Nice enough city. Japanese Area, Hinoki Village has lovely old buildings and heaps of craft shops - some stunningly beautiful wooden and Jade items for sale as well as food, drinks and ice-cream. The markets were quite good. Try the turkey rice! City is great for access to Alishan. I only stayed one night and felt it was enough but my focus was on Alishan.

First of all, the food was great! And the attractions were superb. The one I love the most is the Art musem, it's not your typical museum but rather an interactive kind. They have amazing guides throughout the weekends! Would definitely visit again for a longer stay.

The city is quite warm to the rest of the country (not sure how warm it would have been in the southern part of the country) Not very many speaks English but it’s good to experience the country side of Taiwan. It was too difficult to understand the transportation system as there was nothing in English. Booking public transportation to Alishan was a nightmare but a lovely lady who works in the station helped us to get the tickets from the Family Mart vending machine. There are plenty of options to eat and there is plenty of value for money options than Taipei City. It’s pretty clean but noticed loads of homeless citizens. The city is improving and I think it is worth visiting it and probably people will because of Alishan National Park.

There are hidden gems in this city that you need to explore. Do your homework before you come then you will find this city very interesting, like i did. Only set back is the frequency of buses. However it was compensated by thr cheap and efficient taxi. My favourite places Hinoki Village & Old Prison. I ate at Wenhua Road Nite Market especially recommends Smartfish (Lin Chong Min Shop).

The 'hot spots' - HInoki Village, old prison, Chaiyi Park, etc. - are pleasant enough, but nothing extraordinary. The Tile Museum, however, is the most unique and interesting touristic place in my opinion.

Some pretty areas, but nothing too special. Very dense, bad traffic and packed streets for such a small town, unpleasant and difficult to get around. No rental bikes at all. Unhelpful tourism desk at the train station send me to places that had already closed and didn't have updated bus times. Hinoki Village is very pretty and pleasant, and the nearby Jail is an interesting historical site but has no English at all. The Fine Arts museum is very beautiful and pleasant but didn't have much to see. Annoying and difficult to get anywhere due to lack of rental bikes. Annoying, sparse schedule of buses and trains to Alishan made this the only city in Taiwan where I really, really felt the need for private transportation. Compared to other small towns in Taiwan, there wasn't that much to see and the density was worse than average, with a ton of traffic even on side streets that made exploration unpleasant.