At the new Millennium Vee Hotel Taichung – the first five-star international hotel in Taichung City – every room and suite is equipped with advanced facilities, including cutting-edge 4G WiMAX wireless Internet connectivity and widescreen multimedia TVs. The hotel is also within easy reach of the Taichung High Speed Train Station, shopping malls and cultural attractions.

The outdoor heated swimming pool has bright French windows providing city and garden views, and there’s a high-tech fitness centre, sauna facilities and an Escentika Spa from Thailand.

Stylish restaurants and bars offer a variety of Asian dining choices, as well as prime steak, fresh lobster and seafood, and other international dishes for a first-class dining experience.

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Cathay Holidays is offering a three-day, two-night package to this stylish new property, including daily breakfast and round-trip flights from Hong Kong to Taichung with Dragonair, starting from just HK$2,190.

Please click here for details. 

While you are watching the 3 episodes of Taichung Special, you may ask how can they complete the 7-challenges in 3 days?

After the almost-failed-to-complete-all-challenges trip, DigitalRev TV crew came up with the best itinerary which may help you to plan your next photography trip to Taichung

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Day 1

Sunset: Gaomei Wetlands (高美濕地)

Address: Coastal area of Qingshui, Taichung City (台中市清水區大甲溪出海口)

Night: Yi Zhong St night market (一中夜市)

Address: Yucai St., North Dist., Taichung City (台中市北區育才街)

“Where did the crew go for food?”

Modern Toilet Restaurant (2/F, No.101, Yi Zhong St., Taichung City)

便所主題餐廳 (台中市一中街101號2樓)

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Day 2

Morning and afternoon: Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)

Address: No.599, Jhongshan Rd., Yuchih Township, Nantou County(台灣南投縣魚池鄉中山路599號)

Night: Fengjia Night Market (逢甲夜市)

Address: Across Fengjia Road and Fushin Road, Xitun Dist., Taichung City (台中市西屯區逢甲路及福星路)

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Day 3

Morning: Rainbow Military Village (彩虹眷村)

Address: Ln. 56, Chun’an Rd., Nantun Dist., Taichung City(台中市南屯區春安里春安路56巷)

Afternoon: Jing Cheng Streets (精誠街), 

Address: West Dist., Taichung City (台中市西區)

OR Taichung National Art Museum (國立臺灣美術館)

Address: No.2, Sec. 1, Wuquan W. Rd., West Dist., Taichung City (台中市西區五權西路一段2號)

“Where did Kai and Alamby have their drinks?”

Mojo Coffee

Address: No.22, Jingcheng 6th St., West Dist., Taichung City (西區精誠六街22號)

Keep this itinerary for your next Taichung photography trip. Click here for detail of Taichung package in Cathay Holidays

I had just visited Taipei (literally means north of Taiwan, capital of Taiwan) one month ago, and almost right after I came back to Hong Kong I learnt from a text message that we’ll go for a shoot at Taichung (literally means the centre of Taiwan) sponsored by Cathay Holidays! I had just came back from Taipei and now I’m going to check out another city of Taiwan too! 

Of course I tried not to think of the idea of a “free holiday”. Well, basically it wasn’t. It was an interesting experience, filming Taichung. As the videographer for DigitalRevTV, I thought I’d talk a little bit about the gear I used. 

For the video shooting of course I have the usual 5D Mark III with a 24-105mm f/4L, and Azden wireless mic. This setup works extremely well for us, but besides the planned shooting we will still have a lot of fun and I want to document all of them. That’s why I’ve also picked a Panasonic GH2 with a 7-14mm f/4 lens. GH2 is well known and loved by many videographers. I set it to shoot 1080/24p, but left everything else full auto so I could just pick it up, turn it on and shoot. The built-in mic worked unexpectedly well. Face detection and auto focusing worked well 90% of the time, which is enough for these “candid” behind the scenes style shooting. The 7-14mm lens focus silently, with widest end equivalent to a 14mm in full frame, it is great for shooting anywhere, in the plane, taxi, and even no need to check framing when holding it in one hand and shoot all three of us in those Blade Runner style Taiwan night markets.

I have to say, the GH2 is surprisingly the most exciting and very special shooting experience. 5D is amazing, but capturing those little fun moments won’t be possible when I have to focus manually in tight space and ask everyone to check mic level. With the GH2 I’m able to just pick it up and shoot correctly focus and expose HD video instantly, I’m amazed by the m4/3 concept all over again, since I first got my Olympus E-P1. On a holiday, I think it is better to have something that is light and performs well.

