Douliu

Douliu (斗六) is a city of 108,000 people (2022) that is the county seat of Yunlin County.

Understand

Although Douliu is located in one of Taiwan's least touristy regions and doesn't have much to offer, it is still worth passing by.

Get in

By plane

There is no airport in Douliu. The closest airports are Taichung and Chiayi. This said, from abroad, the best option is to fly to Taoyuan, and take a train to Douliu (less than an hour using high-speed rail).

By train

High-speed rail (高鐵)

• Yunlin (雲林) station, a bit far from everywhere, but with a free bus connection to Douliu

Regular trains (臺灣車)

Douliu has its own train station (in addition to Dounan (斗南) and Shiliu (石榴), both very near) with frequent direct connections to Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung.

• 1 Douliu station (斗六車站). (updated Apr 2020)
• 2 Shiliu station (石榴車站). (updated Apr 2020)

Tourist information is available in Douliu train station.

Get around

By foot

The city is small enough to be walkable. However, Douliu is one of the least walkable cities in Taiwan; there are virtually no sidewalk, even in the city center. So the only option is to walk on the road; be cautious with the motorbikes and cars coming from everywhere.

By bicycle

Cycling is a good option here, as quite some people (especially high school and university students) use bicycle here.

See

Culture and history

• 1 Taiping Street (太平老街), No. 123, Taiping Road, ☏ +886 5 533 2000. A preserved section of a street consisting of a number of Japanese colonial-era buildings. 
• 2 House of Citizen-Memorial Hall of Attendance (行啟紀念公民會館), No. 101, Fuqian Street, ☏ +886 5 536 2290. A 19th-century building that regularly hosts arts performances and film screenings.  

Temples

Hushan Temple

• 3 Hushan Temple (湖山寺), No. 48, Yanshan Road, ☏ +886 5 557 2323. 07:00-15:00. A large, ornate temple complex on the outskirts of the city. (updated Apr 2020)
• 4 Nansheng Temple (南聖宮), No. 301, Nansheng Road, ☏ +886 5 532 5335. 06:00-21:00. A large temple complex dedicated to the traditional Chinese figure Guan Gung (also known as Guan Yu). (updated Apr 2020)

Museums

• 5 Soy Sauce Brewing Museum (大同醬油黑金釀造館), No. 39, Dougong 2nd Road, ☏ +886 5 557 3636. 08:30-17:30. A soy sauce factory where visitors can tour the facility. (updated Apr 2020)

Do

Sport

Douliou Baseball Stadium

• 1 Douliu Baseball Stadium (斗六棒球場), No. 320, Section 2, Mingde North Road, ☏ +886 5 551 1173. M-Sa 18:00-22:00. A 15,000 seat stadium which has hosted a number of games of the CPBL as well as of the Asia Winter Baseball League. (updated Apr 2020)

Buy

Just as in virtually every other city in Taiwan, Douliu has plenty of convenience stores open 24 hr (such as 7-Eleven or Family Market).

However, there is no shopping mall.

Eat

• Plenty of restaurants on 民生南路 (Minsheng South Road), 中山路 (Zhongshan Road) and 太平路 (Taiping Road).

Night markets

• 1 Ren Wen night market (人文夜市), Mingde Road, ☏ +886 973 622 316. Tu Sa 16:00-00:00. One of the larger night markets in southern Taiwan featuring local snacks and games. (updated Apr 2020)
• 2 Zhuangjing Night Market (莊敬夜市). W Sa 17:00-00:00. A small Taiwanese-style night market featuring a variety of local snacks. (updated Apr 2020)

Drink

• 1 Police Dormitory (警察宿舍), No. 16, Yunzhong Street, ☏ +886 5 552 3211. Tu-Su 10:30-19:00. A cafe housed in a Japanese colonial-era police dormitory building. (updated Apr 2020)

Go next

• Further north: Taichung
• Further south: Chiayi, and then Alishan