Douliu

Douliu (斗六) is a city of 108,000 people (2022) that is the county seat of Yunlin County.

Understand
Although Douliu is located in one of Taiwan's least touristy regions and doesn't have much to offer, it is still worth passing by.

By plane
There is no airport in Douliu. The closest airports are Taichung and Chiayi. This said, from abroad, the best option is to fly to Taoyuan, and take a train to Douliu (less than an hour using high-speed rail).

High-speed rail (高鐵)

 * Yunlin (雲林) station, a bit far from everywhere, but with a free bus connection to Douliu

Regular trains (臺灣車)
Douliu has its own train station (in addition to Dounan (斗南) and Shiliu (石榴), both very near) with frequent direct connections to Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung.

Tourist information is available in Douliu train station.

By foot
The city is small enough to be walkable. However, Douliu is one of the least walkable cities in Taiwan; there are virtually no sidewalk, even in the city center. So the only option is to walk on the road; be cautious with the motorbikes and cars coming from everywhere.

By bicycle
Cycling is a good option here, as quite some people (especially high school and university students) use bicycle here.

Buy
Just as in virtually every other city in Taiwan, Douliu has plenty of convenience stores open 24 hr (such as 7-Eleven or Family Market).

However, there is no shopping mall.

Eat

 * Plenty of restaurants on 民生南路 (Minsheng South Road), 中山路 (Zhongshan Road) and 太平路 (Taiping Road).

Go next

 * Further north: Taichung
 * Further south: Chiayi, and then Alishan