Ah Chong's Taro Cultural Center Introduction
A-Cong's Taro Cultural Museum offers a DIY experience activity for making taro pastries, allowing visitors to personally experience the fun of making these treats. It also features a pastry culture exhibition hall, where the public can learn about the culture of taro, scallions, and pastries, as well as the story behind the A-Cong brand, creating a great place for education and entertainment. The park includes six major themed areas: A-Cong’s Pastry Culture Museum, Taro Ecological Park, a 3D painted wall (photo area), a DIY classroom, a souvenir shop, and a children's reading area. Visitors can freely explore and reserve hands-on experiences. Guided tours allow guests to understand A-Cong's struggle in the entrepreneurial journey over half a century and how to promote the development of the Dajia taro industry and its connection with the tourism industry in Greater Taichung, showcasing local cultural characteristics. It is a perfect place for family fun, employee trips, school field trips, and couples to enjoy a romantic outing. There is a large parking lot available for visitors to park their vehicles comfortably and enjoy their time without worry. Inside the pastry culture museum, there is the world’s largest taro, as well as comprehensive information about taro: where it comes from, how to protect it from typhoons, how to peel it without getting hurt, and how to eat taro to prevent cancer. It also offers new choices for the Mid-Autumn Festival beyond barbecues, including fortune-telling through pastry; stories of the pastry ancestors who couldn’t make pastries; and a glimpse of the vintage flower piping machine from decades past and A-Cong's first electric oven. The ecology park allows you to touch taro leaves, identify Dajia taro—specifically the betel nut heart taro, learn how to distinguish the sturdy and toxic taro plant with just a drop of water, and get introduced to the most environmentally friendly umbrellas for the "Doudou Dragon." You can observe the taro leaves accidentally dyed by careless painters, the tearful taro that weeps when you drink more water, and many interesting and fun facts about taro that you wouldn't expect! Outdoors, there is the largest rolling pin and colorful whisk in Taiwan, perfect for visitor photo opportunities. The DIY classroom features a spacious and bright barrier-free space where you can enjoy making taro pastries, from rolling the dough to wrapping it; from clumsiness to skillfulness; and making four taro pastries in just 30 minutes, leaving you with a lasting flavor. The souvenir shop features A-Cong's star product—little taros, which he insists come from nature and mimic nature. The award-winning snack—fragrant taro strips—will surely make you addicted, with bite after bite being irresistible. There are also butter cookies, taro pastries, pineapple cakes, almond-flavored Mazu cakes, sweet rice wine taro tofu, and the must-try signature taro ice cream—a treat for tourists that’s 100% creamy taro flavor, as well as taro rolls loaded with taro. The fragrance that has traveled through time for 30 years spreads sweet memories. With the emergence of large supermarkets in the 1990s, A-Cong's business entered a critical transformation period, restarting with Western-style wedding cakes and persisting in the spirit of pastry innovation. He broke through traditional pastry concepts and created the European-style tower cakes titled “Declaration of Love.” A-Cong filled these cakes with all kinds of seeds, symbolizing "many children, many blessings," and made tower cakes that grow higher as love accumulates. In 1998, with an oversupply of Dajia taro, worried friends often delivered numerous betel nut heart taros. A-Cong dedicatedly researched every day, creating romantic taro pastries reminiscent of rose petals, quietly blooming purple fragrances in Dajia. Following extensive media coverage, taro pastries gained fame throughout Taiwan, ushering in another spring for the Dajia taro industry. A-Cong happily said, "I never dreamed that taro pastries would not only save Dajia taro farmers but also help my business reach new heights." Growing up in Daan and thriving in Dajia, A-Cong worked diligently for several decades in Dajia, continuously developing local taro products for over 50 years. Recently, he often reminisces about the taste of his mother's hometown, recalling how she cooked dishes like egg with preserved vegetables, sweet potato roll, and taro rice noodles in the kitchen. Whenever she stir-fried vegetables, fried rice, fried noodles, and fried rice noodles, he would rush to the small garden his father tended to pick a few scallions and garlic, running back home to help his mother, saying "it smells so good" because with his mother's cooking, it was delicious and joyful! He realized that without a scallion, there would be no taste of mother! To alleviate his nostalgia, A-Cong meticulously developed new agricultural products, combining Dajia taro with Daan scallions to spark new ideas. Dajia taro and Daan scallions together create a brand new agricultural product—A-Cong's Fragrant Taro Sticks. Carefully selected from the finest local betel nut heart taro, fresh taro is cut into strips and baked at high temperatures without any additives, allowing moisture to evaporate before using imported healthy glutinous rice malt to stick finely textured Daan scallions onto the taro sticks, which are then sprinkled with fresh white sesame and pepper for seasoning, making the product incredibly delicious and enjoyable. After some fun, there is a children's reading area for little ones who love to read, allowing adults to relax for a moment. A-Cong's Taro Cultural Museum adheres to its original intention: nature and simplicity, without flashy modern technology, only the truest heart and sincerity, nurtured through practical actions in this taro park. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Address: No. 168, Xing'an Rd, Daan District, Taichung City Phone: 04-26713077 Guided Tours: ■ Yes □ No ■ By reservation (Reservation for taro pastry DIY includes guided Explanation) Other Services: ■ DIY Experience: Taro pastry ■ Cultural and Creative Shop
