Christmas is Coming in Miaoli! 🎄✨ 2024 Christmas in Taiwan

It’s early November, so we still have about a month and a half to go until Christmas, but the festive spirit is already here! Miaoli City has just put up its Christmas decorations and lights on November 3rd, so of course, we couldn't wait to check them out.

First, we stopped by a park to let our son burn off some energy. The park was pretty empty, likely because of the strong winds today - it was so intense that it felt a bit uncomfortable, even though the sky was beautifully blue. We heard some sad news about how powerful the wind can be: apparently, someone had accidents on scooter, hitting electric pole with tragic outcomes. Winter in northern Taiwan can be tough sometimes with this kind of weather.

After playing, we set off to find dinner and passed by a nearby university to see what the local students were eating. We ended up at a place originally from Hsinchu and ordered a few favorites: lu rou fan (braised pork rice), crystal dumpling soup, oyster omelet, and rou yuan. I’m not the biggest fan of the sauce on the oyster omelet and rou yuan, but the food was tasty and affordable, especially considering how pricey some places are these days.

Finally, it was time for the Christmas lights to switch on at 6 PM! This year’s decorations are even better than last, with four different buildings decorated uniquely. Christmas music plays across the displays, with each building getting its own tunes every 15 minutes. The main building has the most beautiful decorations, though while trying to take pictures, I spotted a taxi parked illegally on the red line. Sadly, that’s a pretty common sight around Taiwan.

The third building’s theme was a fun surprise - an outer-space Christmas! There was an astronaut climbing a Christmas tree with planets placed around, such a unique take on holiday decor. The last building had pink trees and a sleigh perfect for photos. The decorations this year feel more exciting and festive, with so much to look at. And a great thing was that there were very few people, making it easy to take good pictures. Or maybe not that easy - since in the darkness, people turn pitch black in photos, haha!

As we were about to head home, the scent of the nearby night market drew us in. We grabbed some BBQ skewers, which had that classic Tainan flavor with a hint of sweetness. It’s perfect if you love Tainan-style food, but it might be an acquired taste for some! The night market was a bit quieter than usual - it opens three times a week, so perhaps this wasn’t the busiest night. Coming to this night market is super convenient since it’s just across the street from Miaoli Train Station!

All in all, it was a cozy start to the holiday season in Miaoli. Can't wait to see how Christmas unfolds in other places! 

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Tainan Travel: Japanese Era Police Station in Dongshan

While looking at Google Maps, I wanted to find some interesting places to visit in Dongshan. My goal is to discover places of interest in every district of Tainan if possible. Taiwan still has many remnants from the Japanese era, and I even found one building in Dongshan. There were very few pictures of it, mostly showing it in a very broken state. I thought it was such a pity until I saw the next picture of the same building, but fully renovated! I felt happy and really wanted to see it. However, coming all the way here just for that would be a waste of time. We also went to Dongyuan Old Street, which was very empty and not really worth visiting. Additionally, I accidentally chose a motorbike road instead of a car road... If you plan to visit these places, don't make the same mistake as me. The road was really narrow, and driving on it was uneasy. Luckily, there were no cars coming from the opposite direction. There was also no place to make a U-turn, so we followed the tiny countryside road for about 4 km.

Dongshan Police Station (東山牛肉崎警察官吏派出所)

Dongshan Police Station was built in the 1930s. It was one of the police stations affiliated with the Baihe Branch of the Police Division, Xinying County, Tainan Prefecture during the Japanese occupation. After the Second World War, the police station became the office building of the Tainan County Police Station. After the construction of the new office building was completed in 1986, it remained unused for a long time and was eventually abolished. The adjacent Donghe Elementary School (now Jibei) Campus was also abolished in 2002. On August 18, 2009, the Police Station was designated as a historic building. In 2016, a hot spring was drilled behind the Shuiyun Police Station, but due to the small amount of water, there was no development value. The Municipal Cultural Bureau spent 18 million yuan to restore it starting from March 2019, and the restoration was completed on October 7. However, when we visited in the middle of April 2022, it was still unused.

Dongyuan old street (東原老街)

Dongyuan Old Street in Dongshan was once a bustling scene due to the establishment of the Japanese-style Brown Sugar Club (the former Dapu Sugar Factory). After the sugar factory became history, the crowds also faded away. The Dongyuan community, known as the former Dapu, still retains some buildings and traces of its past glory days. The place was really empty, and I only saw a couple of older people passing by. It seems that people barely live there, or perhaps it was just empty because we went there on a weekday. I'm not sure at all.

