast area

I will take the bus back to the Taichung HSR station and then take a high-speed train back to Taipei. I walked back to the bus stopped where I was dropped off the previous day and asked a person who worked there that didn’t speak English “where to get on the Tourist shuttle bus?” Using hand gestures, he told me to wait in the small bus terminal and I suspect he will then tell me when the bus arrives. 

Part of the bus schedule in the Lukang bus station

The next bus to Chunghua and then the HSR station was a local bus.  No problem. It makes more stops then the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus but still goes to the same place. It dropped me off at Platform 5 and I was at the HSR terminal. Since so many trains go to Taipei it is no problem buying tickets the same day, except around local holidays. After a short wait, I am speeding to Taipei!

All Aboard Taiwan!

If you only go to Shifen for lanterns, you are missing a lot

I was intrigued by the Pingxi Rail Line during my research of day trips from Taipei. It has a historical aspect and it travels through many picturesque towns. The Pingxi Rail Line was a railway built mainly to haul coal from the area of Jingtong down to the coast by Keelung. Instead of abandoning the line when the coal mines closed, the Taiwan government keep it going and now it has turned into a fun tourist experience.

Pingxi Line map

Most tourists start at the Ruifang train station and take the Pingxi Rail Line west toward Pingxi or only to Shifen and do the lantern thing. The Pingxi Line ends at the town of Jingtong.  I took the Taiwan Tourism Bureau suggestion and started in Taipei on the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus to catch the train at Jingtong. From my Taipei hotel, I hopped on the brown MRT going to the Taipei zoo and got off at the Muzha Station.  The  Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus stops near the Muzha MRT station.

Muzha MRT station is the next to the last stop

Follow the arrow to the bus stop from Muzha MRT station

Go under this bridge and cross the road at the stoplight

  

How to find the bus: As you come down the escalator at the station exit, turn left. You will see a diagonal street that goes under a bridge.  Take it to the stoplight.  CROSS THE STREET and turn right a little to get to the stop for bus 795 going to Pengxi. For the bus fare, use your Easy Card.

Bus #795 

Bus stop

If you see this temple from your bus stop, you are at the correct stop

For some reason the scheduled times the bus leaves from the station are not at constant intervals. I missed the 7:15 am bus and had to wait an hour for the 8:20 bus and since this was rush hour of people going to work plus tourists it was standing room only for about an hour on the bus until Jingtong. My suggestion is if you want to leave in the morning, get one of the earlier buses, e.g. 6:20, 6:50, or 7:15.

I choose to get off at Jingtong to see this former coal-mining town and catch the Pingxi Rail Line train here. Jingtong is the terminus stop of the Pingxi Line. There are at least three ways to purchase tickets for the train once you arrive at Jingtong. You can use the Easy Card as you enter and exit at each stop, buy a single-use ticket to the station you wish to go to, or buy an all-day hop-on-hop-off pass for NT$80. Which is what I did. The all-day pass will give you the flexibility to stop and get off at the other interesting towns on the line.

Scanner for Easy Card. Make sure you scan again when you exit!

Jingtong has a small and quaint old street and when I was there in the early morning there were only a few tourists. Up the hill behind the station is the Coal Mining Memorial Park with an old sealed off mine entrance. There are many cool derelict buildings that were used during the coal mining days that make for good selfie backgrounds.

Jingtong Old Street. No tourists!

The next stop on the line is the town of Pingxi. Pingxi also has an old street downhill from the train station. There are your usual snack food and tourist souvenirs. Walk up to the Guanyin Rock Temple and see the bomb shelter and Eight Spirits cave. Pretty thrilling to have bats flying around you in the cave!

Bomb shelter caves

Bomb shelter

Entrance to 'Eight Spirits Cave'

What is flying around me? Bats!

You can loft a lantern at Pingxi or Shifen

The next two stations Linjiao and Wangu people tend to bypass because they want to get off at Shifen. There is, however, a newer bike/walking path along the Keelung River between Pingxi and Linjiao.

Shifen is the tourist mecca because everyone wants to send up good luck sky lanterns. So after the train leaves, people purchase the lanterns, write messages on them, have their picture taken, let the lantern go, and then get back on the next train. 

Where the action is

What is your wish?

Different colors for different wishes

There are many snacks that can be had along the tracks. If you walk up the Shifen Old Street as it curves to the right you will come to a local minced pork lunch place. Cheap, good and a great local experience.

Keep walking up Shifen Old Street and you come to a local eatery

Local minced pork dish

Another stop on the Pingxi Line is the Houtong Cat Village. Probably one of the cleverest marketing gimmicks in Taiwan.  Who doesn’t wasn’t to see a cute cat? The town is also home to the Coal Mine Ecological Park where you can learn about this former Taiwan industry.

There are also many hikes from these towns (most vertical), but some to waterfalls.  Pickup Richard Saunders’ book Taiwan 101 when you are in Taipei to learn more about the trails. I know Eslite in Taipei carries it.

 

If you came by train from Taipei, you transfer to Pingxi Line here

  

According to the schedule, trains leave about every hour

When my Pengxi line train stopped at the Ruifang station, I transferred to a train back to the Songshan station in Taipei. This was an easy day trip from Taipei. Go early if you want to avoid the large crowds. All Aboard Taiwan!

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