> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.taiwanquest.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Huandao Day 9 - URL: https://www.taiwanquest.com/huandao-taichung-to-chiayi/ - Published: 2024-01-16T14:27:15.000Z - Updated: 2025-01-19T05:02:01.000Z - Description: From Taichung to Chiayi, buildings old and new… - Author: Zhen-Kang | Distance | 110 km | | ---------------------- | ------- | | Ride time (with stops) | 6 hours | | Ghosts spotted | 0 | **I started my day at an opera house, and ended my day at a haunted house. With nice views in between.** ![The National Taichung Theater building reflected in a shallow pool of water. The building is fundamentally rectangular, but punctuated by multi-level curved windows and concave balcony spaces.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/taichung-national-theater-building-taiwan.jpg) This is the National Taichung Theater, an opera house in Taichung City designed by Toyo Ito. ![A security guard at the entrance to National Taichung Theater, reflected in a shallow pool of water.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/national-taichung-theater-building-main-entrance.jpg) The theater opened in 2016 (and today at 11:30am). ![Closer-up of one of the concave external balcony spaces of the National Taichung Theater. The spaces almost look like caves hollowed from the face of the building.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/taichung-national-theater-external-balconies.jpg) These concave spaces contain external balconies on the 6th floor. ![The triple-height foyer of National Taichung Theater. There is no one inside, but a parent and young child are entering through the glass doors. Through the glass windows and doors, Taichung city looks beautiful on a sunny day.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/taichung-national-theater-main-entrance-interior.jpg) The interior has 580 curved walls, which—according to an automatic translation of [the theater’s Chinese-language Wikipedia page](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/臺中國家歌劇院)—are “extremely difficult to build”. ![A wide curved staircase descending from a cave-like opening of an interior wall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/interior-of-national-taichung-theater-1.jpg) The public spaces are designed to be a cave for humankind. ![A low, rectangular wooden bench seat in the foreground. The vast, cuvaceous foyer of the National Taichung Theater is visible beyond.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/taichung-national-theater-foyer-1.jpg) The ground floor hosts an indoor design market (on left), and a cafe, where I had brunch. Perhaps for too long, because… ![A parking ticket affixed to the rear handles of an SYM MMBCU scooter.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/taiwan-scooter-parking-ticket.jpg) …On returning to my scooter, I discovered my first-ever Taiwan parking ticket. If I’m reading it correctly, it’s for NT$20 (NZ$1). I can pay at any convenience store. ![An SYM MMBCU scooter parked on a hill, with a view of Taichung City in the background.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/scooters-parked-at-wanggaoliao-night-view-park.jpg) My next stop was Wanggaoliao Night View Park (望高寮夜景公園), above Taichung City. ![A wide-angle photo of the Taichung City skyline. It’s a beautiful sunny day. The skyline comprizes dozens (or hundreds) of high-rise buildings.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/daytime-view-from-wanggaoliao-night-view-park.jpg) Obviously it’s called Night View Park for a reason, but the day view’s pretty good too. Taichung recently eclipsed Kaohsiung to become Taiwan’s second-largest city (behind New Taipei). Taichung now has 2.8 million residents, versus Kaohsiung’s 2.7 million. ![A distorted selfie taken in a convex roadside mirror. The photographer is sitting on his motorcycle and giving a peace sign with one hand.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/04/scooter-rider-reflected-in-mirrow.jpg) Today’s ride took me though a lot of Taiwan countryside. The narrower roads had mirrors at most intersections. ![A country intersection with traffic lights. A paddy field is visible on the other side of the road, as well as a palm tree and some houses, with more trees in the distance.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/taiwan-rural-scene.jpg) Here’s a typical rural scene. The Taiwan countryside is way, way, way more densely-populated than in New Zealand. And full of traffic lights. ![A scooter parked outside what looks like a small community center.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/pitou-community-center.jpg) After feeling jaded last night, today I felt great. But it was hot in the sun, so I wanted to stop for a cold drink. I typed ‘park’ into Google Maps, and it brought me here. Google translates the blue sign to ‘Pitou Community’; I’m guessing it’s a rural community center. There was no one else around. ![A concrete Chinese lion in the foreground, and a concrete frog in the background. Each is about 1 meter tall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/concrete-animals.jpg) On the other side of the building, I found a bunch of concrete animals… ![A sculpture of a girl hanging on the side of a whale. The sculpture is about 2 meters tall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/whale-rider-statue.jpg) …This whale rider… ![A sculpture of a girl, wearing an oversized triangular straw hat, leaning across some enormous melons.