Toucheng

Toucheng (頭城; Tóu'chéng), also Tou-Cheng, is a township in northern Yilan County.

View of the sea from Toucheng, including Guishan Island

Understand

The township includes Guishan Island and Guiluan Island in the Philippine Sea. The Senkaku Islands, known in Mandarin as the Diaoyu Islands, are claimed as part of the township.

Get in

By car

Take Freeway No. 5 and exit at Toucheng interchange after leaving the Hsueshan Tunnel.

By train

Toucheng has more rail stations (three) than any other townships in Taiwan. Take the “North Railway Line” (北迴鐵路) toward Hualien (往花蓮) and get off at Toucheng station of from Northern Taiwan. Take the “North Railway Line” (北迴鐵路) toward Shulin (往樹林) and get off at Toucheng station if from Eastern Taiwan.

Name	Chinese	Line	Notes
1 Dali.	大里	Yilan line
2 Daxi.	大溪
3 Dingpu.	頂埔
4 Guishan.	龜山
5 Sicheng.	四城
6 Toucheng.	頭城
7 Wai'ao.	外澳

By bus

Take Capital Bus (首都客運) or Kamalan bus (葛瑪蘭客運) from Taipei to Yilan. It takes 45~60 minutes from Taipei to Jiaosi township. Once you arrive at Jiaosi station, you can take Kamalan shuttle bus (葛瑪蘭接駁車) or King Bus (國光客運) and transfer to Toucheng.

Get around

If you want to travel around Toucheng township, you can rent a bicycle or motorcycle from Jiaoxi station. It cost NT$ 300 for 24 hours a day. You can ride through Highway No. 2 to reach Toucheng township. King Bus (國光客運) also has many stops on the way from Jiaoxi to Toucheng and it cost NT$ 23.

See

Lanyang Museum

History and culture

• 1 Toucheng Old Street (頭城老街), Heping Street. A street featuring a number of houses of different architectural styles, from different periods stretching back to the Qing dynasty, which show a snapshot of Toucheng's history. (updated Nov 2019)
• 2 Old Caoling Tunnel (舊草嶺隧道). A converted railway tunnel that has been converted into a cycleway connecting Toucheng Township to Gongliao District, New Taipei City. The tunnel is 2.167 km in length. (updated Nov 2019)

Parks and nature

• 3 Da-xi Honeymoon Bay. Famous site that you will approach when you first enter Toucheng township. It offers surfing and it has national surfing competitions annually. Honeymoon Bay has a great view of Turtle island. The reason why it is named Honeymoon Bay is because you can often see many couples walk along the coast.  

Temples

• 4 Xietian temple (協天宮), 599 Xietian road. Free. 
• 5 Caoling Qingyun Temple (草嶺慶雲宮), ☏ +886 3 978 1075. A mountainside temple with spectacular views of the sea. (updated Nov 2019)
• 6 Toucheng Kaicheng Temple and Chenghuang Temple (頭城開成寺城隍廟), No. 1, Jixiang Road, ☏ +886 3 977 2009. A large, multi-storey and very decorative temple complex. (updated Nov 2019)

Museums

• 7 Lanyang Museum. Th–Tu 09:00–17:00, closed on Wednesday. Certified as a green building. The architectural design combines the museum with the natural environment. The museum is near Wu-shi Harbor, so there is abundant wetland ecology around it including waterfowl and aquatic plants. Besides, the Lanyang Museum is a great place to see Turtle (Gueishan) Island. NT$100. 
• 8 Lee Rong-chun Literary Museum (李榮春文學館), ☏ +886 3 971 2371. 09:00-00:00. A museum dedicated to the literary history of the area housed in a heritage-listed Japanese-style building. (updated Nov 2019)

Do

Marine activities

• Surf. It has a number of places to go surfing such as Honeymoon Bay and the northern side of Wushi Harbour. 
• Whale & Dolphin Watching. Boats leave from 1 Wushi Harbor (烏石漁港).  . Booking is essential. 

Outdoors

• 2 Toucheng Leisure Farm (頭城農場), No. 125-1, Gengxin Road, ☏ +886 3 977 2222. A farmhouse with accommodation for 500 guests where visitors can learn about farming and ecology. (updated Nov 2019)
• 3 Beiguan Leisure Farm & Crab Museum (北關休閒農場&螃蟹博物館), No. 205, Gengxin Rd, ☏ +886 3 977 2168. W-Su 09:00-18:00 (closed M Tu). A small museum which has some information relating to crabs and the crab fishing industry in the area. (updated Nov 2019)

Sleep

• Ocean Lounge Beach House (阿哆仔の海屋), No.36, Ln. 556, Xietian Rd., ☏ +886 988073111. A small B&B and lounge/cafe on the beach in Northern Taiwan. Next to WuShiGang Harbor, a fun, casual, place for friends and travelers to hang out and relax near the Ocean. Right on the water, has 5 guest rooms, and the entire building is also available to rent. 1st floor lounge serves pizza and drinks to guests and locals. B&B maximum capacity is 20 guests. The owner is a mellow American ex-pat from California. (Formerly called Starry Summer - 戀夏星空, under previous owner.) 
• Sealuv Homestay (真情非凡行館), No.70, Sec. 2, Binhai Rd., ☏ +886 3 977 3523. It has six different types of designed guestrooms for customers to choose and it also provides free transport from Toucheng train station to the B&B. 
• Summer (夏天渡假屋), No.423, Sec. 2, Binhai Rd., ☏ +886 3 977 8229. Mediterranean style with a fairy tale theme. It also provides free transport from Toucheng train station to the B&B. 
• Xietian temple, ☏ +886 3 9772050. The temple can host some people in a separate building. See see section for more information.