Avisala!
Having this post exclusively for Zhongshe Flower Market would mean that I had to omit some interesting trip details. I would have to include the whole ordeal from Taipei to Taichung.
From Taipei City to Taichung City
We woke up on a chilly early morning in Ximending. When you're travelling with girls (@itskareninamoi and @ivanafrey), you have to wake up early to prepare because they have their never-ending rituals. Even with an hour and a half allocation, we almost had no time for breakfast. It's a good thing 7-Eleven food is always available. As with the previous days, our breakfast consisted of one hotdog and one onigiri. It's enough to sustain me until lunch. Besides, Taiwan's Sichuan chili hotdogs are so juicy and filling that I can't get enough of them.
After breakfast, with all our luggage with us, we hurried through the almost empty Ximending streets to Exit 4 of Ximen Station. Like our North Coast tour the previous day, Karenina reserved a Filipino tour guide for a Taichung City tour. She found those tours in Facebook groups, and we liked that they don't require down payments or reservation fees. You just have to pay them after the tour.
We were confident about the tour because we had an awesome time the day before with our Filipino tour guide. We were in Ximen Station Exit 4 at around 7:57 AM, but there was no sign of any van or bus that would take us to Taichung. At around 8:15 AM, Karenina messaged the guide, but there was no reply. At 8:30 AM, we concluded that our guide stood us up. Since we didn't pay anything in advance, we didn't think much of it except that Karenina messaged the tour guide again about how disgruntled she was. Since the reservation was already acknowledged and confirmed, it would have been awesome if there had been a communication that the tour was cancelled. But there was none, so we thought the tour would still push through. We then decided to just take the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) to Taichung since we were already two stops from Taipei Main Station.
We just took the Bannan (or Blue) Line from Ximen Station to Taipei Main Station. With all our luggage, it was fun and games until we reached the maze-like Taipei Main Station. Since all the train lines converged at the station, it became one hell of walking and transferring to different levels until we reached the THSR ticketing station. We bought a ticket to Taichung for NTD 700 or more than PHP 1200. The earliest departure time was around 9:27 AM, so we had a few minutes to spare.
It only took two hours from Taipei to Taichung. I'll never tire of expressing my amazement at Taiwan's transportation system. After reaching HSR Taichung Station, we took an Uber to our hotel, which was Twinstar Hotel. Since the check-in was still at 3:00 PM, we just left our luggage in the lobby and decided to visit Zhongshe Flower Market.
Zhongshe Flower Market
Since Taichung Train Station is just across Twinstar Hotel, we immediately went to the station to find a way to Zhongshe Flower Market. Since it's already far from Taipei, translations were scarce and we had difficulty finding the station where we should stop. I Googled the station and it said that we should stop at Tai'an Station and we would just walk to Zhongshe Flower Market. But I missed the note that we should be on a local train. Maybe due to hunger, we collectively agreed to hop on the next train, which was the Tze-Chiang Limited Express to we didn't know where. We were so confused when someone asked why we were in their seats. We immediately knew something was wrong, so we exited the train before the doors closed. It was a crazy and funny experience.
We finally figured out the local train to Houli Station. For some reason, the train's last stop was Houli Station instead of Tai'an Station. We just rode another Uber to Zhongshe Flower Market. We finally reached the flower market after almost two hours of figuring out the trains and stations. We were so hungry that we immediately headed to the unlimited BBQ station for our late lunch. The unlimited BBQ with a pass to the flower park costs around NTD 385.
Maybe I'm just curious about a lot of things, but I followed a bunch of flower farm channels on YouTube, so I know a lot about cut flowers. "Cut flowers" are used for flowers famous for bouquets and decorations during events. Being in the middle of a field of lilies, strawflowers, and tulips is another dream come true. Those flowers are very rare in the Philippines.
Of course, we took a lot of photos in the flower park for Instagram, and even if I do not upload them there, I might as well share them here.
It's not really obvious that we had a great time! We stayed at the flower park until it was time to leave, or we might have been left behind by the last train back to Taichung. I guess that's all for this post, but I'm not yet done with the flowers. See you in the next post!
Kim Ybañez
Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits remote destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying-hard photographer, so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.
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A wooden white piano among all those flowers?? 😍
Yeah! It's for the gram. More like it's for the clout. HAHAHA
I suppose it is 😂
Though I would also sit there, and try to get a sound from it... just in my mind 😂
I was really feeling it when I was there. While my photos were taken, I pretended that I was playing the piano for a large audience, although it was just a field of flowers.
Awww, this is definitely the cutest place I've seen today. It's giving off magical vibes, and being there probably feels like in a movie. 😭❤️ I'm so excited for the next flower adventure you'll share, sir @ybanezkim26!
It's indeed magical! It's about six hectares of flower fields.
Wow! 😯
Hello... Thank you for sharing your experience with us, in this case your experiences through writing and photography. The piano there in that field caught my attention. I greet you from South America, from Venezuela and thank you for letting us know the cities where you are located, through these publications.
Finally I was looking at the latest photos and they also appeared spectacular, what beautiful landscapes adorned with beautiful plants that give their flowers.
I'm from the Philippines and I just visited Taiwan for vacation.
!LOL
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What a charming and romantic place I love the fields full of flowers and the atmosphere looks so cool, and the wooden piano what a surprise!
It's a great place for couples!
😍
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Thanks, Pauline!
HAHAHA disgruntled 🙄 oh well, DIY is kinda fun 😂
It was fun and games until I was almost left on Tze-Chiang Express to I don't know where. HAHAHAHA
What a beautiful garden, so many flowers! The tulip field is my favorite but also intrigued by the piano in the field, can't say I ever seen that sort of class yet! Your train system seem to be able to get you to some amazing views. Hard to picture, our rail line is archaic and mostly to transport goods across the country. I wish our system was set up more like yours. Thanks for sharing your colorful fields. xox
I just visited Taiwan for a vacation. So, just like you, I'm also jealous of Taiwan's transport system. We don't have a high speed rail here in the Philippines. There's an MRT at the capital, but it's not as efficient.
same for us, we call it light-rail like a subway system but it's just for the city's downtown and one main line it helps but isn't much, like you it's only because we are the provincial capital and avoid a parking mess in the downtown offices. they are currently adding a subline tho that will go to other important places. They have been talking about it tho across Canada to link cities in part of a greener initiative and reduce the number of cars on the road but it has been just talks for a decade and nothing solid.
It must have made your visit much easier and less reliant on a vehicle just the same, a better set up. Maybe you can plant the seed for your country to at least get the convo started on getting a better transportation system between cities
Nah. It's been ages since Manila has been called the city with the worst traffic in the world and the politicians are still relying on archaic methods instead of basing their decisions on science. It's hopeless here in this generation.
Wow! what a beautiful place, it looks like a fairy tale, the flowers are beautiful and colorful, it is the perfect place for a well deserved family vacation; the piano is the center of attraction, nice pictures.
Greetings!
Thanks! It's one of the most beautiful places I've visited.
Those colourful fields of flowers are leaving me so speechless! And that piano seems like completing the overall scenery just right.
They're so much better in person. Seeing all the fields of different flowers is just amazing. The piano at the middle of the field is what makes the flower market famous.
I bet it does! Really beautiful. ☺️
You really know how to pose, man. You look like a real pianist. And the view is perfect. I'm so glad you had a good time.
HAHAHAHA! For every good pose, tons of photos don't make the cut. I'm just pretending to pose.
I had a great time! Always recommended to visit in Taiwan even if it's far from Taipei.
So beautiful flowers 😻😻