Top Things to do in Chishang

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 TOP THINGS TO DO IN CHISHANG, TAIWAN (Chishang, Taitung)

Although it was mosquito central, we really enjoyed our stay in this small town on the east side of Taiwan. It’s become famous in recent years due to an EVA Air commercial that was filmed along the towns rice paddies. Every day, people rent bikes, ride along the rice paddies, and take a picture at the tree (https://goo.gl/maps/ipRLgLpLGheWEb577) and view featured in the commercial.

The best part of Chishang is that you’ll find very few foreign tourists there. It’s mostly locals from neighboring cities and towns on a weekend getaway. Our first evening there, we didn’t see any other foreigners! Exploring some of the smaller streets, you start to get more of a feel for what rural Taiwan looks like.

Here are some of our highlights from this awesome little town:

> Brown Boulevard - This is the main “sight-to-see” road among the many biking paths in Chishang. It’s the road that has the famous Takeshita tree from which the EVA Air commercial was filmed. The road itself isn’t anything special, but the point is that the biking itself is a lot of fun! You can take your bike and ride for miles in any direction roaming alongside the rice paddies. It’s very picturesque with some beautiful mountain ranges in the background. Bikes themselves will cost about 150-500NTD to rent depending on the type of bike you get. We rented a couple of old school looking aluminum fixed gear bikes for 200NTD the day. We also got a free set of ponchos just in case it began to rain. They do give you a little map, but it’s easier to just use Google Maps on your phone. Honestly, once you get to the main lake, you really don’t need much of a map, just ride wherever you want. Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ZiqQD6e725jRkiK56

> Wu Lou Pie Pie 巫露派派 - This was one of the restaurants we happened to visit while in Chishang. It’s run by a fun French couple. They’ve got a couple of signature quiches that are mainstays on the menu and then a small smattering of other special dishes. I’m not a big quiche man myself, but the quiche was really really good. It’s not your standard eggy quiche. It is great food in a great atmosphere with great people. When we got there later in the evening, they had already sold out of a few items! Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/JRKeusxLmFZ5Eetp8



> Mifu Vegan Place (巧本味蔬食人文料理) - As the name suggests, this is a vegan Taiwanese restaurant in Chishang. It’s a small place with only six or seven tables. We tried a couple of different types of noodle dishes and both were delicious. Get there right when they open otherwise you’ll be waiting a bit. You can also get rolls (sushi style) for takeout. We saw a number of people do this while we were eating our food. Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/enNJRjK8yGpWw5m56

While we were at Mifu, the local family next to us spun up a conversation with us (we love when this happens!). They highly recommended 舒食男孩二號店 (https://goo.gl/maps/BNcDorC8VR5QJTjLA). Unfortunately, when we went there the place happened to be closed for a few days. This actually happened to us a couple of times. It seems that in these smaller towns standard opening hours are really at the whim of the owners. If we go back to Chishang, we’ll definitely try to check out 舒食男孩二號店. The local family we met at Mifu couldn’t stop raving about it!

If you do end up heading to Chishang, we couldn’t recommend the hotel we stayed at enough. It’s a small family-run place with just a few rooms. It’s amazingly clean, the service is fantastic. They offer some fresh breads and jams each morning. The location is perfect. On the ground floor is also a little cafe they run with great coffee. The place is Ripoll’es Homestay (https://goo.gl/maps/vGiV3gRqSpN7z78GA).

All in all, we really liked Chishang. It gave off a great, relaxed small town vibe. If we head back to Taiwan or are looking for a small town experience to escape the business of our everyday lives, we definitely wouldn’t mind going back and spending more time there. The only thing we’ll make sure to do is avoid mosquito season!!

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