Taoyuan International Airport to Taichung
via Taiwan High Speed Rail
From the counters selling sim cards, go down one level to head for the bus terminal. Look out for the U Bus counter that says “HSR Taoyuan Station”. Each bus ticket would cost you NT$30 one way to get to the Taoyuan High Speed Rail (HSR) Station. You can also opt for a direct bus from Taoyuan to Taichung, but we choose to take the HSR to experience taking the HSR.
HSR Taoyuan Station
HSR Taoyuan Station
No. 5, Section 1, Gaotie North Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan 32056
+886 3 286 8789
We arrived at the Taoyuan HSR Station and went ahead to get our tickets. We managed to get tickets for the next train (Taoyuan; 9:57pm – Taichung; 10:35pm) at NT$540 each. Do note that the trains in Taiwan are usually on time and its normal to see people rushing down the escalators to get to the train platform.
Do take note of Train Number, Car Number as well as your Seat Number when purchasing your tickets. When purchasing group tickets, it is not guaranteed that the counter person will issue you seats that are seated together (we had one experience that we were not issued seats together and we had to ask a nice lady on the train if she was willing to swap seats with us).
When heading down to the platform, take note of which platform your train will be arriving at (this info can be seen from the information board. If unsure, just check with the staff at the ticketing counter when purchasing your ticket).
The train came on time and we arrived promptly at Taichung only to be greeted by rain.
HSR Taichung Station
No. 8, Zhanqu 2nd Road, Wuri District, Taichung City, Taiwan 414
+886 4 4066 3000
Prior to the trip, we found out that there is a free shuttle bus service (160 THSR Shuttle Bus) that runs from Taichung HSR to FengJia University. However due to us arriving late, and the empty station didn’t really help us we were uncertain if the bus service is still running. Unable to find out the bus timings, we decided to head to the bus lane stated on the board and much to our surprise, the bus is there waiting for passengers to board. Just show the driver your HSR Ticket and you will be able to board the bus for free. Do tell him which station you intend to alight at so that he can inform you upon arrival at the station.
The one good thing at least for the sake of tourist is that the buses in Taiwan usually have this led display that shows you the next stop as well as a voice notification (like those in the MRT) informing you of the next stop in Chinese, Hokkien & English.
We alighted at the Qinghai Rd Intersection (one stop before Fengjia University) and braved the rain towards Fengjia Box 1 Hostel.
The entrance of Fengjia Box 1 Hostel is located at the back of a street and the lack of a signboard certainly didn’t help in trying to locate the hostel. Follow the direction on Google Maps. It should bring you down a dark alley and you should be able to locate door 11 & 13 on the left side of the road. This is Fengjia Box 1.
After putting down our bags and changing out from our wet jeans and shoes into slippers and shorts, we went down to a closing Fengjia Night Market to grab some dinner before heading back to the hostel to rest for the night.