Taiwan

Taichung Airport - a good choice as it turns out

It seems that Taichung airport is like a undervalued hidden gem for a frequent traveler. All those years I was traveling to Taiwan through Taoyuen airport, and then took or bus or arranged a car come to pick me up and then lost 2 and a half hours trip to Taichung. Recently, I was in Ho Chi Minh airport in Vietnam, and noticed that there are direct flights to Taichung. Of course I knew, that there is a Taichung airport before, but for some reason ticket agents were telling us that there are just about 1 or 2 flights, and all of them are to Hong Kong only. It appears they just sell what gives them bigger profit, and they are not interested on your convenience. I decided to give a try, moreover, I just needed to fly to Hongkong this time, from where I usually take bus to Shenzhen.
It was a great experience indeed, and a time saving - is huge. Not only you save time for a way to Taoyuen, you also save way at passport control and customs, and the luggage waiting time is about 3 or 4 times less - only 1 plane lands, and there is only 1 carousel, and you get a bag laterally instantly after you land there. It took me just about 7 minutes to go out of aircraft, go through passport control and take a bug. Try to do it in Taipei. Sometimes only passport control rows take 20 minutes. By the way, is that only my experience in those passport control rows, that I always choose a slowest one? Once you stand in one, others start to move much faster than your's almost instantly.
For those, who are still in doubt about Taichung airport, I took some photos and video, to give a glance how it looks like.
When you arrive, there is just 1 hall. Here arrivals also are.

I am not sure it is a true fr all airlines, but in my case for Dragonair, check-in to get a boarding pass, and luggage counter were in 2 different places. Here is where they took luggage:

And that's all. Go up to for passport control..

After you pass it - you are here. However, there is practically no tax free shops, and restaurant is only one:

That's all where you will be able to spend your dime after you cross passport control.

Only 3 gates in Taichung airport.

How to choose good restaurant in Taiwan - rule of thumb Nr.1

Word of mouth marketing works great in any business, in restaurants it's just a lifeblood and having your own evangelists, you could just live only on it, without any flashy or annoying signs, small blue trucks, who use loudspeakers driving early Saturday morning in your side street to wake you up with abusing announcement of new menu or a boy near MRT, who hands out advertisement. Having said that, I need to tell, that any of my customers for marketing issues I would still recommend my 101 things to do for marketing checklist, however keeping in mind, that word of mouth is the thing, that will generate the business. And why word of mouth sparks sometimes, is that good food, or your creative design or betel nut style girls as waitresses? In taiwan it's food, food and again food. You can do everything, but if you will have bad food, you will have no WOM. Truth to be said, that using a tricks and catches I would brainstorm with owner - there will be and must be the new customers, but if you will give dishes that not tastes good, they will not come again. If you want to open restaurant in Taiwan -remember, food first, marketing second, outlook third. And that means for you, as a foreigner or tourist here also. Do not be fooled by shiny and fancy designs - you will mostly get much better and tasty food in restaurants, that look not so clean (in your western eyes), not so fashionable and not so ____ you write it. This post is introduction of series of such examples. When WOM + good food makes miracles happen.
So, how to spot a good restaurant having no friend around to suggest it?
Easy.
Look one with most people inside, and the most good one will be the one where people are not only sitting inside, but also standing outside and waiting for food to be cooked for takeaway home. It's just that easy, and my wife taught me this rule just one as first rules when I went to Taiwan.
I tried break this rule. I tried specially choose a most empty restaurant on a street, to get really decent on taste food and say - yes, the busy place is much better. I tried break this rule many times. Still, busy paces have better food and nothing can break this law. It's like a watering hole in desert - the best ones are most busy. I will give an examples one by one in my blog, as i will happen to visit such "busy" places, that look totally "grey" from outside, and can be easily missed, if criteria for choose is a fancy sign.
I do not say also, that all what is made in boutique style with expensive interior and golden color plumbing in WC - they are, and some are also good, but ROI - return on investment, (pleasure of good food per dollar amount paid) will be much better at those, what you will choose at this simple rule.
Note - rule works much better in local districts, in centers, especially, in tourist busy places it might work worse, since much people are same as you not locals. But in local living districts, night markets - this rule again works perfectly.

