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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Taiwan Trip Day 2 - Changhua (彰化) | Fangyuan Oyster Harvesting | Fangyuan Lighthouse

2 December 2018

Day 2 (Part 1) - Taiwan Itinerary (Fangyuan)
1) Breakfast - 天津苟不理湯包
2) Oyster Harvesting Experience (芳苑潮間帶旅遊)
3) Lunch - 真好呷蚵仔炸
4) Fangyuan Lighthouse
5) Wind Turbine Windmills

Woke up feeling more rested that the night before. Sun rise and sun set in Taiwan is earlier than in Singapore. You can see the clear blue sky at 6am. Everyone washed up and get ready for yet another day of fun and adventure.

6:50am - Even though free breakfast is provided by the hotel, we made our way to this famous stall selling dumpling (湯包). 天津苟不理湯包 is a very popular breakfast place among the locals. Only less than 3 mins walk from Mini Hotel - Taichung Station, it is definitely a must-eat for us!


Long queues have already formed early in the morning. You can see stacks of bamboo steamers at the front counter steaming the dumplings and the staff making more dumplings. Why is it so popular? The corner shop starts business as early as 5:30am and closes at 11:30am (operating only in the mornings). Many came here to grab a bite or packet their breakfast before heading off for work.


The menu is simple but the price is very attractive. 湯包, 素包 only cost NT16 (~SGD75cents). Each cup of soya milk, red tea is NT12 (~SGD55cents). Omelette pancake at NT20 (~ SGD90cents). Very economical to enjoy a hearty breakfast.


Even though the queue is long, the staff are very efficient as well. We got our food served piping hot pretty fast. The bigger-sized dumpling is delicious and we enjoyed having a warm breakfast in the cold morning.

The locals seems to like their omelette pancake to go with chill sauce but I like it as it is. 

7:10am - Spotted interesting Chinese Zodiac floor murals as we walked around the neighbourhood after breakfast.


7:20am - Back at Mini Hotel for our second round of breakfast. It is going to be a long day ahead and having a filling meal is important for us to start our day. Mini offers basic and simple breakfast for their guests. Main dishes, porridge, salad, bread and assorted drinks.




Prior to our vacation, I have engaged drivers to drive us around for 5 days out of our 2 weeks trip in Taiwan. Generally it is to take us to places that are harder to get to by public transport and moving from one hotel to another at different areas.

8:45am - Our assigned driver arrived much earlier than our agreed time. Months and a day before our trip, he also contacted me for updates. We were delighted to know that he happens to be a licensed tour guide and I must say thanks to him, we were able to see many more beautiful places of Taichung.

Here is the route to the first half of our Day 2!

Mini Hotel > 芳苑潮間帶旅遊-阿進帶你採蚵趣 > Lunch @ 真好呷蚵仔炸 > Fangyuan Lighthouse (芳苑-王功灯塔) > 王功小型风力发电厂 > Lukang (鹿港镇)

We had an awesome experience at Gaomei Wetlands on our previous trip. This time, we decided to go a little further and learn more about oysters harvesting! Found out that Wanggong Fishing Port (王功), Changhua County, has rich natural landscapes and most of the residents are mainly engaged in offshore fishing and coastal culture, producing clams, squid, shrimp, oysters, and mullet. The fishing village has farms that host tour trips for visitors to learn and experience harvesting of the oysters and the opportunity to taste fresh oysters that is grilled on the spot!

10:15am - It was a long ride from Mini Hotel to Wanggong (王功) in Fangyuan Township (芳苑). Thankfully our driver kept us engaged through the ride sharing the wonders of Taichung and its history.

We picked 芳苑潮間帶旅遊 as the reviews from Facebook has been very positive and they are also very responsive to all our queries. The entire tour takes about 2-3 hour and it cost NT350 per pax (~SGD16). (Free for children under 3 years old)



Ox oyster-pulling cart - one of the rarer ones left.

The farm has adopted cross hanging method for their oyster cultivation based on the intertidal ecology. 

We spent near to 3 hours learning about oyster farming and had fun catching crabs, picking clams and sample fresh oysters and fish!

Will write a separate post about our Oyster Harvesting Tour experience

1:20pm - Thankfully we were well-prepared and took a heavy breakfast else we will be famished by this hour. Being near to the sea, there are many restaurants and eateries selling fresh seafood dishes. Our driver brought us to 真好呷蚵仔炸 which is very famous among the locals. 


Signature Dish : Fried Oyster Cake - crispy outside and lots of juicy oysters within!

Taiwanese style oyster omelette (蚵仔煎) - This is a popular street food in Taiwan topped with a sweet and sour sauce. I still prefer our local version but we ordered a plate for our kiddos to try.

Stir-fry Asparagus with Clams

This is our favourite dish! It is a type of fish and the meat is so tender and delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of this dish but it is definitely the first plate to be cleared off from the table

This is probably our least favourite cos of the assorted flavour. 

We spent NT1200 for our lunch which comprised of 5 dishes (~SGD55). 

Onward to our journey after lunch!

1:55pm - Fangyuan Lighthouse (芳苑燈塔) is an iconic building in Wanggong Village. Built in 1983 at the eastern side of the fishing port, the octagonal shaped lighthouse painted in strips of black and white,  guides and ensures the safety of the vessels.


The youngest lighthouse in Taiwan

From afar it looks like a pencil :)

More oyster farm along the coast

10 units of windmills by the shoreline

2:10pm - We stopped by and admire the gigantic windmill. Lovely reflections from the waters.



2:20pm - 王功小型风力发电厂 has become a hot IG spot recently. Many came to take photos with  the wind turbines (more than 400 of them) that looks like 'eggbeater' and some even said 'trophy'. 



We are also one of them that came to leave our footprints here.


We stopped by briefly and continued our road trip to Lukang (鹿港) which we will share more in our next post.

More photos @ BPDGTravels Facebook page
Check out our 2 Weeks Taiwan Itinerary Family Trip here

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