Taiwan's best-preserved Qing Dynasty town and largest night market were can't-miss-attractions of the central region, our second stop on an 11-day round-island voyage by conventional trains.
Let's be frank -- the quaint historic town of Lukang was our main reason for stopping at industrial Taichung, a sprawling metropolis of 3 million best known for the gastronomic inventions of bubble tea and suncakes as well as the lively Fengchia Night Market. Starting from our previous stop of Taoyuan, Taichung was a comfy 90 minutes on an express train.
While we would have loved to stay in a guesthouse at picturesque Lukang on a longer trip, we continued our proven strategy of booking cheap hotels next to major train stations and relying on local transport or taxi for that last mile on our 11-day blitz. From Taichung Station we could easily access the Fengchia Night Market by taxi, and Lukang by local buses.
The jam-packed Fengchia is a legend among night markets for its astronomical revenue in ten of billions per year, beating entire towns nearby. That's just a rough estimate of course as 1) most stalls are grey market with limited taxation trail and 2) the market has no clearly defined boundary. There is no clear entrance, only an rambling district of late-opening eateries and Korean-influenced fashion retailers supported by the massive student body from the neighbouring Fengchia University.
BLACK TEA YEAST STINKY TOFU (Fengchia Night Market, Taichung)
Location Map
Every successful night market must boast a decent number of signature dishes, and Fengchia is no exception with its sausage rolls and fermented tofu. This tiny stall is actually one of several outlets for the oddly named yet immensely popular Hongcha Choudoufu, or literally Black Tea Yeast Stinky Tofu. In case you're slightly skeptical, let me say that it tastes much better than it might sound.
Behind the repulsive name are simply cubes of medium-soft tofu, fermented with Earl Grey tea powder for that coveted depth of flavor and distinct aroma, deep-fried for a crispy texture then drizzled with spiced soy and Korean kimchi. That's a mouth-watering combination to kick off a night of street food.
GUANZHILIN SMALL SAUSAGE IN BIG SAUSAGE (Fengchia Night Market, Taichung)
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This unassuming stall is Fengchia's most famous contribution to Taiwanese gastronomy, a cheap night market snack that has branched out not only to a dozen other food markets across Taiwan but as far as Malaysia. Just about every visitor to Fengchia will want a sausage from the flagship stall, so get here early or be prepared for a 30 minute queue.
This curious invention of Small Sausage in Big Sausage is actually a grilled Taiwanese pork smokie stuffed inside a larger "sausage" of glutinous rice, served with crunchy cucumbers and salivating pickles to balance the oiliness of the dripping fat and juices. Addictively charbroiled and filling enough as a meal on its own, this is the perfect night market food at just TWD 50 (CAD$2.1).
MINGLUN EGG CREPE (Fengchia Night Market, Taichung)
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Now operated by the third generation descendent, this 40-year-old institution boasts another perpetual queue for its one and only one item on the menu. Do it like the locals and take a number upon arrival -- the queue moves much quicker than one may expect with egg crepes churning out simultaneously from multiple hotplates.
What everyone lines up for is a thin, crispy crepe stirred in with green scallions and an egg, along with a secret recipe of yam starch mixture for the characteristic chewiness that the Taiwanese love.
Bill for Two Persons
| Black Tea Yeast Stinky Tofu | TWD 60 |
| Small Sausage in Big Sausage | TWD 50 |
| Minglun Egg Crepe | TWD 45 |
| Bitter Melon-Pineapple Juice with Honey | TWD 65 |
| Sugar Cane Juice | TWD 45 |
| TOTAL | TWD 265 (CAD$11.5) |
Between the Stinky Tofu, Sausages, Egg Crepe plus two large cups of fresh-squeezed juice, our informal dinner for two cost TWD 265 (CAD$11.5), deceivingly cheap until we also factored in the TWD 600 (CAD$26.1) return taxi fare from Taichung Station! Oh well, I'll take that as our entrance fee to Taiwan's largest night market as well as the 20 minutes of traditional Nanyin Opera that our driver introduced us to during the 20 minute ride.
We booked into Chance Hotel right in front of Taichung Station, 3 minutes from the train platforms and offering a free Taiwanese breakfast of congee and noodles before our quick regional train to Zhanghua the next morning. Instead of leaving our luggage with the hotel we would bring them along to Zhanghua Station where a luggage room was available.
Historic Lukang was 45 minutes from Zhanghua Station via Bus 6900, which dropped us off at the former station of the defunct Taiwan Sugar Railway. Back in the day such private railways, well-utilized for both industrial cargo and foot passengers, filled the important niche of connecting these remote towns to the national rail network.
No first-time visitor would miss the stunning Longshan Temple, widely considered the best-preserved Qing Dynasty architecture anywhere in Taiwan after surviving more than 200 years of major and minor earthquakes. Unlike most Buddhist temples the most impressive sight is not inside the main hall where the deities dwell, but out in the courtyard.
Behold Taiwan's most iconic heritage building from the early 1800s, an extravagant outdoor opera stage featuring a sunken coffer ceiling with an intricate series of octagonal crossbeams known as Zaojing, or Algae Well. Not only did the auspiciously named structure contribute to fire prevention according to folk superstition, but it also provided a lovely canvas for its generation's best artists in paint and sculpture.
West of Longshan Temple exists a famously narrow alleyway known as Moruxiang, literally the Alley of Touching Breasts according to a naughty local legend. Some serious acrobatics would have been required to avoid an uncomfortable situation with a member of the opposite sex traveling in the opposite direction.
