12 Days in Taiwan – Day 02 – Shengxing Station and the Love Story Hall

Posted on    by

The next two stops after the strawberry farm were in the same area and literally almost beside each other. The first of the two was Shengxing Railway Station. We could easily tell that this was a well-known and popular tourist spot: on the slightly winding drive in – there were private vehicles and large tour buses already parked. There was a retail stretch on the road leading to the rail station with local snacks and produce, and woodwork artisans showcasing their works. Kudos to our driver, King Kong – he parallel-parked his fairly large yellow cab into a pretty tight spot, and even Ling – with her better than normal parallel parking ability – was impressed.

The railway station itself was completed in 1905, and functioned as a working station for more than 90 years before the 1998 earthquake damaged the rail line so much that the government stopped its operation. The railway station since then has continued its existence as a tourist spot.

Both sides of the road leading up to the station are lined with cafes and shops.
Trying to spot for interesting picture perspectives: this one is of wildflowers with the rail in the background.
Taian and Sanyi in either direction.
Don’t let this picture fool you: there were throngs of crowds – just are behind me as I took this picture!
Check out those two dudes on the left!
To get the car moving, use your feet!
A lot of tourists opted for the tram ride on the old railway track: we skipped it. Peter looks sad.

About 5 minutes uphill walk away from Shengxing Station is 勝興愛情故事館 – or literally, the Shengxing Love Story Hall. This wasn’t on our original itinerary but Kong brought us there for a look. The place is fairly small, and comprises a house/restaurant that’s fairly dense with cute props, toys and furniture that again provided plenty of photo opportunities. There was an admission charge, but the charges there can be redeemed if you dine at the restaurant there – which we did. The admission also includes photographs that their in-house photographer – totting a Canon DSLR and 70-200mm f2.8 L lens – will take for you. You’d be able to choose one of those pictures for a hardcopy complimentary print too. The original digital JPGs can also be purchased for NTD100/SGD4.45 each too. A little pricey, but you get to choose the ones you’d like to purchase, and the staff were very nice about it too and didn’t push or pressure us into making any kind of purchase to begin with.

The piano was badly in need of a re-tune, but H made do and did well enough for the restaurant staff to compliment how well she could play for her age.
House pets! A very tame dog who let the two kids stroke him.
But H really loved the few months old but very shy kitten!
Hope the two don’t get any ideas!
Lunch was hearty: three lunch sets with beverages, and an additional bucket of nuggets just for fun. LOL. Cost us NTD929/SGD41.40 after discounts had been applied.
Taken by the in-house photographer. If only I had the RAW files to work with: I’d do some corrections on the  utterly blown highlights in the backdrop just behind Peter.
We didn’t walk the short hop from Shengxing Station: Kong drove! There’s a nifty amusement center just downhill from the Love Story Hall that features a child friendly go-kart-like race track.

Next stop: Zhongshe Tourism Flower Market!