On the way back, we stopped by Liujia Night Market. I enjoy visiting different night markets, but the food everywhere is quite similar. It was also my first time trying duck blood pudding (鴨血). In the past, poultry was only offered as sacrifices during festivals. In order to extract nutrition from the ducks, farmers saved the blood, steamed it with rice, and served it with sauce. However, due to the rising price of ducks and the inability of chicken blood to coagulate into pudding, pig blood replaced duck blood, resulting in the creation of pig blood curd. I also couldn't miss the chance to eat stinky tofu. I know many people dislike it, especially due to its pungent smell, but I personally love it and eat it quite often.

Address:

1. Donshan Police Station: 台南市東山區東山牛肉崎警察官吏派出所
2. Dongyuan Old Street: 733台南市東山區東原老街
3.Liujia Night Market: 734台南市六甲區復興街114號六甲夜市

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Pingtung Travel: Trip to Kenting - Sashimi and Beaches

Longpan Park, Kenting

Beginning of Autumn, but the weather is still pretty warm. We went on a short trip to Kenting, which is about a 3-hour drive from our place. It felt tiring to sit in the car for such a long time. We arrived at noon, so our first stop was for lunch. There are two cheap seafood shops, and we chose the one that serves sashimi (40 pieces for only 200NT).

On the first day, we ate at 後壁湖邱家生魚片, and on the following day, we tried 阿興生魚片. Since it was lunchtime, both shops were very busy. Personally, I would recommend the first shop. In the second shop, some of the fish had visible blood, which I didn't really want to eat. Apart from sashimi, we also ordered stir-fried cabbage. Both shops tasted similar, but the second shop served a larger portion of cabbage.

We stayed at 墾丁嵐洋莊園民宿/烤肉/Lanyanginn BBQ. There are several cabins, all separated, so you won't hear any noise from others. They also have a swimming pool suitable for kids. Since it's not the busy season, the price was only 1500NT (3000NT during June - August). There are a pet monkey and duck wandering around, and you can also do scuba diving.

See also: Kenting National Forest Recreation Area

Sashimi at 後壁湖邱家生魚片

On the first day, we went to a small place where people practice diving. It was high tide, so there was no beach, but it was a peaceful place for kids to play. It was quite nice to see no people wearing masks; it felt really normal. When will it no longer be mandatory to wear masks outside? There have been almost no cases for a long time.

On the second day, we went to South Bay (南灣遊憩區), which is always full of people swimming and engaging in other water activities. We had plenty of time, so we also drove to Longpan Park (龍磐公園). On the way, we made stops at Chunfan Stone (船帆石) and Shadao (砂島貝殼砂展示館) - a small museum showcasing shells and coral beaches. There is a beautiful beach here, but it's not open for tourists. Other than that, there isn't much to see here. 

We wanted to visit Jialeshui Fall (佳樂水瀑布), but it required an entrance fee, so we decided to skip it and drove back. Instead of taking the coastal road, we drove through the mountains all the way to Hengchun Town, and then we drove a bit south for our lunch. While waiting in line, we finally received some good news - after a month of waiting, cream cheese arrived in Taiwan. Sadly, the shop informed us that it's still limited and 70% more expensive than before. I don't feel good about raising my prices again, but my costs suddenly increased by 20NT. From Kenting, we drove to Tainan City to buy our cake ingredients and finally returned home. It's so tiring to travel with a kid... We could barely sleep as he kept moving in bed.

See also: Hengchun Town and Eternal Fire

Address:

1. Sashimi Day 1: 946屏東縣恆春鎮大光路79-51號後壁湖邱家生魚片
2. Sashimi Day 2: 946屏東縣恆春鎮大光路8-11號阿興生魚片
3. Accommodation: 946屏東縣恆春鎮南光路5號墾丁嵐洋莊園民宿
4. South Bay: 946屏東縣恆春鎮南灣路223號樂活南灣遊憩區
5. Shadao Shell Beach museum: 946屏東縣恆春鎮砂島路224號砂島貝殼砂展示館
6. Longpan park: 946屏東縣恆春鎮台26線946號

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