Taitung
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A city in the south-east of Taiwan that features here because it is the jumping-off point for going to Green Island. If you want to visit the latter you’ll need two nights’ accommodation in Taitung and so could just as well have a look around the city too.
More background info: The place had gone under a range of other names in its older history until it officially became Taitung Township in 1945 and then Taitung City in 1949, i.e. at the beginning of the KMT Nationalist rule over Taiwan.
In earlier times it had been settled by indigenous peoples (especially the Puyuma and Amis) and today Taitung still has some of the largest indigenous communities in the whole of Taiwan. In total Taitung has a population of just over 100,000.
From 1965, a prison in Taitung County took in the groups of political prisoners from Green Island’s New Life Correction Center when that was closed down. Yet only a few years later, following a rebellion at this prison, the political prisoners were sent back to Green Island, now to the newly purpose-built high-security facility that became known as “Oasis Villa”.
Today, Taitung is a modest administrative, economic and transport hub, with its own airport (domestic flights only) and train station. The latter used to be in the city centre but from the 1980s a new station was built on the outskirts. During the construction of the new station significant archaeological finds were made, including over 1500 slate coffins of the Beinan people (who may or may not have been ancestors of today’s Puyuma people). So next to the station a Beinan Cultural Park was established.
Taitung is a tropical place, where the highest ever temperatures in Taiwan’s recorded weather history were measured (over 40 degrees Celsius). Even in winter, when I visited, it can get quite warm and humid. At the same time Taitung enjoys a noticeably better air quality than the more industrial cities in the south-west (see Kaohsiung), west or the north.
What there is to see: The main, if not sole reason for any dark tourist to come to Taitung is because it is the ideal base for a day trip to Green island, either by a short small-plane flight from Taitung Airport or by ferry from the city’s fishing harbour at Fugang to the north – see the separate chapter for Green Island for more details.
Other than that there isn’t much that’s dark about Taitung – unless you count the shanty-town settlements to the south-east of the centre near the Pacific coast. I passed them en route to an eatery I was heading to, but not being one for “slum tourism” I did not linger. There’s also a building called the “White House” that has actually been put together entirely from junk.
There’s a certain dark element involved in Taitung’s (in)famous Han Dan festival that takes place annually around the first weeks of the lunar year. This involves semi-naked men having firecrackers thrown at them (they’re protected only by goggles and a wet cloth around their ears). The mythological origins of the festival are a bit murky, but there are said to be links to Taiwan’s mafia underworld too and some of the volunteers for having firecrackers thrown at them may be young mobsters eager to show how tough they are. So there may be enough for dark tourists to witness this bizarre ritual too. I was in Taitung at the wrong time of year for that, so I can’t report anything from first-hand experience in this regard.
Location: on the Pacific coast in Taiwan’s south-east, ca. 55 miles (90 km) east of Kaohsiung, a good 90 miles (150 km) south of Hualien, and ca. 160 miles (260 km) from Taipei (all as the crow flies).
Google Maps locators:
Former train station, bus station and Railway Arts Village: [22.7519, 121.1471]
Current TRA train station: [22.7937, 121.1231]
Seaside Park: [22.7527, 121.1639]
Longfeng Temple pagoda: [22.75404, 121.14365]
Taidong Guanguang night market: [22.7549, 121.1488]
Access and costs: quite a distance from the larger population centres of Taiwan, but easily enough reachable by train; price levels are similar to elsewhere in the country.
Details: To get to Taitung it’s best to take a train, either from the north on the line connecting to Hualien (and onwards to Taipei), or from the south-west’s biggest city Kaohsiung. The route from the latter is one of the most scenic in Taiwan. There are no HSR bullet trains on these stretches, only TRA connections, from Puyuma expresses to slightly slower Tze-Chiang limited expresses.
The train station is quite a distance outside the centre but that can easily be covered by taxi or bus (especially line 8109 that goes directly to Taitung’s central bus station in ca. 20 minutes for 25NTD).
Theoretically you can also get to Taitung by bus, though that’s more cumbersome, takes longer and costs more, or even by domestic flight, which offers the advantage of going over the scenic mountainous interior but cannot really be otherwise justified, unless you are really pushed for time. The airport is also a bit out of the centre but is well connected by bus or taxi too (not expensive).
Getting around Taitung is easy enough on foot. There are also bicycle rentals as another option.
Accommodation options in Taitung are in no short supply, especially in the city centre, ranging from rare budget options to rather plusher upscale places. I found my choice a more than agreeable mid-range compromise (that was the Fish Hotel – which indeed has a maritime creatures theme in its interior design throughout; quite endearing).
Choices for food & drink may not be as plentiful as in the larger cities, but you won’t have to go hungry or thirsty. A local curiosity is Uncle Pete’s Pizza, a joint near the coast serving decent enough pizzas in an idiosyncratically furnished place where the proprietor may even get his guitar out for patrons’ entertainment. Those after more adventurous local food can try their luck at Taitung’s central night market (see photos) or go even more exotic at one of the few restaurants serving indigenous people’s cuisine (e.g. Mibanai).
Time required: Taitung itself wouldn’t require more than a day at best, but if you want to go to Green Island you’ll need to have two nights here anyway.
Combinations with other dark destinations: As pointed out already, the real reason for coming to Taitung as a dark tourist is actually because it’s from here that you can go on an excursion to Green Island. Otherwise there’s nothing specifically dark in the area that I’m aware of.
But see under Taiwan in general.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: Taitung doesn’t have the splendour and wide range of attractions of Taipei, but it’s still a pleasant enough place to explore for a few hours. The city centre is quite compact. Its main gravitational point is the former railway station with its open-air art installations and the Railway Arts Centre. Adjacent to that too is the so-called “TTStyle” centre where a set of some 20 former freight containers are stacked under a wavy roof on stilts that is itself a work of art. The place features crafts stalls and eateries. Rows of arts-and-crafts stalls also run along a stretch of track parallel to the former railway line. To the north of it is the Tiehua Music Village venue, which seems to be well attended on a regular basis (tickets required, though).
More open-air art can also be found in the Seaside Park to the south-east of the city centre. But otherwise Taitung doesn’t make so much out of its coastal location on the Pacific. Taitung Forest Park to the west of the centre provides a bit of green respite from the city’s concrete.
Liyu Hill to the north of the city centre has a large Temple (Longfeng) with an impressive eight-tiered pagoda overlooking the city.
See also under Taiwan in general.
