Located a 30 minute drive north of Taichung right before the Miaoli county border is a humble but scenic tourist attraction, Taichung Flower Market (中社觀光花市 / zhong she guan guan hua shi). As I was around during the early summer, I thought it would be a nice time to stop by and see what flowers were in bloom.
I was pretty impressed by the colors:
Lilies, lotus, lavender… what other flowers start with an “L”
The grounds of the garden (花園 / hua yuan) are available for viewing with a small entrance fee. The entire garden is divided into many different sections, mostly based on the type of flower. This particular part of the garden in the background had pillars, arches, and other sculptures made of flowers.
Almost every individual flower garden has something that you can interact with, like this swing set. The most iconic one is probably a white grand piano set in the middle of a sea of lavender (薰衣草 / xun yi cao).
Not every part of the Taichung Flower Market involves flowers though. There was a fun little pumpkin (南瓜 / nan gua) structure that I walked through as well as small lakes with lots of Koi fish (錦鯉 / jin li) in them.
Here’s a machine that you could get fish food from for a small fee.
As well as the fish you can feed.
Back outside of the fee part of the garden is a nicely decorated area with a gift shop and a small food shop. The food shop was selling shaved ice desserts of questionable translation. At the time there were a bunch of vendors lining the pathways selling all kinds of handmade art.
Overall, it was a fun place to spend an hour. There are many types of beautiful flowers that seem to go on forever. Turn a few degrees though and some of that illusion is lost (with power lines and homes in view). Like many touristy places in Taiwan, it feels like someone had the idea to take what they had (a large farm) and turn up the gimmicky-ness on it.
Not sure that I would go out of my way for it, but if you happen to be in the area and/or love Instagrammable places, I feel like Taichung Flower Market can be up your alley. Just don’t forget the sunscreen and go when there are fewer people around.