Guides · Cycling in Taiwan

Eating After a Taichung Ride: 18 km of Rail Trail Into a Night Market

The easiest ride to start with in Taichung is the pair of rail trails: the Dongfeng Green Bikeway, built on the abandoned Dongshi branch line and about 12 kilometres long, and the Houfeng Bikeway, roughly 5.8 kilometres connecting Houli and Fengyuan. Joined together they run about 18 kilometres, entirely flat, entirely on dedicated path — and one end sits in Fengyuan, where you can step off the trail straight into Miaodong food street. Very few routes in Taiwan finish directly at a street of long-standing food shops. This guide covers three of them, and the useful part is that their closing days do not overlap: whichever day you turn up, at least two are open. Data checked on Google Maps, 8 August 2026.

Eighteen kilometres, finishing at a night market

The Dongfeng Green Bikeway was originally the Dongshi branch of the Taiwan Railway. Services stopped in 1991, the line was converted, and the trail opened on 15 November 2000 as the first dedicated cycle path in Taiwan built on an abandoned railway. It runs about 12 kilometres through Fengyuan, Shigang and Dongshi, past preserved station platforms and along the Dajia River. It was also the first cycle path in the country to be lit along its entire length.

The Houfeng Bikeway sits between Houli and Fengyuan, about 5.8 kilometres, crossing the Dajia River and passing through several rail bridges and tunnels. Linked to the Dongfeng trail, the pair total roughly 18 kilometres and connect the Houli, Fengyuan and Dongshi districts.

For a visiting rider the appeal is not just that it is flat and easy. It is how it ends. Step off at the Fengyuan end and Miaodong is a short walk away. Most Taiwanese routes finish at a car park or a station; this one finishes at a food street that has been running for decades.

Three shops in Miaodong, with closing days that never overlap

The Miaodong Fuxing shopping street sits beside Cih-Ji Temple in Fengyuan, at Lane 167, Zhongzheng Road, Fengyuan District, Taichung. The street as a whole runs roughly 10:00 to 23:00, though individual shops vary. Ratings and review counts are a Google Maps snapshot from 8 August 2026. All three are cash only, all serve under NT$200 a head, and none has an English menu — pointing at what the next table is eating is normal practice.

• Miaodong Qingshui Pork Rib Noodles: open 11:30–23:00, closed Wednesdays. Rating 4.1 from 4,099 reviews. Trading for over thirty years, it serves ribs in noodle soup — the most direct way to get hot broth and carbohydrate back into you after a ride.
• Zheng Lao Pai Fengyuan Meatballs: open 10:00–22:00, closed Tuesdays. Rating 4.3 from 1,627 reviews. The earliest opener of the three, so a morning ride still works. The dish is a steamed rice-flour dumpling with pork filling, served with a sweet-savoury sauce.
• Jinshu Ice Shop: open 11:00–23:00, closed Thursdays. Rating 4.3 from 1,619 reviews. Known for old-style pineapple ice, and a genuinely useful way to drop your body temperature after a summer ride.

Why the staggered closing days matter

The three close on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday respectively, which means at least two are open whatever day you arrive. That is unusual in a Taiwanese cluster of old shops — most streets have their businesses close on the same day.

In practice: come on Tuesday and you get the rib noodles and the ice shop; Wednesday, the meatballs and the ice shop; Thursday, the noodles and the meatballs. Any other day, all three are open.

If you only have one day and want all three, simply avoid Tuesday to Thursday. For groups, shift the meal away from the dinner peak — the lanes in Miaodong are narrow, and a group arriving together tends to block the walkway.

What a support vehicle does on this route

Both trails are dedicated paths with simple conditions, so a support vehicle is not there to help you ride. It is there to solve the two ends.

First, the point-to-point problem. Eighteen kilometres one way means 36 kilometres if you retrace, which is more than many visitors want. With a vehicle at the far end, you ride one way and get driven back.

Second, bikes and luggage. Getting from central Taichung or the airport out to the trailheads in Houli or Fengyuan on public transport with a bike and bags is awkward. Being dropped at the start saves a lot of time.

Third, afterwards. By the time you have eaten in Miaodong it is usually evening, and moving riders, bikes and bags back to the city or on to the next stop together is simpler than arranging transport separately.

A restaurant stop is not a standard inclusion but can be requested while planning.

Vegetarian, halal and other dietary limits

Miaodong is traditional street food, which leaves little room to alter ingredients or cooking methods.

Vegetarian: Jinshu Ice Shop serves ices and juices and is by far the easiest of the three for a vegetarian to sit down in. The rib noodles and the meatballs are both pork-based, and Google Maps does not record any vegetarian provision. Fengyuan has vegetarian restaurants elsewhere in the town, worth arranging separately.

Halal: none of the three holds halal certification, and both the meatballs and the rib noodles contain pork. We are not going to invent an alternative — travellers who need halal food should buy packaged food in central Taichung or seek out a certified restaurant there.

Allergens: shared woks and shared oil are standard at street-food stalls, so cross-contamination is hard to avoid. If your allergy is severe, treat this as high risk.

Sources

• 交通部觀光署 — 東豐自行車綠廊

Rules and road conditions change — always check the official announcements before you travel.

Related guides

• Riding Between Company Branches, and How the Support Vehicle Is Arranged
• Five Days Cycling from Taichung｜Sun Moon Lake, Shuili & Sanyi
• Taiwan Cycling Route No.1｜Distance & Closed Roads

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