Chiayi City

Understand

Chiayi City is a laid-back, friendly country town of around 270,000 people and is the access point for trips to the scenic mountain area of Alishan. If you are on your way to Alishan, note that it is not necessary to stay in Chiayi, as buses leave quite frequently.

Getting there

By train

High Speed Rail HSR Chiayi (Taibao) station is on the high-speed line between Taipei (1½ hr; NT$1; 080) and Kaohsiung. The HSR station is over 15 km out of town, but linked to the city by the Chiayi BRT system.

1 Chiayi HSR station, 168 Gaotie West Road, Taibao. (updated Apr 2020)

Taiwan Railway Chiayi is also served by mainline TRA trains and the scenic narrow-gauge Alishan Forest Railway to Alishan, which both leave from the same station, but have separate ticketing counters. Long-distance buses leave from the terminal immediately outside the station, but local buses (notably those to nearby hot spring town Guanzihling) use the Zhongshan Rd bus terminal a few hundred meters down the street.

2 Chiayi railway station, 528, Zhongshan Road. (updated Apr 2020) 3 Jiabei railway station. (updated Apr 2020) The Alishan Forest Railway was severely damaged by Typhoon Morakot in 2009. As of January 2015, the train runs from Chiayi to Fencihu only, with the remainder of the line still closed for repairs. The local lines within the recreation area are operating normally.

By plane 4 Chiayi Airport (CYI IATA). Uni Air from Kinmen and Penghu. (updated Aug 2019)

Getting around

The Chiayi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has three lines, with the main line linking the HSR and TRA railway stations. The trip between the two takes around 30 minutes (NT$40; exact change - no charge if going directly between the HSR & TRA stations), but note that the BRT stop is on the rear side of the TRA station, so you need to take the pedestrian bridge to cross to the other side. The location of the TRA station is not obvious from the BRT stop. If coming from the direction of the HSR railway, after you get off at the stop, cross to the other side of the street at the intersection you have just passed. The "back station" area is still under construction - bear to the right and you should find the pedestrian bridge. If coming from the TRA station, go to the far left when facing the station from the outside (past the taxi queue) and you will find signs and a pedestrian bridge upstairs that leads to some patchy BRT signs - BRT is on the ground floor, usually bus terminal 1 (likely to be a queue of other people) for a free ride to the HSR station. Buses have announcements and signage in English as well as Chinese. Taxis are plentiful, especially around the train stations, and some pidgin English is spoken. Buses to Alisan cost about NT$236-250 one way, and can be bought at the bus station next to the train station. The ride takes 2-2½ hours. There are also some gypsy cabs that will drive you to Alisan, too.

See

The best way to get to know Chiayi is to take a walk down Culture Road, and not just once but a few times, back and forth. There are also two movie theaters where you can experience watching both Western movies and Chinese-language movies in a theater packed with local Taiwanese viewers, young and old. There is a good bookstore called Hon-too Bookstore with a wide range of English-language magazines which you can peruse at your leisure. For some quiet downtime, Chiayi Park and Botanical Gardens are a lovely way to spend the afternoon. The Botanical Gardens provide pleasant trails that weave you through a large variety of plants and trees native to the area. Ponds hold Japanese koi fish, turtles, and frogs. Chiayi park is well-maintained and serves as a center of activity for local adults—and senior citizens—and children from 05:00 to late in the afternoon.

Culture and history

1 Hinoki Village, No. 1, Linsen East Road, East District, ☏ +886 5 276 1601. 10:00-18:00. Also referred to as the Cypress Forest Life Village, the village consists of 28 wooden Japanese-style dormitories as well as the Alishan Forest Club, director's official residence, guest house, public bathhouse, etc. (updated Apr 2020) 2 Sun-Shooting Tower, No. 46, Gongyuan Street, East District, ☏ +886 5 275 1357. W-Su 09:00-17:00. The tower exterior designed was inspired by a giant sacred tree in Alishan. The brown aluminum pattern mimics the wood grain of the tree and the center is left with a 40-m-high empty space that mimics the crack in the center of that giant sacred tree. The interior bronze sculpture is inspired by the "Sun-Shooting" legend of Taiwanese aborigines. This bronze-made sculpture is 24 meters tall and 3 meters wide. (updated Apr 2020)

Temples

3 Chiayi Jen Wu Temple, No. 54, Beirong Street, East District, ☏ +886 5 227 6283. A smaller temple built in 1677 using materials imported from Fujian Province on the Chinese Mainland. (updated Apr 2020) 4 Chiayi Con

Do

Sports

Do visit the 1931 Kano baseball museum, which houses old photographs of the famous Chiayi high school team from 1931.

1 Chiayi City Municipal Baseball Stadium, ☏ +886 5 275 4225. M-F 08:00-17:30. A 10,000-seat stadium built in 1918, and refurbished frequently since. The stadium regularly holds Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) games. (updated Apr 2020) 2 Chiayi City Municipal Stadium, No. 2, Tiyu Road, East District, ☏ +886 5 222 6860. The city's main athletics stadium. (updated Apr 2020)

Arts

3 Chiayi City Cultural Square, No. 600, East District. A complex containing a number of arts-related buildings and institutions. (updated Apr 2020) Cultural Affairs Bureau, No. 275, Zhongxiao Road, East District, ☏ +886 5 278 8225. Tu-Su 09:00-21:00 (closed M). (updated Apr 2020) Chiayi Municipal Cultural Affairs Bureau Library, No. 275, Zhongxiao Road, East District, ☏ +886 5 278 8205. Tu-Su 09:00-20:00 (closed M). (updated Apr 2020) Chiayi City Music Hall, No. 275, Zhongxiao Road, East District. +886 5 278 8225. (updated Apr 2020) 4 Art Site of Chiayi Railway Warehouse, No. 37-10, Bei-sing intersection, ☏ +886 5232 7477. Last Sa of every month: 14:00 to 17:00. An artists' space constructed from a former railway yard where visitors can view works from local artists. (updated Apr 2020) 5 Chiayi Performing Arts Center, No. 265, Section 2, Jianguo Road, Minxiong Township, ☏ +886 5 206 5675. M-F 08:00-17:00. A multi-arts park space with performance halls and galleries. (updated Apr 2020)

Parks and nature 6 Chiayi Park, No. 264, Qiming Road, East District, ☏ +886 5 274 4019. A large 26.8-ha park in the city which contains a number of local landmarks within its grounds. (updated Apr 2020) 7 Chiayi Botanical Garden. A botanical garden which spreads across 8.6 ha of land. It is an experimental ground for planning and developing economical tropical trees.

Buy

Culture Road (site of the "Wunhua Rd Night Market"; see below) is Chiayi's main shopp