EXAMPLE NR.1 (more on next posts, so stay tuned)

One of such restaurants are on Beipin road in Taichung. Also, it's a lot of time to drive from our location to there, she's constantly at least 2 or 3 times going exactly to there, and became pure evangelist of this restaurant suggesting it to everyone for lunch, and so off we went.



Allow me introduce the Lao Shan restaurant on Beipin Lu 173. Yes, it's that simply and easy. No halogen 4 m flash signs, or WE ARE THE NR.1 IN TAIWAN or anything like that. And it's full. All the scooters you see came just here and for lunch, and most of them were in suits, so, it must be good food.



everyone is extremely busy, a lot of workers - for relatively small place



That's it. White walls and hungry people and you are lucky to find 1 table at lunch time. That's a pattern to choose a restaurant in Taiwan.



Selection of cold dishes - beans, peas, salad, vegetables etc.



That's our lunch - noodles with beef, taros, kelp, sweet potato, tofu and Lu Wei. It's just what you could expect. Good quality, tasty and healthy. In my next post I will introduce similar restaurant, but this time in Miaoli.

Feng Chia Night Market, Xitun District, Taichung

Fengchia Nightmarket. Probably everyone heard about that, at least those, who stay in Taiwan longer than 1 month, should have caught at least some word about it. Where? In Taichung, Xitun district, near Fengchia university. As Wikipedia says, Feng Chia night market was established in 1963, established along with Feng Chia College of Engineering and Business (now Feng Chia University), the rising of the popularity stimulated the business of the near by residential military dependents' village. Food/drink stands, gracious stores, restaurants, were established along Wen-hua road (thus the night market is also called Wenhua night market), then expanding to Fengjia road(逢甲路), Fushin road(福星路), Xian street(西安街)etc.

For those, who like taxi, here is address:
Chinese address

台中市西屯區文華路69號

English address

No.69, Wunhua Rd., Situn District, Taichung City 407, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

I have a feeling, that Fengchia night market has become far more popular than it's nearby university, and it's now claimed to be biggest nightmarket in whole Taiwan. It's pathologically busy there in saturday evening when Fengchia road get's stacked by long traffic jam, and all sidestreets are packed by cars, and everyone goes tothis nightmarket.I decided go friday, since it's same chance to get most of sellers out, and same time at least little bit less crowd as it would be in saturday. Here by the way, popular advice by Lonely Planet - "come weekdays, and there will be no people and all this place will be yours), do not work there.Because even if crowd will be less, also stands and sellers will be less, so you will miss some interesting choices.
Enough words, let's dive in.

I went here by Fengcia road, passing Fengchia road park, covered specially in this post. Below are how it looked like friday evening about 8 o'clock. No traffic jam, but come saturday...



It's start's already there, just after a one more street junction. 2 years ago, instead of those cars, there also were stands of various sellers - now cars there. I think, it's because owners of land changed rules - i do not believe noone wanted use this space.



As you walk more up, crowd gets bigger:



and you bump in first stands. Here, you can see guava and so called tea eggs - cha yue dan. Eggs cooked in this way are very popular, you can find such bowl even in 7-ELEVEN or Family mart.



7-ELEVEN? no TWENTY3. As you might guess, sells clothes for those at this age. In my opinion similar to shop moto are - more clowny and ugly - more better.



more guava and strawberry:



Meat, prepared in LuWEi style. You will find it everywhere and a lot of choice. Luwei - a way of preparing, or taste if you want. Need try, hard to explain. It can be heart, chicken legs, etc. Soybean souce used, though taste varies from seller to seller.



