[TW; 2013] Living in Taiwan Series | Hualien 花蓮

(This will be a 2 part series consisting Luodong and Hualien)

This was our short gateway from Taipei plan: Taipei - Luodong - Hualien - Taipei

This Hulien post will consist the following places:

1. 南濱公園夜市 Nanbin Night Market
2. 太魯閣 Taroko Gorge
3. 七星潭 Qixingtan Scenic Area
4. 蔥油餅街 Chinese Pizza Street
5. 自強夜市 Ziqiang Night Market

1. Luodong Train Station > Hualien Train Station > 張三ㄟ厝

^^NT$203 from luodong to hualien

We took a public bus to our minsu... 張三ㄟ厝

^^李四房 Li's Fourth Room

張三ㄟ厝, http://www.ching3homme.com/index.htm

The minsu owner gave us a discount without us knowing...? as it was a very budget trip we booked the cheapest room price which costed us NT$900/night but she gave us the NT$1600/night room?! But there is also a possibility that there is a typo on the price on the website. Nevertheless the room was clean and spacious! Highly recommend to those on budget!

2. 張三ㄟ厝 >南濱公園夜市 Nanbin Night Market > 張三ㄟ厝

Based on Taiwan blogs... I knew this Night Market will not be as happening as Taipei's ones. But we decided to go as it was near to the minsu. It was like practically empty Night Market... and those stalls right at the end were like having their own KTV session.

^^Chicken chop with double sauce NT$120-130

We settled down to this stall... not that bad. And we left after dinner.

3. 張三ㄟ厝 > Hualien Train Station > 太魯閣 Taroko Gorge

The next day, we took a cab from the minsu to Hualien Train Station for NT$100 and bought the 1day unlimited bus trip to Taroko Gorge

^^The 1-day pass NT$250

^^The bus

台灣好行 Tour Taiwan - Taroko Route, http://www.taiwantrip.com.tw/Besttour/Info/?id=19

A) Taroko Sevice Center

^^Service Center

^^View from the service center

^^Chops available over there!

^^Exhibition on the Taroko Gorge

B) Shallows' Grottos Trail

^^View from the Swallows' Grottos

Did not manage to walk the trail due to the roadblock.

 C) Some random stop

I cant remember the stop name for this. But it is just a stop for rest.

4. Taroko Gorges > 七星潭 Qixingtan Scenic Area

As we did not board the shutter bus to Qixingtan so we had to change shutter bus at the Xincheng train station.

After 20mins of bus ride....

^^Unique stones all over the beach; of course you can't bring them home!

^^Qixingtan!

Pacific Ocean! Such a nice place and a highly recommended scenic place in Hualien!

Would not recommend to take the 台灣好行 Tour Taiwan on weekends. We were practically stuck at Taroko Gorge for 1-2hours because all the bus was packed with people.

5. Qixingtan > Hualien Train Station > 蔥油餅街 Chinese Pizza Street

Walked for 20mins from the Train Station to this Chinese Pizza Street... But all the "pizza"炸彈蔥油餅 were all sold out! There are 2 stalls; according to review the yellow stall is much tasty compared to the blue stall... nevertheless I did not manage to eat any! I must come back hualien one day to try out both stalls.

We went around 5pm, so if you wish to grab some nice Chinese Pizzas, remember to visit it much earlier!

6. Chinese Pizza Street > 自強夜市 Ziqiang Night Market

Took a cab over from Chinese Pizza Street to Ziqiang NM, which costed around NT$135? As we went there reached the NM pretty early... most of the stalls do not have long queue.

A) 第一家烤肉串 First BBQ Stall?

^^The queue infront of us

^^The busy "kitchen" behind the stall

^^Wide range of BBQ items

^^Our choices!

I would say their BBQ sauce was really good! It is worth the wait; A must-try must-eat must-queue food in Ziqiang Night Market! Highly recommended stall over variety shows and Taiwan blogs!

B)香榭城現打果汁 Fruit Juice Stall

^^Tried mixed fruit juice and it is really yummy!

C) 青田日式料理 Japanese Cruisine

^^Seafood Don for NT$65?

And we left the NM after having a fest. And it was really early like 8-9pm. We googled for another possible "night market" but it seems Ziqiang is one of the most happening in hualien. (laughs)

So we takeaway a few foods and head back to Minsu.

7. Ziqiang Night Market > 張三ㄟ厝 > Hualien Train Station

We left the minsu the next morning, as we manage to book the NT$200 tickets back to Taipei online. It can be considered as a last minute purchase cause we booked it after we came back from Ziqiang NM.

^^Had bento lunch opposite the train station and I really love the bento so much that I finished everything!

^^Fuxing Semi-Express

Fuxing Semi-Express train is only available on weekends and it is NT$200 from Hualien to Taipei! (if you could remember I spent NT$203 from Luodong to Hualien; Fuxing is like super worth the price!) But PLEASE book the tickets beforehand, please do not wait till the very last minute, cause it is not all the time people will return their tickets. The ride is 2hours and 45mins, just abit longer (maybe 30-40mins longer?) compared to 自強 Ziqiang train... so it depends whether time or money is your main focus for the trip.

This marks the end of my first small gateway from Taipei!! And there are more to come!

Related Post:

[Living in TW] Luodong 羅東