Hualien City

▲ Photo Journal | ▲ Useful Tourist Information |▲ Food Trail

Itinerary Overview ☼ Summer 2014 in Taiwan ☼

We spent 2 nights in Hualien City, with a full 2nd day at Taroko Gorge.

░ FOOD TRAIL ░

Ask for a food map from where you are staying. And ask them to point out the street crowded with restaurants of local delights. Minguo Road? – I just know it’s not in the famous Golden Triangle District.

Sorry, not so much of a foodie, so didn’t really take note of the street names or capture all the food and signboards of the various eating places. Pardon me! Will do a better job next time. ;)

Btw, Golden Triangle District is where all the bustle and night market is near.

It’s called the Golden Triangle because of the intersections of three main roads: 中山路 Zhongshan Road, 中華路 Zhonghua Road and 中正路 Zhongzheng Road.

 ✁ ✁ ✁

1st Night in Hualien

Our dinner: You get to choose the ingredients and they cooked for you in 卤味 style. And 太子面 (prince noodles) in this cooking style is so good!

If I am not wrong, this is along Minguo Road. Keep a lookout for all the ingredients on display and a pot of boiling soup at the counter.

 ✁ ✁ ✁

2nd Day in Hualien

After a full day of exercise at Taroko Gorge, it’s time to gorge ourselves with food! We went back to Cullinan Hotel to wash up, before walking to the Golden Triangle District – to grab our dinner and catch the summer concert held at Hualien. It’s helmed by various mega stars every night for that week we were staying. We reached too late on our first night, and we missed my idol, A-Mei! Sobs. More on the concert later.

Anyway, as we walked to the district, we passed by a small street where we saw a long queue. Alert alert. The Singaporean in us tell us that it’s good food there. So we went and queued!

It turns out to be 杨子萱爱玉 Aiyu Jelly, just the drink for the summer! Fresh and yummy! Located at 花蓮市自由街86號 (No. 86, Ziyou St). The Oyster Omelette beside this shop was closed, but it seems like a popular place. We saw many who came to the stall, only to be disappointed to find it closed. So if it’s open when you are there, do try!

And for the rest of the vendors on the right side of the photo (above), they can all be found at Hualien’s Rainbow Night Market, which the locals refer to it in short, 彩虹 (Rainbow). Hualien has 2 night markets, but since we only have 1 night left, we decided to go where the summer concert is held, at Rainbow Night Market.

Just outside the night market, there’s this 炸蛋葱油饼 ‘Fried Egg Spring Onion Biscuit’ pushcart. Try it! Once you start, you can’t stop!

And for our dinner and dessert – we settled it inside the night market: 隨客意牛排 Beef on sizzling plate  (realllllyyyy nice!), 烤魷魚 fried squid (so-so).

For souvenirs, you can get 麻糬 (mochi) from 曾記 – the shops are everywhere – look out for yellow signboards. Don’t think you will miss it, because they have branches literally everywhere in the small town. They have packaged ones for you to bring home, and fresh ones, which are a bit different from the packaged, and which of course taste nicer.

Try also 小籠包 Xiaolongbao at 公正包子店, 中山路 Zhongshan Road. Supposedly famous and with long queue, but tasted normal for me.

Other recommended food which we didn’t get to try: 香正扁食,林記燒番麥, 正宗山地原住民石板烤肉, 欣欣麵館

░ SUMMER FUN ░

the colourful lights, the bustling crowd, the live concert, and summer heat

now i truly understand what’s the hype with summer fun.

RAINBOW NIGHT MARKET

NOSTALGIC

JAM HSIAO (蕭敬騰) IS THE MEGASTAR OF THE NIGHT

and he really got a fan in me that night. Live singing with powerful vocals. He sang a few a capellas too.

That’s one good thing about Taiwan, free concerts. If only Singapore has such free concerts, there’s always a price tag to the concerts of such megastars in Singapore – be it indoors or open-air.

# SUMMER FUN #

————————————————–
Travels During July 2014

Disclaimer: All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. 
Travel.joogo.sg and/or the author shall not be held responsible for any injury, loss, expense or damage
of any kind whatsoever suffered or incurred by any person who accesses or uses the information and 
external websites stated above. Full disclaimer here.