Historic Taichung City Hall Reopens as a Stylish Café

Text by MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Department

After years of restoration, the century-old Taichung City Hall reopened to the public on February 27, shedding its former image as a cold "government office" and transforming its first floor into a café and its second floor into an arts and cultural space, offering visitors a fresh perspective on the historical beauty of the building — a must-visit highlight for recent travelers to Taichung.

Built in 1911, the Taichung City Hall is a "Neo-Renaissance" (辰野式) Neo-Baroque-style structure from Taichung’s Japanese colonial period and is also the earliest reinforced concrete building in the region. The exterior of the City Hall emphasizes grandeur and decorative detail, with ornamental crests on the gables and windows, and keystone decorations on the arched windows, fully showcasing the elegance of Baroque style.

Witnessing nearly a century of Taichung’s development, the City Hall was once deemed a dangerous structure following the 921 Earthquake. It was designated as a historic building by the Cultural Affairs Bureau in 2002, after which active research and restoration planning began. It was then repositioned as the "Taichung Story House," aiming to become one of the city’s cultural and performance venues. Later, the second phase of restoration expanded to include the former site of the “Taichung City Election Commission,” where a team under the Classical Rose Garden brand took over, integrating dining and creative cultural concepts — converting the first floor into a café and the second floor into an art center. The adjacent two-story brick building, formerly a municipal pawnshop, has been transformed into a salon offering creative ice cream treats. If you’re visiting Taichung, don’t miss the chance to enjoy coffee and art at the City Hall, appreciate the beauty of this Japanese-era architecture, and reminisce about the city’s history.