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So, you've already exhausted your gift-giving ideas for the
Christmas season? It's certainly hard to go wrong with music.
While we're still waiting for Tower Records to get here, there
is no shortage of music stores with very good selections of
almost anything you're looking for--pop, rock, classical,
jazz, new age, techno, alternative, etc. Compared to the U.S.
and even Hong Kong, prices are also very reasonable. On the
average, compact discs range from about NT$300 to NT$400 and
tapes are about NT$175.
The only hassle with music shopping is flipping through all
the titles to find what you want. Almost all shops organize
their music in alphabetical sections, with the English titles
facing the wall. You usually have to pull out discs and look
on the other side (I usually pull a handful out at a time).
While there are dozens of shops, you might want to check out
some of the following:
Taichung's "college towns" around Feng Chia and
Tunghai universities are the best places to find good music
stores with low prices. Starting around Feng Chia, Tachung
Records (431, Fuhsing Rd.) is just down the road from the
school's main gate, on the corner across from McDonald's.
This new shop is one of the biggest in the city--be prepared
to spend close to an hour there. The upstairs section has
an extensive selection of pop/rock and classical. Open from
10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tachung has another excellent outlet downtown
near Lai Lai and Chung Yo department stores at 112-1, San
Min Rd., sec. 3 (tel. 226-3588). It's on the corner across
from the Taichung Business Junior College's main gate.
Between the Tachung Records outlet and Feng Chia's main gate,
on the left, is Grammy Music Plaza (tel. 451-7617). Although
it's much smaller, the upstairs selection is well-organized
into pop, heavy metal, alternative, techno and other categories.
One of the managers, a heavyset guy with glasses, is also
very knowledgeable and can help you find stuff or even order
it. The basement has classical, instrumental and jazz music.
Open from 10 a.m. to about midnight.
They may be more time-consuming to get to, but Tunghai Uni.'s
music stores also offer some great selections. Head up Taichung
Harbor Rd., past the university, towards the top of the hill.
At the pedestrian overpass, turn right at Kuo Chi St., drive
about 400 meters and you'll see the sizable Tunghai Sound
shop (124, 126, Kuo Chi St.) on the right. Open from 10 a.m.
to 12 midnight, it provides a variety of music of all styles.
If you instead turn left at the overpass, onto the narrow,
shop-packed Tung Yuan Lane, you'll come to Tunghai Sound's
other shop, about 200 meters up and on the left. A couple
stores over is the Classics Music Store (37, Tung Yuan Lane,
tel. 631-8752), which is open from 9 a.m. to midnight. Between
these two stores, you should be able to meet about 80 percent
of your music needs.
It would be criminal to forget Luminous Bookstore's (351,
Tun Hua Rd., tel 426-3556) outstanding third-floor collection
of classical, jazz and instrumental music. For ambience, this
shop is unrivalled, with wood paneling, attractive displays,
state-of-the-art stereo systems and a pleasant adjacent coffee
shop. Coming from downtown on Chungching Rd., Tun Hua Rd.
is one traffic light before the McDonalds and four before
the airport turn-off. The bookstore is about 200 meters up
on the left.
Although department store music shops are usually best avoided
because of higher prices, the shop on Sogo Department Store's
12th floor is notable because of its good selection and, better
yet, the individual English artist/band label cards all discs
are filed under, making searching a breeze. Happy hunting!
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