Four-day tour of Taoyuan
Taoyuan slow travel notes | 4 days 3 nights · budget 4,500 yuan. No chasing internet trends, no rushing, no check-in style travel — between the breeze of the aviation city, the clouds over Shimen Reservoir, the wood grain of Daxi Old Street, and the eaves of the military dependents’ village, discover the most authentic everyday life in Taiwan
Hello everyone, I’m Atang, a travel blogger focused on “small town texture wandering.” This time, we leave behind the hustle of Taipei and dive into the underrated northern gateway of Taiwan — Taoyuan City. It’s not just a transit stop for Taoyuan Airport; it’s a living museum of Hakka culture, the largest tea-producing region in Taiwan, a hidden lakeside spot at Shimen Reservoir, and a snapshot of the aviation city era. Four days and three nights, with a budget of 4,500 yuan (including transportation, accommodation, meals, and experiences), traveling entirely by Taiwan Railways + city buses + walking. No car rentals or rushing. Take the time it takes to enjoy a cup of Oriental Beauty tea and listen to the city tell its own story.
✅ [Accommodation recommendation | 320 yuan/night · old house warmth]
📍 Recommended: Daxi “Heguang Inn” (design guesthouse) | century-old wooden house renovation | terrace overlooking Dahan River | includes hand-brewed coffee + local tea snacks | 3 nights total 960 yuan.
💡 Why: Not a chain hotel. The host is a young returnee who provides hand-drawn maps and secret routes. Right downstairs are an old tofu shop and a lantern workshop — your trip begins the moment you open the wooden door.
✅ [Day 1 | old street · woodcraft · night lanterns]
▪️ Morning | Daxi Old Street (free | 9:00–11:30): Avoid the crowds and head straight to “Yongchanghao” to watch the master carve temple altar panels; buy hot five-spice tofu (45 yuan/portion) at “Grandma’s Tofu” and pair it with a pot of cold-brewed Qingxin oolong tea;
▪️ Afternoon | Daxi Woodcraft Ecological Museum (free | 13:30–15:30): Book a guided tour (free), touch century-old camphor wood, identify mortise and tenon joints, and read a chapter of Taoyuan’s forestry history in the old warehouse;
▪️ Evening | Heping Old Street Lantern Alley (free | 18:30–20:00): Wait for dusk and watch artisans light handmade paper lanterns. The light and shadows reflect on the Baroque facade. Buy a mini lantern (180 yuan) to take home.
✅ [Day 2 | reservoir · tea hills · sea of clouds]
▪️ Morning | Shimen Reservoir lakeside trail (free | 8:30–11:30): Take the shuttle to “Swan Castle Viewpoint,” walk the “Waterside Trail” to “Rihui Pavilion,” admire the mirror-like reservoir and layered green mountains; bring a bottle of “Shimen Reservoir limited lemon water” (35 yuan) to quench your thirst;
▪️ Afternoon | Longtan “Dabeishi Tea Factory” experience (280 yuan | 14:00–16:30): Pick leaves → wither → roll → bake, make a small jar of Oriental Beauty tea by hand (includes tea sample + certificate); the tea garden owner brews freshly baked tea in a clay pot, served with homemade plum sauce;
▪️ Evening | Longtan lakeside “Chishang lunchbox” (85 yuan per person): Sit under a banyan tree and eat freshly steamed rice balls wrapped in glutinous rice with fried shallots, braised egg, and pickled vegetables, accompanied by a glass of iced roselle tea.
✅ [Day 3 | military village · aviation · rice waves]
▪️ Morning | Matsu New Village military cultural park (free | 9:30–11:30): Stroll among blue and white old houses to visit the independent bookstore “Shiguang,” enjoy a cup of “Air Force family hand-brewed coffee,” and see retired fighter jets resting on the lawn;
▪️ Afternoon | Taoyuan International Airport south viewing platform (free | 14:00–16:00): Take the light rail to “Navigator Station,” walk 5 minutes to the observation deck — hear the roar of A380 takeoffs and landings overhead, with green rice fields beneath. Capture a film-style photo of “plane and rice waves” in the same frame;
▪️ Evening | Yangmei “Fuyuan peanut butter workshop” (70 yuan per person | 18:00–19:30): Try freshly baked peanut butter sandwiches, watch the master grind peanuts using traditional methods behind the glass window, and take home a jar of additive-free peanut butter (198 yuan).
✅ [Day 4 | market · farewell · lingering taste]
▪️ Morning | Taoyuan Nankan “Zhongyuan night market morning market” (free | 7:30–9:30): A livelier morning market than the night market: grandma’s handmade red turtle cake (25 yuan each), freshly pressed sugarcane juice (40 yuan per cup), fresh wax apples piled high;
▪️ Noon | “Acong’s taro balls” Taoyuan main store (65 yuan per person): Eat a bowl of hot longan, red date, and taro balls. The owner insists on hand-grating Pingtung taro, with a broth simmered for 6 hours of brown sugar ginger juice;
▪️ Before departure | High-speed rail Taoyuan station “small farmer market” (free | 10:00–11:00): Buy vacuum-packed Longtan black tea, Daxi tofu, and Fuxing Township high-mountain honey to pack the taste of Taoyuan in your suitcase.
✅ [Budget details | total 4,495 yuan]
Accommodation 960 + transportation (Taiwan Railways + bus card recharge 200) + meals 1,350 (450 per day) + experience fees 480 + souvenirs/miscellaneous 305 = 4,495 yuan.
💡 Atang’s whisper:
The beauty of Taoyuan isn’t in grand narratives but in the folds of details: the coolness of the copper ring on the old street wooden door, the caramel aroma rising from the tea factory’s roasting basket, the bougainvillea peeking through the military village walls, the slight tremble of rice leaves as planes fly by… Slow down and let time flow through your palm like the water of the Dahan River.
Follow me for the next issue, “How to eat 5 kinds of seasonal fruit at the Taoyuan market with 150 yuan? Nankan morning market shopping record” ~ Share your “most healing Taoyuan moment” in the comments for a chance to win one of 3 mini handmade lanterns from Daxi! 🌿✈️