Taoyuan Sightseeing: Shrines to Cypress
A century-old Japanese Shinto shrine built from cypress, a mausoleum ringed by black swans, and a dam that floods with maple color every December: Taoyuan’s sightseeing list reads nothing like an airport layover.
This is a city, not a transit lounge
Taoyuan City is a special municipality of over 2.3 million people spanning 1,220 square kilometers, from the aviation gateway of Dayuan District through the high-speed rail hub at Qingpu to the Atayal indigenous highlands of Fuxing District in the south. It carries its own municipal government, separate from Taipei, and a nickname earned from the thousands of irrigation ponds Hakka and Minnan settlers carved across its plateau: the City of a Thousand Ponds. None of that shows up if you only ever see the airport concourse.
Daxi Old Street’s Baroque-Minnan facades
Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a wealthy camphor and tea trading port on the Dahan River, Daxi Old Street’s Heping and Zhongshan Roads still carry elaborate Baroque pediments and Greek Corinthian columns blended with traditional Chinese lotus and phoenix carvings. Walk it slowly and look up. Most of the detail sits above shopfront height.
Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine: a preserved Shinto shrine
Built in 1938 as the Toyoen Shinto Shrine during the Japanese colonial era, this Hutoushan complex is one of the only completely preserved Japanese Shinto shrine sites outside Japan itself. Cypress wood construction, a wooden torii gate, stone lanterns, and a purification water pavilion sit inside quiet, mossy grounds.
Cihu: mausoleum and 200 bronze statues
In Daxi, Cihu Mausoleum holds the resting place of Chiang Kai-shek beside a lake patrolled by black swans. The adjacent sculpture park gathers over 200 bronze and stone statues of Chiang relocated here from across Taiwan after democratization, an odd but genuinely striking open-air collection.
Shimen Reservoir Dam
One of Taiwan’s largest engineering projects, Shimen Reservoir Dam is framed by steep forested hills, with lakeside promenades, sightseeing ferries, and maple foliage that peaks in December.
Getting between the stops
The Taoyuan Airport MRT’s Purple Line links Taipei Main Station to the airport in 36 to 39 minutes and continues south to THSR Taoyuan Station in Qingpu, close to Gloria Outlets and an 8-minute walk from Xpark Aquarium. For Daxi and Cihu, a car or the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle’s Daxi Express is easiest. All fares run in NT$ (New Taiwan Dollar), never Chinese yuan, and an EasyCard reloaded at any 7-Eleven covers the MRT, TRA trains, and the tourist shuttle buses in one card.
Verdict: Daxi and the Martyrs’ Shrine reward a half-day on foot, while Cihu and Shimen work better as a combined drive since both sit toward Daxi District. For the broader activity list beyond these four stops, see our Taoyuan activities guide .
Concrete tip: visit the Martyrs’ Shrine in the early morning. The grounds open quiet and the light through the cypress trees photographs better before tour groups arrive at midday.