Off National Highway 1 about one hour north of Taichung City is Sanyi Township.
Sanyi was known for its wood carving in the beginning of the 1900’s. The Japanese cut many of the camphor trees in the Miaoli area and built a railroad system through Miaoli to move the lumber.
Sanyi is a sleepy town today, but many visitors make a stop to shop for beautiful modern and traditional wood sculptures and to see a few remnants of the Japanese period. The town is also right next to Highway and easy to get to.
Wood Carving Shops in Sanyi Township
The main road of San yi has many shops where visitors can browse. Some sell furniture, some sell wooden startues, and others are art galleries.
Visitors can also find many lower priced items for the tourist market like the wooden baskets above.
Pictured above are cut pieces of cedar which give off a nice wood smell.
Many of the wood carvings are Chinese themed.
Some woodcarvings are characters from Chinese history.
Wooden chopsticks are everywhere.
Wooden pens are sold a one shop.
Sanyi Woodcarving Museum
One place to visit in Sanyi is the wood carving museum. It’s easy to find but you may need some help in get pointed in the right direction. It is located up the hill from the man road.
The museum is filled with many wood carvings of different artists in the and it gives a glimpse of the history of Sanyi.
Outside of the museum are elephants that were sculpted from old twisted trees.
The elephants are quite unique to see.
It seems that many visitors don’t enter the museum. The full ticket price for adults in 150NT. No photos are allowed in the museum.
Above, more wooden sculptures outside the museum.
The area around the museum is lush and green. There is a small street selling snacks and souvenirs as well.
There are maps around the area. Most of them, however, are in Chinese.
Other works of art surround the area around the Woodcarving Museum.
At a gallery on the main street, we found this series sculptures. The prices were not cheap but the statues were unique.
Sanyi is a nice day trip. Click on the related links to see what you can do there.
Related Content for Sanyi:
