Yilan

Rail, bus, and taxi are good options for traveling from Yilan to Taipei. The Xueshan tunnel facilitates travel between Yilan and Taipei, shortening the trip to roughly 1½ hr.

By train

• Yilan stationThe station is on the Yilan line.

Scooters, cars and bicycles are the main transport around Yilan City (the county seat of Yilan county). There are taxi stands and scooter rental options near the train station. Travel around the county (to destinations such as to Luodong, Suao, and Jiaosi) is easily accomplished by inexpensive rail (US$4).

By scooter

The most convenient way to get around Yilan is by scooter. You can start from Yilan train station and rent one there, but you should first go to the tourist information center and get a map.

By bicycle

You can rent one at Yilan train station. A nice 12-km route may start by riding to Yuan Suan Park (圓山公園) which takes about 1 hour. Then you can ride along the riverbank to Jung Shan Bridge (圓山橋) before heading back.

Yilan Train Station

The first Yilan Train Station (宜蘭火車站) was constructed in 1919. The original building was destroyed in 1962 by typhoon Opal and rebuilt in the same year. The plaza in front was built in 1997. There are many historical buildings nearby, described below.

• Yilan Railway Station Old Warehousing FacilitiesThere were 9 warehouses built in 1919, providing numerous businesses with a place to store their goods. It is used for selling famous products from Yilan. It is on the right hand side of Yilan train station. Exiting the train station, turn to the right. The building is on the right hand side.

• Former Office, Taiwan Railway Administration, Yilan Transportation SectionThis building was constructed in 1959. The building served as a transportation office for the Taiwan Railway Administration. It is now a Visitor Center where you can get information. Turn left when leaving the train station. The building is on the left hand side.

• Former Rice Inspection Bureau Yilan Branch OfficeIt was constructed in 1930 for use in the process of inspection, evaluation, and distribution of local rice. The characteristics of the building include an arched entrance, rectangular windows, British style brick walls, and a Japanese-style roof. From the train station, go straight and you will find it to your left.

• Former Official Residence of the Magistrate of YilanIt was built as the official residence for Japanese magistrates in 1911. There is huge camphor tree inside the premises of the building that has been there for at least 100 years. It was reconstructed for tourists to visit in 1997. Address: No. 3, Lishing 3rd Lane, Jiocheng S. Rd. Yilan City

• Former Yilan Yi Police Station

  address: No.167,Sec.2, Jhongshan Rd.
  It was constructed during the Japanese occupation in 1945.

History and culture

• Former Yilan Prison

  phone: +886 3 932 2440
  address: No. 117, Section 2, Shennong Road
  The prison was founded in 1898 with the name Yilan Branch Institute of Taipei Punishment Institute.

• Memorial Hall of Founding of Yilan Administration

  phone: +886 3 932 6664
  A memorial hall dedicated to the founding of Yilan County Government. The memorial hall building was built in 1900 where it used to be the official residence of magistrates. The building was later converted into a memorial hall and was inaugurated in 1997.

• Yilan Brick Kiln

  phone: +886 937 535 180
  A former brick manufacturing factory in Beijin Village. The Yilan Brick Kiln was established as Chen He Cheng Kiln Factory. It was later changed to Yilan Brick Kiln and ended its operation in the 1980s.

• Xianguo MonumentA stone monument erected during the period of Japanese occupation dedicated to the Chinese killed by the indigenous inhabitants during the early period of Chinese migration into the Yilan area.

Museums

• Beneficial Microbes Museum and Tourism FactoryThe museum aims to improve public understanding about bacteria.

• Institute of Yilan County History

  phone: +886 3 925 5488
  address: No. 3, Xianzheng North Road
  A local institute of history in Yilan City, Yilan County, Taiwan built to collect, access, record, research and promote the local history of Yilan County. The institute regularly holds exhibitions, symposiums, seminars and forums about the research of Yilan County.

• Taiwan Theater Museum

  phone: +886 3 932 2440 (#400)
  address: No. 101, Section 2, Fuxing Road
  The museum is dedicated to Taiwan's theatrical arts and operas. It is the first public theater museum in Taiwan and the first museum established in Yilan County. The museum periodically hosts live Taiwanese opera and puppet shows as well as other cultural activities.

• Yilan Distillery Chia Chi Lan Wine Museum

  phone: +886 3 935 5526
  A museum dedicated to the history of wine and wine-making in the region. The museum building was built in 1935.

• Yilan Literary Museum

  phone: +886 3 932 4349
  address: No. 3, Jiucheng West Road
  The museum building was originally a principal's quarter of a school of agriculture. The museum was constructed with Japanese architectural style. It consists of two buildings, which are the principal's quarter of the former school of agriculture and the old secretary-general mansion building. The signage has limited English, but the grounds are pleasant for a stroll around.

