Sanyi, Miaoli: The Ultimate Guide to a Fantastic Day Trip

Sanyi is a rural town located in the South of Miaoli. Ask any Taiwanese and they’ll tell you that Sanyi is known for its mudiao (木雕), or woodcarving.

This trip to Sanyi was super unexpected. I never thought about traveling to Sanyi, if I’m being really honest. I didn’t even know where Sanyi was until we decided to plan a spontaneous trip to a nearby town.

Sanyi is thirty minutes away from Taichung, it was the middle of summer, we had nothing to do and plenty of time. I went with no expectations and came back with a newly discovered gem and unforgettable memories.

Sanyi was refreshingly beautiful and fun, and makes for a great day-trip from Taichung. Today I want to share with you all the enjoyable activities that you can do in Sanyi in a day, and hopefully give you some ideas if you’re looking for a spontaneous day trip or a weekend escape!

About Sanyi, Miaoli

Sanyi is also known by many as the Woodcarving Kingdom in Taiwan. Wood is easily accessible in Sanyi as the town is surrounded by mountains, which is why over half the population here are woodcarvers for a living. The wood used is usually camphor wood, which is popular amongst the Taiwanese as furniture material. The abundance of camphor wood here is often used by the locals to handcraft beautiful sculptures, hence the name Woodcarving Kingdom.

Getting to Sanyi

The easiest way to get to Sanyi is either by car or by train. From Taipei, it takes a little over 2 hours to get to Sanyi and will cost you around 200 ntd- a very economical option. If you are departing from other locations, you can check the train schedule and prices here.

Getting around Sanyi is the fastest with a car, as it is a more rural town and the public transportation here really isn’t very convenient. Actually, I would go as far as saying it’s non-existent?? I literally did not see a single bus here. We arrived hoping that we could rent Ubikes to get around, but there were no Ubikes within walking distance of the train station either. At last, we had to get to our destination by taxis that were waiting outside the station. It costs 100 ntd for a four minute ride from the train station to ㄚ箱寶, which was our main destination for today.

What to Do in Sanyi in 1 Day

ㄚ箱寶 : Woodcarving Painting DIY

ㄚ箱寶 is a woodcarving factory known to make wooden ducks. Here you can pick a pre-made woodcarving and join their DIY painting workshop. Unfortunately, they do not have a woodcarving workshop- it would have been a great experience!

First, you’ll have to pick a woodcarving of your choice. My friend chose a wooden duck plate, and I wanted to paint my dog so I chose a dachshund. Then, you’ll be seated in these little traditional Taiwanese elementary school desks and chairs and be given a box of 6 very basic paint colors- black, white, red, blue, green, and yellow.

It’s not a lot of colors, but they have color mixing guides on the wall that teach you how to get the colors you want using these 6 basic colors. I actually found the guide to be surprisingly educational, I learnt a lot more about color mixing here than I ever did in school haha.

At first I was unsure about this itinerary, painting wooden ducks and dogs sounded like a kindergarten field trip. But it turned out to be a fantastic afternoon activity, perfect for a slow date.

We actually spent a much longer time here than we had expected- we literally spent the whole afternoon painting! It was very cathartic to just sit down like a kid again and focus on painting while chatting away.

You probably can’t tell that I spent a whole 4.5 hours painting this dachshund from its colors, but I had to perfect all the angles and edges-and that took a long time! After you finish painting, you send your artwork into an oven to dry the paint. The process will take around 10 minutes.

ㄚ箱寶 is the perfect place for a fun date or a family day out with your kids- it’ll keep them busy for the whole day!

Explore the Refreshing Countryside

Instead of taking the taxi back to the train station, we decided to walk since the weather was really nice and cool just before the sun set. The journey took around half an hour, and we saw the most incredible views.

In my opinion, the best way to explore a new town is always by foot. It kind of felt like walking on the country sides of Yunlin, except it was much more mountainy and there wasn’t as many rice fields. The more rural parts of Taiwan hits so different and are definitely some of my favorite places to visit.

Try the Famous Douhua in Sanyi

On the way back to the train station, we stopped by a 30 year old douhua (Taiwanese tofu pudding) shop that was recommended by a lot of locals. The douhua was topped with a thick scoop of black sugar ice with peanut powder sprinkled all over it. It was my first time eating douhua like that, it was really new and interesting.

It wasn’t mind blowing but it’s something I’d recommend if you’re looking for novel culinary experiences here!

Climb the 3D Painted Ladder and Find the Panda Mural

We also stopped by the painted ladders and the murals famous to Sanyi. A very quirky spot in the middle of a small town. It’s a very instagram-worthy place, and you should definitely check it out if you’re looking to take some cute photos here.

This is my little Zaizai at home and her doppleganger. Do you think she’s happy about the new addition to the family?

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If you liked this post..

Are you a lover of off-the-beaten path destinations and looking to discover more similar places in Taiwan? If so, be sure don’t miss these other posts on Emixglobe to get more inspiration for your next trip:

• Yunlin, Taiwan: The Ultimate Best 3-Day Weekend Itinerary
• Fun Things to Do in Changhua
• The Ultimate Guide to Hot Springs in Guguan, Taichung
• Dakeng Mountain Trails 9 and 10: a Stunning, Easy Hike
• Tai’an, Taichung: finding love and peace in the countryside

Until next time,