I mentioned in my trip to Jiufen that I boarded the wrong train and arrived in Yilan. The train left the northern coast and veered southward with the Pacific ocean on the side. The train passed by a town with an eccentric looking structure erected near the coast. It looked like a dilapidated fallen building, washed by some rouge tidal waves. Fast forward, before my recent trip to Taiwan I researched for that building and found out it was called Lanyang Museum. That would be the first place to go.

Getting there wasn’t quite easy, since we did not take the express train this time. It took a long 2 hours before we arrived in a small town called Toucheng, a few train stops before Yilan.  The locals told us that the museum is just a walking distance from the station. After a 15-min walk, behold, like a magnificent mountain rising from the plains is the Lanyang Museum

For architecture lovers, this is definitely an eye-candy. Designed by architect Kris Yao, this amazing structure intends to harmonize with nature’s elements. It is supposed to represent the mountains (Yilan mountain ranges), the plains (referring to the Yilan river delta), and the Pacific Ocean which described the physical topography of the Yilan county.

Museum interiors:

 View from inside:

When the museum opened, the info was only available in Chinese Mandarin, now they already have English info, audio guides and brochures. Inside, taking pictures is permitted, but use of flash is not allowed.

Directions:

Option 1: Ride an express train going to Yilan, then ride the local train back to Toucheng.

Option 2: Get the local train from Taipei to Toucheng, this would take so much time.

Going to Lanyang Museum

Option 1: There is a bus station directly in front of the train station. The bus is free from this point to the museum but only make rounds every hour. There is a bus schedule beside the waiting area.

Option 2: Walk. Walk outside towards 7/11. Turn left until you reach the street corner where there is a noodle house. (We had lunch here, by the way) From the noodle house turn left and go straight until you see the museum.

Related articles

• Taiwan Roadtrip 06: Meeting Toucheng (pattypattyy0120.wordpress.com)
• Lanyang Museum (strangersintaiwan.wordpress.com)
• To Yilan (ariayilan.wordpress.com)
• Yilan, Taiwan (postcardaholic.wordpress.com)