Hidden Taiwan: A weekend in Taoyuan & Yingge

In our trip to Asia, aside from the two of us visiting Singapore for a wedding (while the grandparents watched the kids in Shanghai), we also visited Taipei for another wedding. But first, we went to Taoyuan.

To me, Taoyuan has meant little more aside from being the home of Taipei’s main international airport. Like many large cities, Taipei was primarily served by a small airport within city limits, Songshan, until capacity constraints lead to the construction of a far larger one in nearby Taoyuan.

Every other trip I had taken to Taipei, we directly made our way over to Taipei after landing. This time however, our destination itself was Taoyuan. In a funny turn of events, since we were flying a short haul flight over from Shanghai, we ended up at Songshan airport and took a bus in the opposite direction back to Taoyuan.

Taoyuan International Marathon

We were Taoyuan because I wanted to run a local race happening a few days before the wedding. The city of Taoyuan was hosting its first half marathon, and I was one of a handful foreigners to show up.

I’ve run nearly a dozen half and full marathons. Some were tiny community-run events. Others were flagship international races attracting tens of thousands from all over. This race was somewhere in the middle.

It had all the fanfare of a massive race, with a full cast of dignitaries (including the mayor of a Japanese sister city) in attendance for the opening festivities. The goodie bag, though the registration fee was only $40, was the best I’ve ever received, with plenty of healthy snacks and souvenirs. Yet, the course and start/finish area were intimate and easy to get around.

We stayed in an extremely cheap, yet comfortable hotel nearby. I ran the half a mile from the hotel to the Taoyuan Arena. I got there a bit too early, so after registering and checking in my bag, I relaxed until the race started.

The race itself was both fun and challenging. I had neglected to learn the in and outs of the course as I usually do. So while running the race, I was surprised to find quite a bit of elevation gain, more than 600 ft over the 13.1 miles.

The course was well marked and almost entirely on well-paved roads and paths. The only section that was a bit tricky was the middle section that had some extremely steep rolling hills.

Image courtesy Taoyuan Half Marathon

I was hoping to stay at around a 7 minute per mile pace, but the hills in the first half of the race took too much out of me. I ended up finishing in 1:36:53 at an average pace of 7:24 /mi. This placed me at 38 out of 652 total male runners.

Overall I was quite happy with my result. Not only was the race a fun way to start the trip, it showed me a part of Taiwan that I otherwise wouldn’t have seen. For example, two of the last three miles were along the Taolin Iron Horse Trail, Taoyuan’s version of the High Line. It’s a wooden bike and pedestrian path built on top of the former rails used by the now-defunct Linkou line.

Yingge District

Nearby Taoyuan is Yingge, a district known for centuries as a center of ceramics production. Given it’s a short hop from either Taoyuan or Taipei, I’d say it is a hidden gem worth visiting if you are ever in the area.

The two main attractions are the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, and the Yingge Ceramics Old Street. Right after arriving at the Yingge train station, we stored our bags for a small fee and headed to the museum.

Yingge Ceramics Museum

Designed by Chien Architects & Associates and completed in the year 2000, the museum feels both modern and time-honored.

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The concrete grid filled in with glass windows gave the building a factory-like look. The ramps adjoining the first several floors reminded me of Alfred Lerner Hall at Columbia University.

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The museum has both a permanent collection and rotating special exhibitions.

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My favorite was a collection of pieces by Shen Tong-ning. I was in absolute awe of his work, which looked like a cross between postmodernism in the style of Michael Graves and Pueblos of the American Southwest.

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Yingge Ceramics Old Street

After a morning at the museum, we headed over to the ceramics old street for lunch. Given my soreness after the race, we took a leisurely walk over bridges and up hills to the walking street.

On display was some of the aesthetic features that I love about this part of Asia. Conduits, heat pump units and power lines are everywhere. Buildings, stained black by biofilm, play host to climbing vines and trees sprouting from any suitable crevice.

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The Yingge Ceramics Old Street is a perfect encapsulation of what makes Taiwan unique. The shop layouts and paving feel Japanese. However, signage and street vendors feel more Chinese.

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Taiwan’s hidden gems

Over the years, though we have previously made short jaunts to Jiufen or Tamsui, we usually spend most of our time within Taipei. This time, I’m happy we started our trip in Taoyuan and Yingge. Both places showed us that there is plenty in more for us to see in Taiwan.

Thanks to Q for reading drafts of this.