Taichung Photo Gallery - Qingshui

Qingshui is a distant suburb from Taichung's city centre. Having visited the Rainbow Village earlier in the day, I allocated my afternoon here, followed by Wuqi Harbour and Gaomei Wetlands for sunset. From Rainbow Village, I took the bus back to Xinwuri station for the local train, which takes only 30 minutes to reach Qingshui. From Taichung station, it's only about 15 more minutes on the same train line.

From the train station, I walked east then north into the main town. The streets were quiet and gritty.

Traces of human settlement have been found here dating back some 4500 years ago belonging to Aboriginal tribes. Han Chinese arrived in the early 1730s and the area's name was changed to "Qingshui", meaning clear water, after a spring was found at the foot of Aofeng Mountain in 1920.

The Japanese colonial government established the a language institute here in 1897 to teach Japanese to the locals. It eventually became a public school that moved here in 1935, and continues to be an elementary school today.

There are 6 Japanese-style buildings in this group, which includes the principal's dormitory. Completed in the 1930s and 40s, they continued to be teachers' dormitories after the war.

Continuing north, there are more quiet and gritty streets to explore.

Further reading (in Chinese) | Area History