DONGFENG Bicycle Green Way (東豐自行車綠廊)

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Last part of our Taichung video series. We went bicycling on the Dongfeng Bicycle Green Way in Shigang District. We also visited a couple of other places in the area.

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Travel in Taiwan magazine (2020/3-4)
Text: Owain Mckimm

The Dongfeng Bicycle Green Way stretches for 12.4 kilometers through leafy, gently undulating avenues from Dongshi District in the east to Fengyuan District in the west, running parallel to the Dajia River. The bikeway follows what was once the route of the Dongshi Line, a railway built in 1958 to transport timber from the rich cypress, cedar, and fir forests of the Dongshi area to the town of Fengyuan, at the time one of Taiwan's busiest economic centers due to its convenient location on the island's west coast trunk line. The railway line was decommissioned in 1991. The bikeway, following the original line, was opened in 2000; this was Taiwan's first railway-to-bikeway conversion.

Tian Yuan Bike Rental (田原租車)
Add: No. 1166, Fengshi Rd., Shigang Dist., Taichung City
(台中市石岡區豐勢路1166號)
Website: http://bike.mmmtravel.com.tw (Chinese)
Tel: 0912-975-061, 0955-861-286
Hours: 9am~5pm (weekdays); 8am~6pm (weekends)

At the Zero Egg Platform you come across two abandoned-but-intact train carriages. The platform’s unusual name comes from the fact that after nearby Shigang Station was abandoned, this platform became a temporary gathering place for vendors. The word for this kind of makeshift market in Taiwanese is a homophone for the phrase meaning “zero egg” in Mandarin, which due to its quirkiness appears to have stuck.
One of the most charming attractions along the bikeway, the Lovers’ Bridge, requires a slight detour from the main path over an imposing steel overpass adorned with bas-relief scenes from the Garden of Eden. The Lovers' Bridge itself is a quaint wooden structure that crosses a tributary of the Dajia River and brings you to a romantic small plaza and park, lovingly landscaped with flowers, lemon trees, and heart-shaped sculptures draped in wisteria.
Leaving the bike paths and moving further upriver, you can make a brief stop to soak up some of the local culture at the Tuniu Hakka Cultural Hall– a stately collection of buildings that provides both serene garden surroundings and an insight into the bygone lives of Taichung's Hakka population.
The Tuniu Hakka Cultural Hall originally served as the residence of the Shigang area’s prosperous Liu family, but was ruined during the 1999 earthquake and later rebuilt and repurposed as a cultural museum. Stories of the area’s villages and their Hakka settlers are told on the museum’s

Tuniu Hakka Cultural Hall (土牛客家文化館)
Add: No.10, Decheng L., Fengshi R., Tuniu Bor., Shigang Dist., Taichung City
(台中市石岡區土牛里豐勢路德成巷10號)
Tel: (04) 2582-5312
Hours: 9am~5pm (closed on Monday)

Visiting A-Liang's Mushroom Garden is highly recommended. It is divided into two parts: A shop and eatery, where all sorts of dried-mushroom products and freshly prepared mushroom cuisine are available, and a mushroom nursery, a vast cavern at the back of the shop where guests can pick shiitake, wood ear, and several species of oyster mushrooms for just NT$110 per jin (500g). Here, bags of mushroom-impregnated sawdust are laid out in beds and stacked on shelves, each one erupting with fungal fruit, saturating the air with that earthy, umami aroma of a damp forest floor.

A-Liang's Mushroom Garden (阿亮香菇園)
Add: No. 131, Xiezhong St., Xinshe Dist., Taichung City
(台中市新社區協中街131號)
Website: http://0425810893.emmm.tw (Chinese)
Tel: (04) 2581-0893
Hours: 9:30am~5pm daily

For a more up-market meal with a view, head to The Pines, located in the hilly northern end of the district overlooking a picturesque lake. The owner, Steven Chang, explains that his intent in developing the restaurant was to create something with a beauty that would last and, indeed, increase over time (as opposed to aging poorly). The restaurant, which commands a front-seat view of the cypress trees, serves seasonal French-inspired cuisine made using Xinshe’s abundant fresh produce. Prices are moderate to high.
The Pines (松之戀)
Add: No. 6-7, Shishuike, Xinshe Dist., Taichung City
(台中市新社區食水嵙6-7號)
Website:   / tpl988  
Tel: (04) 2581-4888
Hours: 11am~8pm daily