Taichung Audio Tours

In 1986, a tea shop owner at Chun Shui Tang teahouse in Taichung added tapioca pearls to a cold milk tea on a whim, and accidentally created a drink that would spread to every city on earth. The teahouse still operates on Sichuan Road, and while the exact origin story is contested by other claimants, Taichung is comfortable enough with its legacy to serve boba on practically every corner without making a fuss about it. The city moves at a different register than Taipei -- more relaxed, warmer in the south, less rushed in the way it presents itself.

The Japanese colonial period left a grid of wide boulevards and institutional buildings that still give parts of the city an unusual orderliness.

The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, established in 1988, is one of the largest art museums in Asia and is free to enter. The National Museum of Natural Science in the north of the city draws school groups from across Taiwan. Over a thousand registered temples serve a city of under three million people, and the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage -- where devotees carry a statue of the sea goddess Mazu 340 kilometres over nine days in early spring -- is one of the largest religious events in the world. Feng Jia Night Market is where the city eats when it goes out: stinky tofu, oyster omelettes, scallion pancakes, and at least twenty variations on bubble tea.