Many of the local residences date back to the Qing Dynasty, including one belonging to a Mandarin scholar who excelled in the national examination and brought honour to his hometown as an Emperor-appointed official. On display inside the Ding Family Mansion are traditional wedding palanquins, calligraphy and other artifacts from a bygone era, perhaps a better era according to the townsmen.
Unlike the highly commercialized Tamsui or Jiufen, the archaic 18th century alleyways of Lukang remain largely occupied by descendents of the original Qing Dynasty colonists, testimony to a glorious time when Lukang ranked ahead of modern day Taipei as Taiwan's second largest non-aboriginal settlement.
Highly prized as Karasumi to the Japanese or Bottarga di Muggine to the Italians, these pressed mullet roes sun-drying outside a specialty store are locally revered as the undisputed king of Taiwanese gastronomy at TWD 1600 (CAD$70) a piece.
Scattered around the historic quarter are multiple shrines devoted to Mazu, the Celestial Mother and protector of seafarers. Imported by Minnanese immigrants across the Taiwanese Straight, this Southern Chinese folk religion was especially popular at this former fishing town before its harbour became silted in the 19th century.
Tigers, dragons and phoenixes grace the curving rooflines along with statues of the popular icons of Fulushou, the trio representing prosperity, status and longevity.
I won this grilled Taiwanese sausage for a cheap TWD 10 (CAD$0.4) from an old 1950s pinball machine.
That's right -- TWD 10 per game for four pinballs. I racked up only 70 points with my first three shots and needed at least 60 points to win anything. I ended up hitting 100 with the final shot for a sausage that tasted ever so sweet in jubilation.
That was just a snack. For a more filling lunch we decided to visit two of Lukang's time-honoured gastronomic institutions, each famous for its own special variety of meat dumplings.
Introducing my favorite "hidden gem" eatery anywhere in Taiwan ...
HANBIN CRYSTAL DUMPLINGS (Lukang)
Location Map
You are looking at one of Taiwan's oldest eateries, established in Year 11 of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, a decade before the arrival of the Japanese colonists. Look past the shop's grimy, hole-in-the-wall appearance and you'll notice the constant arrival of local housewives and grandmothers buying frozen dumplings in bulk. After all that's all they make, with loving hands and 130 years of tradition.
This is the epitome of East Asia's traditional eateries -- focus on making one item and do it better than anyone else. A bowl of Assorted Dumplings costs a measly TWD 40 (CAD$1.7) and comes eight dumplings in various forms. Pictured are the Crystal Dumpling (Shuijing Jiao) with a semi-translucent wrapping of sweet Mochi rice, and the Bianshiyan consisting of a pork meatball folded inside an impossibly paper-thin wrapping of painstakingly flattened meat.
Also floating in the pork bone broth are the meatier, flavorsome Steamed Meatball (Zhengwan) and the white and sweeter Watery Meatball (Shuiwan) made with water chestnuts. My own favorite was the Crystal Dumpling with its chewy Mochi wrapping while my wife preferred the crispiness of the Watery Meatball.
Hanbin Dumpling House is open only for breakfast and lunch, so plan to arrive before they close shop at around 14:00.
Bill for Two Persons
| Assorted Dumplings x 2 | TWD 80 |
| TOTAL | TWD 80 (CAD$3.5) |
A bowl of dumplings was of course not filling enough after a half day of exploring Lukang's labyrinth of little alleys. For the second half of our lunch we had a choice between Noodles in Thick Broth (Mianxianhu) or Squid and Meat Dumplings (Youyu Rougeng), both recommended by the locals. My wife picked the latter.
LONGSHAN SQUID AND MEAT DUMPLINGS (Lukang)
Location Map
A 60-year-old institution situated on the main drag of Zhongshan Road, Longshan Youyu Rougeng specializes in meat dumplings of an entirely different form compared with the small rotund variety served at Hanbin. Instead of rolling a paste of marinated pork into a meatball, Longshan follows a different tradition of mincing its meat coarsely and hand-shaping into loose skinless sausages that could be boiled or battered and deep-fried.
Arriving in a thick broth of pork bone was an assortment of meat dumplings made from pork and shrimp paste, along with generous chunks of chewy calamari, black fungus and julienned bamboo shoots. Most impressive was the batter of the deep-fried meat dumplings which stayed remarkably crunchy even after a 10 minute soak in the broth.
Bill for Two Persons
| Assorted Squid and Rougeng | TWD 70 |
| TOTAL | TWD 70 (CAD$3.0) |
The trusty Bus 6900 returned us to Zhanghua Station after lunch, reuniting us with our luggage ahead of the next afternoon train of our 11-day round-island tour. We would be traveling from the second largest town of Qing Dynasty Taiwan to the island's historic capital of Tainan.
IF YOU GO
Taichung is 50 minutes from Taipei by High Speed Rail which stops at the city's outskirt (thus requiring another transfer to reach city centre) or 2 hours by conventional trains to Taichung Station. The rapid buses numbered 300 to 309 connect between Taichung Station and Maple Garden where Fengchia Night Market is a 20 minute walk away. Or if budget allows, a taxi costs around TWD 300 each way.
The town of Lukang is accessible from Zhanghua Station via buses 6900/6901/6933/6934/6936. Zhanghua Station is a quick 20 minutes from Taichung on frequent regional trains, and features an attended luggage room to keep your large suitcases if you're on a round-island trip like us.
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