Street junction near university is very busy:









That's entrance to campus:



Here is a video of entering market from entrance just near university main entrance:



LV bag by the way. A must have for any Taiwan (and Japan female). I recently read in one marketing topic book, that 94 % (!) of female in Japan has one. Here is Taiwan, if you have no idea what gift for your girlfriend or wife - buy any LV item. 100 % hit. The problem is only one, expensive.Very.

Here below are spray meat balls seller.



Again Luwei.



Dumplings...



You guessed it - Luwei again:



Here it should be Tzo Dofu - famous stinky tofu of Taiwan, but i write should be, because there was no usual smell.



Bloody cake and hot dog. Some people say, those bloody duck cakes, is a must try in this night market:



Yes, it is again luwei - if so much of it there, it should be good. Yes? i do not know. You try.



What's my choose -  such BBQ, very tasty, juicy and delicious:





A-ha, here is Turkish ice cream seller. I even devoted 2 posts in blog for this guy. Here is first, and second.





Another famous item there - 4 in 1 juice mixes. Claims again are, that it's here only such.



That's calamary BBQ:



Again one of my favourites, BBQ selection - really large collection here, meat, vegetables, tofu, topi and sausage.








Luwei, but more spefic taste:



Fried mushrooms:



Not diamonds, but still, everyone wants to be beautiful. Large choice.



If you did not spent all money for food, here is a chance to left it in those amusements.



Do you want a cake, asks father a girl? Nooooo.... And this? Yesssss... Easy way to fool your kids, when they do not want eat.



KFC? A rival of them.



Large collection of dumplings. The problem of such big choice is that it usually causes so called analysis paralysis. Too much choice is also bad.



NTD 10 for 1. I can not say that cheap by the way.



Again bloody cake.



Luwei...





Fruits..



It's kind of luwei, but now made in japanese style, all here as you can see. Meat, vegetables, tofu.





This is why I said 10 for 1 dumpling is too much. Here in this show any item costs 10:



Don't kill messenger. But it is... you guessed it.





Dumplings again:



one of my favourites again this night market - potato cheese. It's really very tasty.








Tea eggs again. Video and the product itself.





And one more video - i tried catch a feeling of nearby streets:

If you consider Taichung as a place to live in Taiwan - that's good choice indeed (read what Michael Turton says about choosing a place where to live in Taiwan), then one of the best choice are district around Fengchia university. It's vibrant, nice, lively and there is a biggest (as far local newspapers say) nightmarket in whole Taiwan now (yes, bigger than the Taipei ones).

And if there is another post in the blog related to this night market, here I would like to specially share the insights about the Fengchia road park.

There is an inside trail, going around the park, making it popular place at morning, when much people are running there (I must start do it - since monday, i guess).

... where benches are installed just for you to enjoy the ice crea,. Only thing that, women - young and not so, here does not enjoy the sun at all - they use the umbrellas, as my wife says - more white is more beautiful. Well - who said infrared sauna is good business? Not in Taiwan.

Also a tennis court here:

In the park, you can enjoy not only ice cream. Picnic with friends in a middle of working day is below. Is that because of crisis that everyone are forced holidays?

and then allow me abuse you, and your internet connection with flora pictures I admire...

This shop, facing the park, as I had watching it grow already second year in row, soon will start place the items they sell on the street, since it's all crowded inside shop outside shop & beyond.

Everyone knows about Google Ads, Yahoo Ads, and similar. That is Pay Per Click marketing. Fewer people knows about Pay Per Car Ads:

This post came as a follow-up to yesterdays post: Turkish Ice Cream guy in Fengchia Nightmarket in Taichung - a pure genius , I wanted to expand the topic, since Andres, made a comment, on it saying that:

i've seen this in various nightmarkets across taiwan, certainly entertaining and eye catching but personally i would not buy in fears of being embarrassed.

Still, I would not agree, and for this, I need to share a really today's one of the brightest minds on marketing on planet, what Seth Godin says about relationships before sell in his recent post:

When there were old-school parking meters in New York, quarters were precious.

