“Come for the groceries, stay for the toilets” as one visitor described it. Chung Yo department store has a little of everything.
The Biggest Bookstore in Taiwan
Excluding the air-con in summer, the cavernous ESlite Bookstore (10F) is the department store’s biggest draw. Claimed to be the biggest bookstore in Taiwan, the interior is surprisingly cozy and designed with the reader in mind. It’s not unusual in Taiwan for people to spend hours reading in a bookstore with no intention of buying a book. With this in mind, ESlite’s ‘reading experience center‘ literally encourages such reader-book interaction. After remodeling in 2015, the store also features a patisserie, cafe and magazine section.
Chung Yo itself is really three separate buildings connected by sky bridges. In addition to ESlite, there are great restaurants throughout the store, a well-stocked upscale supermarket in the basement (B2F) selling mostly imported goods, and of course the themed toilets!
Themed Toilets Anyone?
The restrooms are scattered across the three buildings and range in theme from coke and Heineken to chocolate and a rather leafy forest one. Even if you’re just curious, the bathrooms are quite a sight and regularly updated. The fishy aquarium restroom is particularly worth checking out.
Location
Main Photo By 象心力 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
http://www.jasons.com.tw/ENG/ (Jason’s Supermarket B2F)