Jin Xiang Bakery

Review

Jin Xiang Bakery is on Zhongzheng Road in Tongluo Township, directly opposite Tongluo Station. Coverage calls it a three-generation bakery approaching a hundred years old, and its Facebook page name reads 'since 1935'. Tongluo is a Hakka village in Miaoli famous for its fields of Hangzhou chrysanthemum, and Jin Xiang works such local touches into its pastries, making it a common gift stop for people passing through by train or car.

The signature is the Tongluo Q pastry: inside the crust are taro paste, soft white Hakka mochi, special braised pork strips and egg yolk, mixing sweet and savoury with layered textures, and coverage says it won a gold medal in a Miaoli County snack competition. The chrysanthemum cake uses local Tongluo chrysanthemum for a faint floral note, and the 'belly button' cake has a mung bean paste filling that locals recommend. The shop also sells large pastries, wedding cakes and gift boxes.

Praise focuses on the wide range and strong local character, with the small mung bean cakes and big meat pastry drawing repeat buyers, plus a clean, bright shop and long opening hours. Complaints are mostly about service: some say staff chat among themselves, give perfunctory answers about storage and are not very polite, and others find it somewhat tourist-oriented.

It opens daily from about 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., with no closing day reported, so you can still buy in the evening. It is right in front of the station, a few steps from the platform if you take the train to Tongluo; drivers can look for roadside parking nearby. Some items are made fresh each day, so ask about shelf life when buying.

Good for visitors to Tongluo's chrysanthemum fields and Hakka village, or anyone passing through Miaoli looking for distinctive local pastries. First-timers can buy a few Q pastries and chrysanthemum cakes to taste, then choose a box of belly button cakes as gifts; for older relatives, the traditional large pastries or mung bean cakes are a safe choice.