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/girl-with-melons.jpg) …This girl with big melons… ![A two-person mosaic chair in the shade between two portable toilets made of concrete.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/mosaic-chair.jpg) …And this mosaic seat—the only one in the shade—between two portable toilets. I sat here. ![Dashcam screenshot of a scooter fallen on its side in the middle of an intersection. A police car with flashing lights is parked next to it. There is a helmet in the scene but it’s unclear if a person is laying there or not.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/scooter-accident-scene.jpg) Back on the road, I passed this scooter accident, the second of the day. (This is a screenshot from my dashcam.) In Taiwan, it’s common for people to lie in situ after an accident, even if uninjured, so police can assess the scene. ![An SYM MMBCU scooter parked at the end of a dirt road, with a forest beyond it.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/sym-mmbcu-scooter-parked-on-dirt-road.jpg) Nearing Chiayi City, I stopped at the end of this dirt road and wandered past the trash to… ![The front of Minxiong Haunted House, an abandoned three-story brick mansion a Chiayi forest in Taiwan. The windows and doors are missing. There are tall trees growing out from the masonry, all across the building.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/minxiong-haunted-house-taiwan-2.jpg) …Minxiong Haunted House (also called the Old Liu Family Mansion; 劉家古宅民雄鬼屋). It was built in 1929 and damaged by American bombing raids in WWII, when Taiwan was under Japanese control. As the only three-story mansion in the area, it would’ve been an easy target prior to being covered in trees. ![A deteriorating stone statue of a woman draped in a long dress, without a head, on the grounds of Minxiong Haunted House. A brick ruin is out of focus in the background.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/headless-statue-at-minxiong-haunted-house.jpg) I saw this headless statue in the yard. ![Fallen masonry on dry leaves, in the grounds of Minxiong Haunted House. A 20 liter plastic bucket lies on its side in the background.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/fallen-concrete-at-minxiong-haunted-house.jpg) I also saw a lot of fallen masonry… ![Four empty bottles of Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor aligned to face the camera on a low stone wall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/kinmen-kaoliang-liquor-bottles-at-minxiong-haunted-house.jpg) …And some empty liquor bottles. Most were on the ground, but I also I saw this line-up on a low wall. Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor (金門酒廠) is a distillery on Kinmen Island, an island of Taiwan that’s only 10km from mainland China. While I was taking this photo, an elderly couple appeared through the trees. The man exclained to the woman “Wàiguó rén!” (外國人!), which means “Foreigner!”. I said a respectful hello (in Chinese), and he said hello back. Then they left. ![Close-up of a third-floor corner of the Minxiong Haunted House, showing large tree growing out from the brick wall. Its roots stretch down the wall and in through the windows. It has created a vibrant leafy canopy over the house.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/tree-growing-out-of-minxiong-haunted-house.jpg) Some of the trees were spectacular, like this one growing out of the third-floor brick wall. ![Close-up of a dense array of tree routes climbing vertically up the side of a derilect brick house.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/minxiong-haunted-house-tree-roots.jpg) Around the back of the building, the roots were also spectacular—reaching down three stories to the ground. ![The interior of the Minxiong Haunted House. All of the internal floors and walls, and doors and windows, are missing. It is a hollow shell filled with vines and tree roots.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/minxiong-haunted-house-interior.jpg) The interior was also pretty rooted. ![Close-up of the entranceway of Minxiong Haunted House. The doors and windows are missing. The doorway is filled with rubble.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/minxiong-haunted-house-front-door.jpg) The front entrance was blocked. ![The third-floor balcony of Minxiong Haunted House, with an inscription in the concrete above the balcony. The inscription comprisses four Chinese characters.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/01/minxiong-haunted-house-inscription.jpg) The words above the third-floor balcony mean something like ‘brothers be happy together / treat each other well’. We should all be so lucky. --- ### Day 9 soundtrack 1. **James Iha – Look to the Sky** ([Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/look-to-the-sky/1710185191)) ([Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/43rSWnNiOGzlERrM8BaeMQ)) 2. **Green Day – International Superhits!** ([Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/international-superhits/1160990427)) ([Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/6HUIbDhzmqcwxrxUfTuHdW)) 3. **Everything but the Girl – Temperamental** ([Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/temperamental/1629189271)) ([Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/4Geaebqk6nJC78Agw6VXG9)) 4. **Accusefive – 帶你飛** ([Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/帶你飛/1670343367)) ([Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/6wlO3VClebIlgMCfBcFbUy)) --- ### Dashcam timelapse [youtu.be/hszyvhmyliU](https://youtu.be/hszyvhmyliU) ---