As the Lunar New Year approaches, a strong sense of holiday cheer is filling Taichung’s streets and neighborhoods. Over the festive season, Taichung City’s museums and local cultural centers are presenting a wide range of special events and activities, inviting everyone to savor the New Year spirit in full. The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government noted that from the familiar routines of shopping by weight at traditional markets, to the abundant dishes of reunion feasts, and on to a citywide array of holiday outings, this year’s offerings bring together food and fun, indoor and outdoor activities alike, and warmly invite residents to enjoy a New Year that is rewarding both in spirit and in appetite.
Today, ready-made dishes and pre-order options make it easier than ever to prepare holiday meals, and fewer people cook everything from scratch as in the past. Still, the New Year inevitably brings a return to weighing and measuring, whether weighing ingredients or, inevitably, stepping on a scale oneself. During this period, Taiping Old times Countryside Heritage Museum is presenting an exhibition themed around traditional weights and measures, inviting visitors to experience how a classic steelyard scale is used to weigh vegetables, how a cloth measuring tape is used for tailoring, and, most popular of all, how it feels to stand on an oversized platform scale, a favorite hands-on activity for visitors of all ages. Bring your friends and family and see, for fun, just how much everyone “weighs”
Beyond vegetables, fish, and meat, staple foods are indispensable. During the holiday season, the Taichung Military Kindred Village Museum is presenting Noodles Culture. A Journey Through Time, an exhibition that begins with a single grain of wheat. Blending science-based knowledge with human warmth, it reflects on times of material shortage and the ingenuity earlier generations relied on to keep families fed. Starting from the flavors of military dependents’ village cuisine, the exhibition traces the past and present of noodle culture through rich, comforting food aromas, evoking tender memories. Inside the museum, the on-site restaurant Fang Zheng Gu, along with an old-style corner store and a gentlemen’s barbershop, offers an instant step back in time, as if walking into the 1960s and 1970s, when music drifted through the lanes, the scent of home cooking filled every household, and laughter and conversation wove together a calm, everyday happiness.
Once the dishes are ready, the next step is plating. Beginning February 10, the Taiwan Folk Museum will open an exhibition titled Tableware with a Voice, Taiwanese Flavors with Character. Centered on traditional foodways, it presents the most familiar dining vessels and utensils from everyday life, past and present. Using the idea of “the tools we eat with” as a point of departure, the exhibition invites visitors to reconnect with warm memories of shared meals and gatherings. Do you remember what kind of bowl your family used for Lunar New Year meals in the past? Come and find the piece of tableware that, to you, best embodies the idea of abundance.
After a festive meal, a Lunar New Year outing is, of course, a must. It not only helps with digestion, but also marks a cheerful step outdoors to welcome the new season and good fortune. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the Wufeng Lin Family Gongbaodi Estate will stage the lively traditional “Jiaoguan” blessing performance, inviting visitors to tour the historic site and receive auspicious blessings. Following this, the Asia University Museum of Modern Art will hold the “Horse in Pairs: Lunar New Year Handcraft Experience” on the third and fourth days of the Lunar New Year. Inspired by the museum’s latest special exhibition, Tatsuo Miyajima: Human Life as Collective Experience, the activity invites participants to choose a personal lucky number and create a one of a kind tote bag through silkscreen printing.
More than a visit for exhibitions and architecture alone, this warm, hands-on experience offers a joyful way to kick off a new year where good things come in pairs. Also taking place is the Taiwan Folk Museum’s Ru Market Walk, running from the fourth through the sixth day of the Lunar New Year holiday (February 20–22, 2026). Bringing together a wide range of festive brands, the market invites visitors to unwind during the bright spring break, stroll at an easy pace, and hunt for lucky New Year finds. Although the Lifu Museum of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University is closed during the Lunar New Year holiday, it will offer a special opening during the Peace Memorial Day (228) holiday and host hands-on workshops inspired by its exhibition “Beauty and Cosmetics in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Exploring the Ancient Wisdom of TCM for Health and Beauty.” Visitors are invited to continue their post-holiday “glow-up” with a program that combines exhibition viewing with a meaningful, inside-and-out cultural experience.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government noted that Taichung is home to a rich array of museums and local cultural centers. In step with seasonal festivals and public holidays, these venues roll out diverse programs that add color and variety to weekends for visitors of all ages. With an abundance of Lunar New Year themed activities taking place before and after the holiday, the Bureau warmly invites the public to step into Taichung’s cultural venues and enjoy the festive atmosphere with family and friends. Through outings, smiles, and shared moments along the way, visitors are encouraged to welcome the new year and embrace a life filled with energy and good fortune.
For more information on exhibitions, events, and Lunar New Year holiday opening hours, please visit the official websites of the Taiping Old times Countryside Heritage Museum ( https://reurl.cc/8ba3Z7 ), the Taichung Military Kindred Village Museum ( https://reurl.cc/zKaeRa ), and the Taiwan Folk Arts Museum ( https://reurl.cc/3bnanM ).