Travel from Taichung to Cingjing (Taiwan)
If you are planning to go to Cingjing/Qingjing Farm in Taiwan (清境農場), you can either stay in Taichung and make a day trip or stay one night around Cinjing farm. We picked the latter option and it’s highly recommended! Either way, you will need to find out how to travel from Taichung to Cingjing.
If you are coming from Taipei, my post on how to ‘Train from Taipei to Taichung‘ will be useful for you. But if you decide to head straight to Cingjing and not make a transfer at Taichung, you can consider taking Cingjing Bus from Taipei Main Station. However, the bus leaves Taipei Main Station at about 06:50am and reaches Cingjing at 11:30am, approximately 4.5 hours ride.
Cingjing Bus
Cingjing OK Bus fetches you from the various train stations at Taichung to Cingjing. You can book your seats with their online form. You might want to check if there’s extra charge if they send you straight to your accommodation. I doubt they will charge if it’s around the Cingjing Farm area.
From Taichung High Speed Rail* to Cingjing
- Pricing: NT$450 (S$21)
- Departure Timing: 8:30am; 10:30am; 3:00pm
- Duration: ~100 mins
From Taichung Train Station* to Cingjing
- Pricing: NT$500 (S$23)
- Departure Timing: 9:00am, 11:00am, 3:30pm
- Duration: ~100 mins
*Taichung High Speed Rail station is different from Taichung (Normal) train station. For more information, do read ‘Train from Taipei to Taichung‘.
Public Bus
The most economical yet troublesome way is to take the public bus (www.ntbus.com.tw/cjfm.html). Coming from Taichung, you still have to make a bus transfer at Puli. And once you reach Cingjing Farm, you have to arrange for your accommodation to pick you up at the drop off point.
- Pricing: NT$261(S$12)
- Departure Timing from Taichung High Speed Rail (HSR): 8:40am, 9:35am, 10:15am, 11:35am, 12:35pm, 2:35pm (Sat/Sun). The timing will be 20 mins earlier if you are departing from Taichung Gancheng Station.
- Duration from HSR: ~120 mins
Private Car / Bus
We wanted to go with Cingjing Bus for convenience sake but thankfully we checked with our accommodation, Sen Love Minsu (a taiwan B&B) for alternative. It turned out they have a cheaper and better option.
From the train stations to our Minsu
- Pricing: NT$350 (S$16) per pax
- Departure Timing:
- Taichung HSR to Minsu: 9:30am; 11:00am; 2:00pm; 5:00pm
- Taichung train station to Minsu: 9:30am; 2:00pm
- Driver’s contact: 0921-340000 小黑
From Minsu to train stations
- Taichung HSR to Minsu:
- 09:00am; 12:00pm; 3:00pm
- NT$400 (S$18.60) per pax
- Taichung train station to Minsu:
- 08:00am; 12:00pm; 3:45pm
- NT$300 (S$13.90) per pax
Of course you can call for a cab, but I think that’s an expensive option for those who didn’t plan in advance.
So for NT$350 per pax, hubby and I got the black limousine as seen in the photo above. It was superbly comfortable and the best part was, there were no other passengers, just hubby and me! It’s like a private transfer for a steal! I guess it wasn’t the peak season and hence the lack of passengers. The driver was friendly and gave us a short introduction of the area around Cingjing Farm and tell us about the development of the area. He grew up at the place and saw how the land was acquired and transformed into a commercialised attraction.
But we didn’t have such pleasant experience on our way back. This time we sat in the mini van that was at its full capacity. Moreover, we waited quite a long time for it because of miscommunication. Apparently, 小黑 couldn’t find any driver for us. Hence he arranged for this alternative to pick us up, but didn’t inform the minsu owner that it’s coming at a later timing.
Furthermore, this van is not as comfortable and yet more expensive at NT$400. Good thing we have agreed the price of NT$300 with 小黑 via the minsu. Moreover the van driver was quite inflexible, but since our Taichung accommodation was very near to the train station, he “unwillingly” dropped us off at our requested spot.
Still, getting the minsu to arrange private or chartered transportation was a cheaper and more convenient option than Cingjing bus. And if you are heading to the outskirts of Taichung, you can read more about my experience with Mr Ye, the driver.
So how are you going to travel from Taichung to Cingjing? If you know of other alternatives, do leave a comment below. Love to hear from you! :)
Hi, can i know how do I contact Xiao Hei from Singapore using the number 0921-340000. Is there any email address for communication?
Hello Lay Hoon, there’s no email. you can try WhatsApp/Line/WeChat. Let me know if that works. :)
Hi, may I know if you managed to contact Xiao Hei then and how did you do it, if so? :)
Hello, think you missed his contact number that’s buried in my post. :) 0921-340000, you can try to WhatsApp/Line/WeChat if calling is not an option for you. :)