Tour Guide with Stories is a collection of travel recommendations across Taiwan, shaped by personal moments, submitted by people who have lived there, and curated by Natasha Tseng.
Each place holds a memory, a connection, a story worth sharing. Want to add yours?
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A Serendipitous Discovery
Best Teacher Ever
Market Traditions
The Magical Valley
My Favorite Apple Tea
Worth the Wait
It Grew on Me
The Jetty of Secrets
It Grew on Me
National Dong Hwa University
No. 1, Section 2, Daxue Rd, Shoufeng Township, Hualien County
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Chenyu Lin
Other, Hualien
Went out to get lunch at 2, the only place that was open was the Mongolian scallion pancake stand, so I went and got two of those. I’ve never gotten food from this place, and I guess I still like ShuangXi [another scallion pancake stand] better. Saw three dogs on the way back to the dorm, pet them and thought about the dog my family had, 15 minutes passed by without me even noticing.
Did some homework in the afternoon, and ran into another exchange student right before dinner. We picked a restaurant we went to when we first got here, and today would be only our second time, even though it’s almost time for us to leave.
It was drizzling after dinner, and I started thinking about my time here as I walked in the rain. My impression of this place has changed so much since I arrived. I still remember the first time I got off the train in Hualien, I thought I had come to some middle-of-nowhere rural countryside, and felt like I had been lied to by their website when I arrived at the university; it wasn’t as glamorous as it was depicted and described.
But now, I can see the beauty of this place. It’s no problem at all to leave your car or scooter unlocked on the busiest streets of Hualien. Everyone knows each other well, and you can see pigeons, chickens, dogs, and other animals just chilling on the roadside in the afternoon, not caring one bit about anything or anyone walking by.
I don’t want to leave anymore. ✺
National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) is located in the scenic Hualien County of Taiwan. It offers a blend of academic excellence and natural beauty.