One day, I'm walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and says, "Do you have a dollar for four quarters?" He held out his hand with four quarters in it.

Curious, I engaged with him. I took out a dollar bill and took the four quarters.

Then he turned to me and said, "can you spare a quarter?"

What a fascinating interaction.

First, he engaged me. A fair trade, one that perhaps even benefited me, not him.

Now, we have a relationship. Now, he knows I have a quarter (in my hand, even). So his next request is much more difficult to turn down. If he had just walked up to me and said, "can you spare a quarter," he would have been invisible.

Too often, we close the sale before we even open it.

Interact first, sell second.

That's what in fact the Turkish guy does. And does in perfectly. Do you call loudspeakers and other shrieks from various vendors engaging? Nope, they are invisible. Turkish guy is purple cow of Fengchia Night market, and this is how you survive in harsh competition. I wish him luck, indeed. 

As a vivid, and I would assume already obsessed reader of all literature that covers sales, marketing, seo... OK, stop, it's Taiwan blog after all, here you are talking about Taiwan.

So, being myself a sales and marketing professional, and recently also consultant, I am always thrilled to see a pure geniuses in this field.

And one is not far away from my home - he is performing (yes, exactly - he is performing, and not selling, or whatever) -Turkish ice cream sales process in nightmarket near Fengchia university.

As usual, when you go to any nightmarket, there will be ugly old world push type marketing (when advertisement are thrown on you as a pile of cold water in face), with lai lai lai (come come come), screaming psychopathic part time job taking students, in front of shoes or glasses store.

In era of google, when paid ads changed the world forever, and terms pull marketing - when customer comes to you, instead of you - trying engage him with him with such "spam" as I mentioned above, this turkish guy, is pure genius.

In same nightmarket more cynic seller are using recorded voice, making a crazy cacophony of sounds, screams and everything else.

For those, who are not in Taiwan, here is an example, of such impersonal, recorded sound-spam:

And, now, the turkish guy, instead of switching one more "lai lai lai" cacophony,  performs a show, literally FISHING for new customers, throwing an ice cream into the crowd, and in a moment, when a hand grabs it - and it grabs, believe me - it's virtually impossible to resist an impulse to grab it, if it's lands just over you nose, he pulls it back. And here you are - engaged, little fooled, entertained and suprised. What else is needed for a marketing as just all those 4 actions?

Just watch. It's a textbook example for 101 marketing studies.

Taichungers - those who like flowers - there is a nice and not expensive flower shop at FuYi Lu, in Xitun district. Much choice, and actually you need go to the Tianwei. FuYi road is not a most attractive in district, looks somewhat this:

Those are pictures I took in the flower shop inside, some are really nice and colorful (I hope)?

Shop is located at Nr. 323, drive slowly, it is easy to miss it.

Pretty much choice there.

Lao-Ban (a boss), is not happy to be photographed. Do I looked like paparazzi?

Fengchia road park in Taichung, Xitun district - full insight with pictures

If you consider Taichung as a place to live in Taiwan - that's good choice indeed (read what Michael Turton says about choosing a place where to live in Taiwan), then one of the best choice are district around Fengchia university. It's vibrant, nice, lively and there is a biggest (as far local newspapers say) nightmarket in whole Taiwan now (yes, bigger than the Taipei ones).

And if there is another post in the blog related to this night market, here I would like to specially share the insights about the Fengchia road park.

There is an inside trail, going around the park, making it popular place at morning, when much people are running there (I must start do it - since monday, i guess).

... where benches are installed just for you to enjoy the ice crea,. Only thing that, women - young and not so, here does not enjoy the sun at all - they use the umbrellas, as my wife says - more white is more beautiful. Well - who said infrared sauna is good business? Not in Taiwan.

Also a tennis court here:

In the park, you can enjoy not only ice cream. Picnic with friends in a middle of working day is below. Is that because of crisis that everyone are forced holidays?

and then allow me abuse you, and your internet connection with flora pictures I admire...

