Downtown Toufen

Toufen (頭份市) is a county-administered city in northern Miaoli County, Taiwan. Its city centre forms a continuous urban area with Zhunan.

Get in

By rail

Toufen can be accessed from 1 Zhunan railway station (竹南車站).   in the nearby township of the same name.

By road

Toufen is connected to other parts of Miaoli County by a network of busses. You can travel between the nearby cities and townships from the bus stations around the city:

• 2 Kuo-kuang Motor Transport Toufen Station (苗栗客運頭份站), No. 206, Zhongzheng Road. (updated Aug 2020)

See

History and culture

• 1 Toufen Old Village (蘆竹湳古厝), ☏ +88637628187. An area of old red-brick style houses that has been partially preserved as a tourist attraction. (updated Aug 2020)

Temples

Dahua Temple

• 2 Dahua Temple (頭份大化宮), ☏ +88637690165. Is a large temple dedicated to the Lords of the Three Mountains. The temple was incorporated in 1809, and the most recent additions were done in 1995. (updated Aug 2020)
• 3 Fude Temple (頭份福德祠), No. 139, Zhongshan Road, ☏ +88637665533. A small temple dedicated to the Land God of the local area. Due to the high number of worshippers burning incense on important festival days, particularly the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, the air around the temple becomes so thick with smoke that it exceeds the air quality standards and had to be granted a special dispensation from the government. (updated Aug 2020)
• 4 Toufen Stone Guanyin Temple (頭份石觀音寺). The small house was built by a local farmer who found 3 strangely shaped stones in a nearby stream and felt that the stones were connected to the Buddhist Bodhisattva Guanyin, also called the 'Goddess of Mercy'. (updated Aug 2020)
• 5 Wu Fu Temple of baki' Soro: (賽夏五福龍神宮). A smaller temple constructed by the indigineous Saisiyat people dedicated to the serpent spirit baki' Soro:. (updated Aug 2020)
• 6 Yungchen Temple (永貞宮), ☏ +88637624429. 05:00-20:00. An ornate temple building dedicated to the goddess Mazu (also called Tianhou). The temple was originally constructed in 1853 to encourage peace between the immigrants to the area from Guangdong and Fujian who were engaged in protracted fighting in the years prior. The main festival days for the temple are the birth of Mazu on the 23rd day of the lunar calendar, the pilgrimage on 8th day of the fourth month, and the celebration of Hungry Ghost Festival on the 9th day of the seventh month. (updated Aug 2020)

Buy

• 1 Shangshun World (尚順育樂世界), No. 105, Zhongyang Road, ☏ +88637539999. A large shopping centre that also has a number of small carnival-style amusements for children, such as bumper cars and a carousel. (updated Aug 2020)

Eat

Western

• 1 Little Carpenter Studio (小木匠), ☏ +88637581685. 11:00-22:00. A smaller 'western-style' restaurant serving ribs, chips, milkshakes, ice-cream, etc. (updated Aug 2020)