With an ecological function,
the pond and large outdoor
plaza are both great for fun
and flood prevention.

The eco-lake is a nice area for
children to play around.

The night offers its own
uniquely beautiful scenes at
the park, thanks to
special lighting.

Ecologically-sound, with a water-detention basin, scenic environment and recreational purposes

Multi-functional Pinglin Forest Park officially opens in Taiping District

Words and photos by Chen Yu Xiu Translated by S. Ying
Photos provided by Taichung City Government Water Resource Bureau

"Daddy, I want to play on the slides." "Look, it feels like we are in Japan, having a picnic under the sakura trees." "Grandma, let's look for fishes in the lake." These are all comments and conversations you may hear in Taiping District's newly-opened Pinglin Forest Park, offering a place where you can enjoy vast green spaces and a mini-holiday without traveling outside of Taiwan, or beyond Taichung city limits, for that matter.

Covering over 11.7 hectares and three times larger than Taichung's Maple Valley Park, this new facility--which opened on April 21--may now be the largest downtown Taichung park. It provides recreational areas and plenty of green space with forested land exceeding 3.7 hectares, plus a water-retention basin of at least 32,000 square meters. Over 30 percent of the land is covered by plants, including over 700 trees such as camphor, banyan and mango that were originally at the site plus an abundance of new trees such as Taiwan cherry blossom, cypress and golden trumpet trees. The forest park also offers walkways along its lake, shaded forest areas, a children's play area and outdoor weight-lifting fitness area. In the park's center is a covered stage with an artfully-designed white rooftop that serves as a focal point for concerts and other events and can accommodate up to 1,200 people with its stair-like seating arrangement.

An old community revives after a decade
This park sits on land originally reserved for military use and is located opposite the Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital. At one time, over 20 hectares of land were allocated to National Chin-Yi University of Technology, helping it transform from a college into a university. During those days, the local population was around 170,000 and local green space covered about 18 hectares, an insufficient per person ratio. Thus, the government initiated a "sponge city" plan for this land, designing a forest park that served an ecological purpose by providing recreational space, a scenic environment, and a water-detention basin, while giving it useful flood-prevention and drought-prevention purposes.

Effective flood and drought prevention
Pinglin Forest Park collects about 27.5 tons of water from the surrounding areas southwest of ZhongShan Road, Sec. 2 which, together with 10.5 tons of water within the park, totals over 38 tons of water for the area. According to Mayor Lin Chia-lung, this means that nearby residents do not need to worry about flooding as the park's detention basin also has a water collection and drainage purpose.

The new park has maintained about 695 of the original trees here, adding another 528 new trees to a forest area of over 5,654 square meters, plus plant and lawn space of about 44,114 square meters to provide an estimated carbon dioxide reduction of 1060.95 tons, higher than most parks in the city. Thus, this forest park preserves over 3.7 hectares of original tree growth and offers a pleasant green forested space for Taichung visitors and residents to enjoy in the city.

Traffic information
● Location:
ZhongShan Road, Sec 2, Taiping District, opposite Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital (originally 803 Veteran's Hospital)
● Driving directions:
Over 209 car parking spaces, 106 motorcycle parking spots, and 4 tour-bus parking spaces. On weekends, overflow parking with 250 spaces is available within a 7-minute walk at National Chin-Yi University.
● Public transportation:
Take bus No. 15, 41, 75, 185 or 287, get off at "Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital" bus stop and walk to the park.