With it being my last day in Taichung before heading back to the states, I wanted to go to one last tourist spot, but preferably one that was close enough to walk to. Enter Tunghai Arts Street. With it being a 20 minute walk from T-Life Hostel there wasn’t much of a hassle getting there. What I read about the street as I was walking dated the street back to 1980’s, but featured a a look into Taiwan’s historic look and feel.
I was told that there isn’t really too much to do here, so I expected it to be a quick walk up and down of the street. When I arrived however, I didn’t really see much art, but rather a very well decorated street.
As a one way street it sort of reminded me a bit of San Francisco’s Lombard Street, but well… without the curving streets. As I walked up the street, I noticed it was laced with unique shops that had many distinctive looking antiques inside.
There was even a gnome shop I came across
The street is known for it’s shops, but it also has many different tea shops and lounge areas for you to rest in should you need it. A few of them are found within the alleyways of the street, so be sure to look there.
For the first piece of art that I found, it isn’t the traditional picture one would draw or paint on paper, but more of the style some of the shop owners had with the way they placed plants in front of their stores. There was also Corbusier Plaza to help give a mall-ish feel to the area.
As to the traditional art that the street became known for, it wasn’t until I was almost at the end of the street before I even found the first one. I couldn’t help but think, “why is it called an art street when their isn’t much art?” As I walked up and down the street, I found that some of the artworks were in the alleyways and even on the next street over. Unfortunately some of the art was usually covered by scooters or cars and made it hard to get a good at them, let alone take a good picture. However, I did find it fun investigating the different streets looking for the art and it became more of a scavenger hunt. (Hint: Just so you don’t go all over the place, the art can be found on the street to the left and the street to the right of 49 Yishu Street).
All in all, it was a good experience and I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for something to do that requires a bit more exploration than at first glance.
Directions to the street from T-Life Hostel: When you leave the Hostel, take a right on Xinxing Road and continue on that street. Once you reach Section 5, Taiwan Boulevard, use the crosswalk or the bridge (depending which side of the road you’re on) and proceed onto Guoji Street. Continue on that street until you reach Yishu Street on your left which is where the art street begins. Or alternatively you can use the map below.