Twenty minutes north of Hualien City along Provincial Highway 9, you reach Xincheng Township. Xincheng is the gateway to Taroko National Park and home to the Qixingtan village. Fishing boats returning from the Pacific unload their fresh catch at the waterside direct-sale market, while nearby seafood restaurants clatter with woks and billow with cooking smoke. After a table full of stir-fry dishes, cross the street to a 60-year-old fruit-and-ice shop and order a glass of lemon juice blended whole — skin and all. This is the standard route Hualien locals take when showing out-of-town friends around.
What is Xincheng Seafood
Xincheng Seafood refers to the cluster of seafood restaurants stretching from Qixingtan village to central Xincheng, centered on fresh-catch stir-fry. Common dishes include flying fish roe, baby squid, white shrimp, lobster, red bigeye, pan-fried threadfin bream, and three-cup grouper — prepared mainly in the Taiwanese stir-fry style: garlic fried as the base, Thai basil for aroma, soy sauce and sugar for seasoning. Prices are straightforward: four dishes and a soup for a table of four runs about NT$1,500–2,500. Jiaxing Ice Shop's "signature whole-skin lemon juice" is the essential pairing — sharp and direct in acidity, with a slightly bitter edge from the peel that cuts through grease perfectly.
Why is Xincheng the seafood face of Hualien? Xincheng Township sits at the entrance to Taroko National Park, with Qixingtan right inside the township; a complete fishing port, coastline, and rocky intertidal zone make for a diverse catch. Visitors descending from Taroko frequently stop in Xincheng for a meal, and Jiaxing Ice Shop's 60-year lemon juice adds conversation value, upgrading Xincheng from a transit stop to a fixed "Taroko + seafood" itinerary pairing. Most seafood restaurants here are long-running family operations with stable signatures and menus — a culinary cluster, not a single-shop phenomenon.
How to eat it the authentic way
Local know-how
Verified endorsements (ad-free)
- Jiaxing Ice Shop has been in Xincheng for over 60 years; its signature whole-skin lemon juice and assorted seafood stir-fry are perennial talking points.
- Xincheng Township sits next to Qixingtan and at the gateway to Taroko National Park, ensuring a steady flow of visitors.
- Xincheng Seafood is a cluster-type representative, with multiple family-run old shops operating side by side; Hualien Tourism Information Network has a dedicated feature on it.
Practical tips
- Weekend midday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Jiaxing and the surrounding seafood shops often have queues of 30 minutes or more; weekdays are smoother.
- Seafood stir-fry prices fluctuate with market rates — ask the per-item price before ordering to avoid bill shock at checkout.
- The coast at Qixingtan is windy; going for dinner in summer and catching the sea view afterward is a good plan — bring a light jacket.
Data compiled from Hualien County Government Tourism Department, local township farmers' associations, and large-scale public reviews; sponsored content has been filtered out. Photos will be replaced with exclusive channel footage after Dio's on-site shoot.