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If you want to visit what Lok and his team did, please click here for more detail.

 

All About Lok
Lok Cheung - aka Lok C - is the cameraman for DigitalRev TV. 

The very small amount of knowledge that I had of Taichung before the trip was of the wedding photographers who shoot some pre-wedding photos with some of the Taichung landscapes as a background. Taichung includes a large area around the city - Taichung city and Taichung county merged in 2010 to form one special municipality, which means that as well as the urban areas, there are some brilliant sights to be seen outside of the city. 

The best way to get to some of these places are: drive; get a taxi; get a driver for a day. We chose to let someone drive us to these places. On the day we went to the wetlands, it was a crazy race between us and the sun, with us trying to get to the location before the sun sets. Well, I say “crazy race” but we weren’t going that fast even though we were in a taxi and despite all those cliches about the way taxi drivers drive. One thing that you really have to consider is the time that it takes to get to the location and then add a bit more time just in case there’s traffic. It was a bit of a manic rush for us unfortunately, and the tide was coming in fast by the time we set up the tripod and camera. There were lots of people still playing around by the time we left, so I guess it’s not that dangerous, but it’s probably best to do these things in good light and be clued-up on these things so that you can get back in one piece.

We also had a local friend who took us around some places too. We got to see Sun Moon Lake, which is one of the places that people come to visit when going to Taichung. There were quite a number of tourists here and there, but the scenery is quite stunning. It was a shame the weather was not on our side that day, which mean that the mountains were cloaked in this horribly dull white mist with clouds that covered a huge part of the sky. It’s not great for the photos because you get a boring diffuse light with just a huge block of whiteness in place of the sky. Still, it didn’t make it any less of a memorable day, which started off with us visiting some aboriginal villages in the mountains.

I used a Canon 5D Mark III with a variety of wide-angle zooms (17-40mm f/4 was my fave) and this setup worked a treat. I took along a Mafrotto tripod also, but you know, carrying this stuff around all day is tiring. It doesn’t feel heavy when you hold it for a short while, but walking round and taking four Canon L lenses, a DSLR and a tripod around for a whole day is not fun. You can get away with just taking one lens with you, and I think that is all you need. Photography should be fun, especially when you’re traveling. The Canon 5D Mark III and 17-40mm are enough. Even smaller and lighter would be better.

Still, we didn’t have all the time in the world, so luckily I didn’t have to carry it for so many days. However, I have to say: the landscapes in Taichung are worth visiting if you like that kind of thing, it’s just a shame we didn’t have the time to go see some other places. Spend a bit more time to explore the surrounding areas of Taichung, as well as the city, and you’ll surely be rewarded with a thoroughly rewarding photographic experience. Big thanks to Cathay Holidays for making this happen!

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If you want to visit what Kai and his team did, please click here for more detail.

 

All About Kai
Kaiman Wong — known as Kai W — is the main presenter for DigitalRrev TV. He is also an avid blogger, camera enthusiast, photography addict, painter of things in shades of pink and magenta … and much more!

“The trip to Taichung was a remarkable experience and — thanks to Cathay Pacific Holidays — Digitalrev TV had the opportunity to visit this idyllic place and shoot a series of special videos.”

“This was my first trip to Taiwan, so I was really looking forward to visiting different locations. Although it was a short tip, we managed to pack in a tight shooting schedule and and met some friendly people along the way.”

“Taichung is probably best known for its stunning landscapes, and  I couldn’t wait to visit places such as Sun Moon Lake and the Wetlands. Photos from the Internet and travel guide-books already look great, and the  views we experienced were really spectacular.”

“If you ask me which part of the trip that I enjoyed most, I would choose the night markets (not only for the shopping), but the vibrant culture and the people you see there.”

‘One thing that I really appreciate about Taiwanese culture is their relaxed lifestyle; at places like convenience stores or street-corner cafes, you can always find nice seating  outside to enjoy a drink, and have a chat.”

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A little tip when travelling to Taichung at this time of year: always bring an umbrella and  (for the ladies) rain boots!

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If you want to experience what Alamby and her team saw, please click here for details.

All About Alamby
Alamby Leung is the project coordinator of DigitalRrev TV. She is also a photographer and musician.