• Yilan Museum of Art

  phone: +886 3 936 9116
  address: No. 1, Section 3, Zhongshan Road
  The original museum building was destroyed during World War II. In 1949, it was reconstructed as the Yilan branch of the Bank of Taiwan. The Yilan County Government later designated the area a historic landmark. The bank donated the building in 2012. The museum exhibits works made by local artists and also promoting local culture.

Temples

• Bisia Temple

  phone: +886 3 932 6249
  address: No. 52, Chenghuang Street

• Confucian Temple

  phone: +886 3 936 3004
  address: No. 170, Xinxing Road

• Nanxing Temple

  phone: +886 3 932 2629
  address: No. 6, Nanxing Street

• Saint Joseph's Church

  phone: +886 3 932 3204
  address: No. 93, Taishan Road

• Wenchang Temple

  phone: +886 3 935 2166
  address: No. 66, Wenchang Road

• Wugu Temple

  phone: +886 3 932 5349
  address: No. 162, Section 2, Shennong Road

• Zhaoying Temple

  phone: +886 3 935 3536
  address: No. 106, Section 3, Zhongshan Road

Religious festivals

There are various religious festivals and parades of different sizes throughout Yilan, so you may cross one at any moment during weekends. According to believers, the purpose of the parades is to represent that the gods are patrolling the street to see how people doing and to protect people from harm. In order to welcome the gods, the people in charge of the parade set off firecrackers as an announcement that the gods are coming and cast a lot of "ghost money" on the street. Temple workers carry sedans with religious images. You may see traditional musical orchestras.
Usually, the parades are performed by many teams, People can tell which teams a participant belongs to by looking at their t-shirts. The parades consist of different groups of people and each of them are in charge of representing different characters. The characters may vary according to the different festivals. Some of them may do folk dances.
There are about 63 temples, most of them Taoist, and eleven western churches in Yilan County. Historically, there has been freedom in Yilan to practice any religion. Taiwanese celebrate many important traditional festivals. In Yilan the most important celebrations are Cheng-Huang's (城隍) birthday on February 8th of the lunar calendar and Dong-Yue's birthday (東嶽大帝) on March 28th of the lunar calendar. During the festival of Cheng-Huang's birthday, many people from all walks of life usually follow the parade and go around Yilan city and we can see that some people play the characters Chi-ye and Ba-ye (七爺八爺), a traditional Taiwanese myth about friendship. Yilan is the birthplace of Taiwanese opera (歌仔戲), so people can listen to traditional musical instruments during Taiwanese religious festivals.
During these religious parades, visitors can join the festival and take photos, but people should be respectful and observe some taboos. For example, expectant mothers should not join the parade and people should not cross from one side of the parade to the other. For temple workers there are further prohibitions, such as not eating meat before the parade. Parades should not be confused with Chinese funeral, where family members will wear black clothes and there are no images of gods.
There are two temples in Yilan that have regular large-scale festivals. The first is Yilan Cheng-Huang Temple (宜蘭城隍廟) at No.10 Chenghuang St. (城隍街) that holds their major parade every February 8 of the lunar calendar. The temple was established in 1813, and in Chinese culture, Cheng Huang is the Patron saint of cities. The other major temple is Yilan Dong-Yu Temple (宜蘭東獄殿) at No.299, Sec 2, Zhongshan Rd., and their largest parade is held in every March 28 in odd-numbered year of the lunar calendar.

Food making

• Chian Li Guang Herbal Garden

  phone: +886 3 928-4349
  address: No.51, Ln. 131, Sec. 2, Dapo Rd
  The focus of this place is on traditional herbal medicine, holding two greenhouses, an eco-museum and an exhibition center. The owners are trying pass down the use of traditional herbal medicines to the next generation. They also provide many herbal products (drinks, cookies and herbal meals, for example). There is a NT$100 consumable entrance fee towards a guided tour, a D.I.Y. activity or products. Tour guide is only provided for more than 10 people, charging NT$100 per person, The tour is 40 minutes long.

• Agrioz

  phone: +886 3 928-5758
  address: No.33, Meizhou 2nd Rd
  It is the first government-authenticated tourism factory in Taiwan, with an area of around 9915 m². Agrioz is a modern tourism factory which produces fine kumquat products and collects kumquats from local farmers to provide quality products to the public. Agrioz provides several activities to their guests, such as D.I.Y., factory tours, visits to the kumquat museum and a souvenir shop.

• Yadian Cake Factory

  phone: +886 3 928 6777
  address: No. 122, Meizhou 2nd Road
  A small cake factory that has a number of exhibits related to cake-making. You can also take a tour of the factory itself.

Parks and nature

• Jimmy Park

  phone: +886 3 931 2152
  address: No. 240, Section 1, Yixing Road
  A small, quirky park on the site of an old train station, and themed accordingly.

• Yilan Sports Park

  phone: +886 3 925 4034
  address: No. 755, Section 1, Zhongshan Road
  A large park area with a stadium, running track, and other sports facilities.

Performing arts

• Yilan Performing Arts Center

  phone: +886 3 936 9115
  address: No. 482, Section 2, Zhongshan Road
  The major venue for performing arts in the city.

