Taiwan's Sugar Mills: Cane Trains, Old Chimneys and an Ice Pop at 10 Mills from Taichung to Hualien

Taiwan · 10 places Old sugar mills from Taichung to Hualien: chimneys, narrow-gauge cane trains and an ice pop at each.

Ask someone in Taiwan what a sugar mill tastes like and the answer probably isn't sugar. It's ice pops.

Red bean, milk, sour plum: a few dozen dollars each, eaten in the shade of an old mill building, it's a childhood memory for a lot of people. This route covers ten sugar mills from Taichung all the way to Hualien. Each has its own chimney, its own cane train story and, of course, its own ice shop.

Collect all ten stamps and you'll have eaten your way through Taiwan's sugar mill ice pops. Doesn't sound like a hard mission, does it?

The route at a glance

Mill	Area	Don't miss
Yuemei Sugar Factory	Houli, Taichung	Walking under the chimney
Xihu Sugar Factory Railway Cultural Park	Xihu, Changhua	Steam-hauled cane train
Huwei Sugar Factory	Huwei, Yunlin	A chimney that still smokes
Suantou Sugar Factory Cultural Park	Liujiao, Chiayi	Century-old molasses tank
Xinying Sugar Industry Railway Cultural Park	Xinying, Tainan	Old engine shed and Zhongxing Station
Wushulin Leisure Park	Houbi, Tainan	Cane train and earthquake hall
Tsung-Yeh Arts and Cultural Center	Madou, Tainan	Red House on the lawns
Ten Drum Culture Village	Rende, Tainan	Drumming and high rides
Taiwan Sugar Museum (Ciaotou Sugar Refinery)	Qiaotou, Kaohsiung	The first modern sugar mill
Hualien Tourism Sugar Factory	Guangfu, Hualien	Ice pops and Japanese wooden houses

The ten mills are spread across Taiwan, and there's no need to see them all at once. This is a route to collect slowly, picking up a stamp or two whenever a trip takes you nearby.

First, the "half trains"

At any sugar mill you'll hear about the wufen che, or "half trains." These narrow-gauge trains carried sugarcane to the mills, and their track gauge is roughly half that of a regular railway, hence the name.

Most no longer carry cane, but a few mills still run tourist trains. Sit in an open carriage as the train clatters along at about the speed of a bicycle, with the breeze blowing in from both sides. That's the proper way to see a sugar mill.

Central Taiwan: starting under a chimney

Yuemei Sugar Factory: inside the chimney

The Yuemei Sugar Factory in Houli was founded in 1909 and has the only chimney-base tunnel in Taiwan. Walk into the passage at the bottom of the chimney and look up: so that's what the inside of a chimney you've only ever seen from afar looks like.

Come out of the tunnel, have an old-fashioned ice pop, and your first stamp is in the bag.

Xihu Sugar Factory: the steam train still runs

On weekends at the Xihu mill in Changhua, a steam locomotive hauls the cane train out of the station. The black engine puffs white smoke, the whistle blows, and everyone on the platform reaches for their phone.

The ice shop is right next to the station. Ride the train, have an ice pop, then watch the train come back in.

Yunlin and Chiayi: sugar in the air

Huwei Sugar Factory: this chimney still smokes

Most old mills have retired, but Huwei still makes sugar. Visit during the winter crushing season and you'll see cane trains loaded with sugarcane rolling into the mill, with the smell of sugar in the air. It may be the most sugar-mill-like stop on the whole route.

The ice shop is open every day, so you won't be disappointed whatever the season.

Suantou Sugar Factory: a century-old molasses tank

The Suantou mill in Liujiao, Chiayi, keeps its century-old molasses tank and a whole cluster of Japanese-era dormitories. The cane train ticket office is right next to the ice shop: ice pop in one hand, ticket in the other is the standard kit here.

Tainan: the most mills of all

Tainan has four mills on the route, which split neatly into a northern trip and a southern one.

Xinying Sugar Industry Railway Cultural Park: a train lover's paradise

Xinying keeps its diesel engine shed and Zhongxing Station, with old locomotives parked in the shed. Train fans can easily spend a long time here. The Taisugar ice shop is right at the entrance.

Wushulin Leisure Park: a cane train and an earthquake

On weekends, cane trains leave Wushulin Station in Houbi. The park also has a steam locomotive and an earthquake experience hall, and kids can easily spend half a day here. Xinying and Wushulin are close together, so you can collect both stamps on the same day.

Tsung-Yeh Arts and Cultural Center: a Red House on the lawns

The Tsung-Yeh Arts and Cultural Center in Madou occupies the former Japanese-era Zongye sugar refinery. The red-brick office and wooden staff houses are spread across wide lawns, with regular exhibitions and arts events. It's the quietest stop on the route: spread out a picnic blanket and do nothing at all.

Ten Drum Culture Village: drumming in an old mill

The Ten Drum Culture Village in Rende took over the old Rende sugar factory and is now home to a drumming troupe. The drums echo through the old mill buildings until you feel them in your chest. You can also try the climbing and sliding rides built among the mill's structures and slide down beside the old chimney.

Kaohsiung: where it all began

Taiwan Sugar Museum: the first modern mill

The Ciaotou Sugar Refinery was Taiwan's first modern mechanized sugar mill, the senior of every other mill on this route. Now the Taiwan Sugar Museum, it has old mill buildings, Japanese-era houses and Taisugar ice pops, and a walk around gives you a sense of how big a sugar mill was in its day.

It's on the Kaohsiung MRT Red Line, making it the easiest mill on the route to reach.

Hualien: the last ice pop in the valley

Hualien Tourism Sugar Factory: here for an ice pop

The Guangfu mill has stopped production, but most visitors come for an ice pop anyway. The Japanese-style wooden houses on the grounds are well kept, with the mountains of the East Rift Valley behind them.

Save it for last. Finish your final ice pop in the valley breeze, check in for your tenth stamp, and you'll have visited every sugar mill on the route.

Collecting by region

• Central Taiwan: Yuemei Sugar Factory in the morning, then a cane train ride at Xihu in the afternoon (on a weekend)
• Yunlin and Chiayi: Huwei Sugar Factory in the morning, Suantou in the afternoon
• Northern Tainan: Xinying, Wushulin and Tsung-Yeh
• Southern Tainan and Kaohsiung: Ten Drum Culture Village, then the Taiwan Sugar Museum in Qiaotou
• Hualien: Fit Guangfu into a trip down the East Rift Valley

Before you go

• Most cane trains run only on weekends, and timetables and fares can change, so check the official websites before you set off.
• Opening hours and closing days also vary from park to park, so check those too.
• Many mills are on the edge of town with infrequent public transport, so driving or riding a scooter is often easier.

Collecting this route with ExploreStamp

Open ExploreStamp, find "Sugar Mill Trail: Ice Pops from Taichung to Hualien" among the themed routes and tap "Check in" at each mill you reach. The app confirms you're within range, adds the place's stamp to your stamp book and records the date of your first visit.

There's no rush on this route. Maybe it's Xihu this weekend, maybe Hualien next summer. Every sugar mill ice pop adds another stamp.

See the other routes under Explore.

Cover photo: MD Abdullah Al Noman / Unsplash