Table of Contents

Day two in Taichung was packed with culture, food, and walking. The day started with a local-style breakfast, followed by a visit to the impressive 921 Earthquake Museum, built on the ruins of a destroyed school. After exploring a refurbished train station and its flea market, the highlight was Miyahara, a beautifully designed dessert emporium. The day ended with legendary Cremia ice cream and a long walk to a lively night market, before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the Alishan trip.

Links to the next parts

• Taiwan, day 1
• Taiwan, day 3
• Taiwan, day 4
• Taiwan, day 5
• Taiwan, day 6
• Taiwan, day 7-8

Breakfast and Local Flavors

The second day, we started with breakfast, which was really nice. The hotel breakfast had a lot of local foods and flavors. The spread had such delicacies as chicken feet!

921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan

Firstly, we decided to visit the earthquake museum. The official place name is the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan. The museum is located maybe 20-30 minutes from our hotel, so we decided to grab a bite, as the place is located in the middle of nowhere.

The museum was interesting and totally worth visiting. Roughly 10 or 20 years ago, after a huge earthquake, one of the local schools was completely destroyed. The government decided not to rebuild it from scratch but to build a museum to educate the population about the dangers of the natural disaster. The museum was literally built on top of a demolished school, i.e., you can see the school buildings, cracks, and humongous damage made by the natural forces.

The exhibition focuses on tectonic plates, their movements, and how to design earthquake-prone buildings. The place is interactive, and you can try to build your own earthquake-prone construction! I had a great time, but I reckon kids will be even happier!

In addition, there is a separate hall with exhibits that talk about rescue dogs participating in the rescue operation for the kids in the school who didn’t manage to escape the earthquake.

Lastly, there is a separate building dedicated to art and to the earthquakes in general. It’s possible to see photos of rescue teams in action across the world, e.g., a Russian team, which was a part of multiple rescue operations. In addition, there is a separate space where it is possible to learn more about the indigenous people of Taiwan.

The cherry on top of the cake is an attraction where you can go and experience a real earthquake around 5° on the Richter scale. That was also an interesting experience because it’s also well intertwined with the story of the school. It’s possible to see the devastating destruction the earthquake brings together with the sharing of the eyewitness accounts.

Old Train Station and Flea Market

After the museum, we got another ride to the city center to an old train station that has been refurbished into a vibrant social place. Luckily, the same day, the station had a flea market. We explored what the local craftsmen have to offer.

The Taiwanese craftsmen had a lot of knitted items, and the majority of the stuff is again some anime-related things, pins, whatever, some local drawings, etc

Miyahara: More Than a Gelateria

On the way to the station, I discovered a quite interesting place not far from the final destination - a Japanese gelateria called Miyahara. Originally, I thought it was an ice cream parlor, but we discovered that it’s more than that.

Thus, after a quick lunch, we went to Miyahara, and it was a fantastic place. It’s really a fantastic, well-decorated emporium, reminding you of the Eliseyev Emporium on Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg.

The place really has a Harry Potter kind of vibe with animatronic figures, Japanese attention to detail, tons of unusual desserts, and delicate packaging. Obviously, we weren’t the only ones who discovered this place, so it was quite crowded. The queue for ice cream was pretty long, so we decided that the wait wasn’t worth it and grabbed a couple of cookies for takeaway.

Archaeological Museum (Skip It)

After the lunch pit-stop, we headed over to the next destination - an archaeological museum. The walk was pretty long, about 40 minutes. At the museum, I can’t really recollect a lot of memories, only that the museum was a bit dilapidated and outdated. Thus, I don’t really recommend it.

IMPORTANT NOTE – The Best Ice Cream in the World

In the Taipei airport, we discovered that Taiwan has the best ice cream in the world, called Creamia, a very delicate Japanese ice cream with a biscuit cone. The combination of ice cream and biscuit makes it a very special, unique dessert.

As I saw the ice cream at the airport, I was constantly looking for the right place to indulge in it, and Taichung has a couple of outlets! Thus, after the museum, we decided to check out the ice cream shop.

After a short walk, we managed to locate the store. Last time we tried it at Sapporo, Cremia had only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and their mix (twist). These days, the chocolate has been dismissed and replaced with a tiramisu flavour! And for the New Year season the company released a strawberry flavor, so the number one priority for me was to try all possible flavours of Cremia.

Night Market Finale

After a quick dessert stop, we decided to check out the Taiwanese version of pubs - night markets (夜市). The night market was about a 20-30 minute walk, so we decided to enjoy walking and clicked a record high 35,000 steps!

And, obviously, the market didn’t disappoint. We got the beef cubes, which were okayish, not as great as the beef cubes that we had in Taipei last time. Mushrooms were surprisingly good, especially with condiments - salt and seaweed. It was extremely delicious. And we had some Taiwanese dumplings!

After the dinner, we headed straight to the hotel to prepare for the day trip to Alishan mountains.