TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung’s Tourism and Travel Bureau is recommending three places in the central city to view tung flowers.

In a press release, the bureau suggested the Tonghua Trail in Waipu District, Dongshih Forest Garden, and Dongshi Hakka Cultural Park.

It said the tung trees on both sides of the Tunghua Trail, which follows the course of an irrigation ditch in Waipu, start to flower in April or May every year. The trail has good views, including a scenic lookout where people can watch Taiwan High Speed Rail trains whiz past.

Dongshih Forest Garden boasts not only blooming tung flowers but also more than 200,000 fireflies that come out after 6 p.m. in the spring, the bureau said. It suggested that visitors stay overnight to take in all the garden’s natural beauty.

Dongshi Hakka Cultural Park, which was converted from the old Dongshi Train Station, has more than 20 tung trees at the entrance to greet visitors.

The bureau added the Dong-Feng Bikeway is the first bicycle path to be built from a deserted railroad and the first closed-off bicycle path in the country. The bikeway goes through scenic areas framed by tung trees and is an ideal venue for cycling and admiring the snow-white tung flowers.

(Taiwan News, George Liao photo)