Caotun Heping Old Street is a short old street with a short row of buildings reflecting wealth from a former era. It is not a touristy old street by any measure. You might not even recognize it from any other street in Taiwan.
🛥️ Planning your trip to Nantou? ⛰️
Here are some top travel tips for you:
- Best time to visit: Winter or Autumn when it is less rainy
- How to get there: Taiwan Railway and Inter-City Bus
- Best place to stay: Kirin Villa or Jenq Yang Hotspring Hotel
- Book tours and activities in Nantou on Klook
- Stay connected with a local SIM
- Rent a car to explore distant sights
Historical Background:
Caotun, today Nantou County’s largest township, was historically known as “Caoxiedun” 草鞋墩 (Cǎoxié dūn) — literally “straw-sandal mound.” It was a gateway between the Taichung Basin and the interior. Under Qing rule, it grew around two market streets: the older riverside Old Street near Beitou and a newer street network that emerged from traffic along the Maoluo Creek. In 1920, during Japanese rule, the name was simplified to Caotun, and a city-planning project recentered the town around the railway station. From 1922 the new grid of roads—especially Heping Street (now called Caotun Heping Old Street), with Taiping, Zhongzheng, Zhongshan, and Bishan—concentrated public facilities, shops, a market, theater, and transport hubs, quickly eclipsing Beitou Street as the commercial core. Sugar and local passenger rail once served the town, and after the war, Caotun remained the transportation gateway from Taichung into Nantou, with Heping Old Street preserving the look of earlier times.
Price:
Free
Hours:
24/7
How to get around Nantou:
As always, we recommend renting a scooter as the best way to see Taiwan. However, you can also see a great deal of Nantou by taking the train to Taichung and then switching to an inter-city bus or local bus. Getting around in a car is also a convenient option, as there is plenty of parking pretty much everywhere in this less crowded county.
Scooter Rental: Looking for scooter rental in Nantou? Search Klook here or KKday here to search for options. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here.
Car Rental: If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search Qeeq here, Klook here, KKday here. You can also check out our car rental guide here.
By Bus: You can book tickets to travel to Nantou via inter-city bus on Klook here.
By Train: You can book tickets to Taichung via high speed rail (HSR) on Klook here or KKDay here, or book tickets via the normal train (TRA) on Klook here, then switch to a bus to Nantou.
Bicycle Rental: Cycling is the best way to enjoy Taiwan’s landscapes if you have the time and energy. Looking for bicycle rentals in Taiwan? You can search on KKday here and search for tours on Klook here. You can also check out our Taiwan cycling guide here.
Tours:
There are many tours and activities available in Nantou such as river Tracing, paragliding, Shanlinxi Forest Recreation Area 杉林溪, Cona’s Chocolate Castle, Shuiyuan Suspension Bridge, JOJOZOO Park, and Aowanda Forest Recreation Area.
You can find more tours of Nantou on Klook here or KKday here.
Where to Stay:
We have stayed at and recommend Jenq Yang Hotspring Hotel (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Trip.com here, or Klook here), a hot spring hotel near the mystical Lushan hot spring, and Maple Leaf Holiday Villa (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Trip.com here, or Klook here), a lodge with a great view and within walking distance of Cingjing Farm. I also have stayed at and recommend Kirin Villa (you can book on Agoda here), a mountain resort in Puli near Sun Moon Lake.
Looking for a hotel? Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here. We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality accommodation on the islands.
Map:
Check out our map above.
Our Journey:
I have been to Caotun Old Street quite a few times. I used to live there. There is really not much to see. The street is not very long, but there are some cool era buildings there.
View of the old street from the street corner.
Another view of Heping Street head-on. If you didn’t know any better, it looks like any other street.
On the left here, you can see the Japanese era facade. There are only about two really Japanese-style baroque houses here, with a row of about five brick houses.
Here is another old house with flowers on it that I found in Caotun.
An old man collecting cardboard.
Nearby vegetable market.
Busy Hushan Road in Caotun.
Check out our full guide to Nantou County here.
Check out our guide to Taiwan here.