Books

• Eslite

  phone: +886 3 936-2770
  address: B1 of Yoai Department store, Jiucheng East Road
  A large range of English and Chinese books.

• Caves

  phone: +886 3 932-3259
  address: 220 Zhongshan Road
  Sec. 3. A huge range of English textbooks and novels.

Local specialities

• One of the local specialties is a delicate cookie referred to as the "Cow Tongue Cookie." This name comes from the shape of the cookie (an oblong, roughly 20 cm or 10 inches long), rather than ingredients. The cookie comes in many flavors, such as coffee, green tea, berry, and sesame.

Shopping malls

• Yoai Department Store

  phone: +886 3-936-9936
  address: No.50, Jiucheng E. Rd
  From Yilan Train Station: Go straight and turn right on Jiucheng E. Rd. Walk for three blocks and look for the tall building.

• Luna Plaza

  phone: +886 3-932-3300
  address: No.6, Ln. 38, Sec. 2, Minquan Rd., Yilan City
  From Yilan Train Station: go straight and turn left on Jiucheng S. Rd. Then turn left on Sec. 2, Shennong Rd.

• Dark ice cream shop (黑店冰店)- On the same street as Luna Plaza, this famous little shop provides 5 flavors but use good quality ingredients. No.63, Sec. 1, Shennong Rd., Yilan City, Yilan County (宜蘭縣宜蘭市神農路二段63號)

• Dongmen night market

  address: Shenghou Street
  The Dongmen night market attracts many tourists since the local media regularly does reports about it. At the very front, there is a yakitori shop called Liang Dai Pon (梁大胖), where some of the products are only NT$10 each. The first booth on the left side is green onion pancake (蔥油餅). It is always full of customers because they use the high quality green onion from local producers. The second booth on the left side is an ice cream store; they are famous for their almond curd (杏仁豆腐). The third booth is a beverage store; their bubble tea is different others because they use their handmade white bubble. On the right hand side, there is a roasted chicken cutlet booth. It costs NT$50 for a cutlet that is bigger than your face. The last booth sells "coffin bread", a Taiwanese dish of seafood inside a toast, but this store creates offers original flavors such as ice cream instead of seafood.
• Garlic meat broth (蒜味肉羹) When you leave the Yilan train station, cross the street to Jiucheng East Rd. (舊城東路), turn right to Jiucheng N Rd.(舊城北路), then walk straight until No. 141 (宜蘭縣宜蘭市舊城北路141號). Ask for garlic meat broth (蒜味肉羹), which is a famous dish in Yilan.

• Pasta Kitchen

  phone: +886 3 936-3939
  address: 47 Jiankang Sreet, Sec 1

• Everyday Smells Great (每日香)

  phone: +886 3 933-0993
  address: No. 60, Chongsheng St.
  This is a traditional lunch shop aimed at local workers. Expect it to be very busy around 11:00. You can pick from probably over 30 fresh vegetables, as well as meat and fish. Customers can also drink soup inside for free. The cashier is very friendly and talkative, and is quite likely give you compliments on your looks.

• Blue Bar

  phone: +886 3 931-3367
  address: 319 Taishan Road
  Small, clean and cheap.

Budget

• Fukun Motel

  phone: +886 3 928-8060
  address: No.259, Sec. 5, Zhongshan Rd
  It is near the train station. It offers free internet connection, air conditioning, spa and free breakfast. Small doubles start at NT$880.

Mid-range

• England Motel

  phone: +886 3 928-2288
  address: No.6, Ln. 127, Sec. 5, Zhongshan Rd
  It offers breakfast, afternoon tea, bicycles, and spa. The room rate starts at NT$3,040.

• Azure Sky B&B

  phone: +886 3 931-1260
  address: No.3-33, Jinshi Rd
  It is near the National Yilan University (國立宜蘭大學). They offer a farm lifestyle experience. Small doubles start at NT$2,000.

Quality

• Dubai Motel

  phone: +886 3 928-7700
  No.70, Sec. 2, Dafu Rd., It takes around 5 minutes by car from Yilan train station. It offers swimming pool, steam bath, milk bath and spa. The classical villa room starts at NT$4,280.

• Silks Place Yilan

  phone: +886 3-935-1000
  address: 36, Minquan Rd., Sec. 2, Yilan City
  It's on one side of Luna Plaza (mall). From Yilan Train Station: Go straight and turn left on Jiucheng S. Rd. Then turn left on Sec. 2, Shennong Rd.

• Yoai Hotel

  phone: +886 3-936-3456
  address: 11-16F., No.50, Jiucheng E. Rd
  Go straight after leaving Yilan Train Station, turn right on Jiucheng E. Rd., and walk for three blocks.

• Grand Boss Hotel

  phone: +886 3-9312-999
  address: No.366, Sec. 1, Yixing Rd
  Turn right after exiting the station and go straight You will see it your right hand side.