This shop, facing the park, as I had watching it grow already second year in row, soon will start place the items they sell on the street, since it's all crowded inside shop outside shop & beyond.

Everyone knows about Google Ads, Yahoo Ads, and similar. That is Pay Per Click marketing. Fewer people knows about Pay Per Car Ads:

The panhandler's secret of Turkish ice cream seller

This post came as a follow-up to yesterdays post: Turkish Ice Cream guy in Fengchia Nightmarket in Taichung - a pure genius , I wanted to expand the topic, since Andres, made a comment, on it saying that:

i've seen this in various nightmarkets across taiwan, certainly entertaining and eye catching but personally i would not buy in fears of being embarrassed.

Still, I would not agree, and for this, I need to share a really today's one of the brightest minds on marketing on planet, what Seth Godin says about relationships before sell in his recent post:

When there were old-school parking meters in New York, quarters were precious.

One day, I'm walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and says, "Do you have a dollar for four quarters?" He held out his hand with four quarters in it.

Curious, I engaged with him. I took out a dollar bill and took the four quarters.

Then he turned to me and said, "can you spare a quarter?"

What a fascinating interaction.

First, he engaged me. A fair trade, one that perhaps even benefited me, not him.

Now, we have a relationship. Now, he knows I have a quarter (in my hand, even). So his next request is much more difficult to turn down. If he had just walked up to me and said, "can you spare a quarter," he would have been invisible.

Too often, we close the sale before we even open it.

Interact first, sell second.

That's what in fact the Turkish guy does. And does in perfectly. Do you call loudspeakers and other shrieks from various vendors engaging? Nope, they are invisible. Turkish guy is purple cow of Fengchia Night market, and this is how you survive in harsh competition. I wish him luck, indeed. 

Turkish Ice Cream guy in Fengchia Nightmarket in Taichung - a pure genius

As a vivid, and I would assume already obsessed reader of all literature that covers sales, marketing, seo... OK, stop, it's Taiwan blog after all, here you are talking about Taiwan.

So, being myself a sales and marketing professional, and recently also consultant, I am always thrilled to see a pure geniuses in this field.

And one is not far away from my home - he is performing (yes, exactly - he is performing, and not selling, or whatever) -Turkish ice cream sales process in nightmarket near Fengchia university.

As usual, when you go to any nightmarket, there will be ugly old world push type marketing (when advertisement are thrown on you as a pile of cold water in face), with lai lai lai (come come come), screaming psychopathic part time job taking students, in front of shoes or glasses store.

In era of google, when paid ads changed the world forever, and terms pull marketing - when customer comes to you, instead of you - trying engage him with him with such "spam" as I mentioned above, this turkish guy, is pure genius.

In same nightmarket more cynic seller are using recorded voice, making a crazy cacophony of sounds, screams and everything else.

For those, who are not in Taiwan, here is an example, of such impersonal, recorded sound-spam:

And, now, the turkish guy, instead of switching one more "lai lai lai" cacophony,  performs a show, literally FISHING for new customers, throwing an ice cream into the crowd, and in a moment, when a hand grabs it - and it grabs, believe me - it's virtually impossible to resist an impulse to grab it, if it's lands just over you nose, he pulls it back. And here you are - engaged, little fooled, entertained and suprised. What else is needed for a marketing as just all those 4 actions?

Just watch. It's a textbook example for 101 marketing studies.

FuYi Lu flower shop in Taichung, Xitun district

Taichungers - those who like flowers - there is a nice and not expensive flower shop at FuYi Lu, in Xitun district. Much choice, and actually you need go to the Tianwei. FuYi road is not a most attractive in district, looks somewhat this:

Those are pictures I took in the flower shop inside, some are really nice and colorful (I hope)?

Shop is located at Nr. 323, drive slowly, it is easy to miss it.

Pretty much choice there.

Lao-Ban (a boss), is not happy to be photographed. Do I looked like paparazzi?