Nantun massage: four lines, four shop types.
The earlier Nantun nightlife guide followed the MRT branches and strung eating, drinking and massage together. This one is massage only, sorted not by street but by shop type. Foot soak, course-based SPA, Thai, sports massage, each its own line, each for different people. Every name and number comes from the Nantun massage list.
Line one: foot soak and foot massage
Nantun’s signature.
Daye Rd 294, 沐晨足湯會館, a perfect score and over 8,020 reviews. First among massage shops on file in Nantun, the thickest foot-soak house in Taichung, phone 04 2328 1818. Gancheng St 257, 台中市健康家活力按摩館(黎明店), 4.9 stars and over 3,440. Wuquan W. Rd Sec. 2 No. 669, 草上飛足體養生會館, 4.9 stars and over 980. Gongyi Rd Sec. 2 No. 271, 2F, 月荷足體養生會館(公益館), over 1,020. Xiangshang Rd Sec. 2 No. 429, 松田腳底按摩, 4.8 stars and over 670.
This line is a foot soak plus soles plus shoulders, NT$800 to 1,200 an hour, posted prices rule. No undressing, no shower, sit down and it starts.
For: anyone finishing dinner on Gongyi Rd, parents in tow, groups of four.
Skip if: you are heading to Muchen on Friday or Saturday between eight and ten without calling. With 8,000-plus reviews, a forty-minute wait in that slot is normal. Weekday afternoons from two to five, take your pick.
Line two: course-based SPA
Reservation, undressing, shower.
Gongyi Rd Sec. 2 No. 241, 泰晶殿皇家SPA莊園-公益會館, 4.9 stars and over 2,670, about ten minutes on foot from MRT Nantun Station. Wenxin Rd Sec. 1 No. 46-3, 泰晶殿皇家養身集團-文心會館, 4.9 stars and over 2,050, five minutes from Wenxin Forest Park Station. Liming Rd Sec. 2 Lane 335 No. 9, HO HO SPA 莊園, a perfect score and over 310. Dadun Rd 588, 2F, 蘇釋女子精油SPA養生館-按摩 紓壓 放鬆, 4.8 stars and over 430, women only. 御仙堂大墩會館 at Dadun Rd 502 with over 910, the big-house type.
Ninety minutes NT$1,500 to 2,500, often sold as packages, posted prices rule.
For: people who want to fall asleep, people who want oil, anniversaries.
Plainly put, you do not drop into this line on the way past. You call first and you set aside two hours.
Line three: Thai
Two shops, neither large.
Dajin St 488, 泰馬沙 - Thai Spa, 4.9 stars and over 330, phone 04 2320 0048. Dadun 11th St 311, 泰達雅泰式按摩-南屯店, 4.8 stars and over 120, listed with a mobile number.
Thai ninety minutes NT$1,200 to 1,800, posted prices rule.
A big Thai house does not exist in Nantun. Tai Jing Dian Beitun at Beitun Rd 366 with over 2,900 reviews is fifteen minutes by taxi.
Line four: sports massage
For pain points.
Wenxin S. Rd 289, 4F, 鬆鶴 張力平衡專家 文心秀泰店, a perfect score and over 2,130, tension work rather than relaxation, for sore backs and stiff necks. Wenxin S. Rd 19, 放筋鬆運動按摩ReChill (台中南屯館）, a perfect score and over 320. Wenxin S. 5th Rd Sec. 1 No. 536, 2F, 沐光運動按摩Move Light-南屯店, a perfect score and over 600, no listed phone, book online.
All three reservation-only. Sixty minutes around NT$1,500, posted prices rule.
Skip if: you only want to relax and doze. This line hurts.
Transport and timing
Two Green Line stations. Wenxin Forest Park Station serves Wenxin Rd and Wenxin S. Rd; Nantun Station serves Gongyi Rd Sec. 2. Daye Rd and Dadun Rd have no station, five minutes by taxi from Nantun Station.
Weekday afternoons two to five, any line. Friday and Saturday after eight, line one queues, line two will not take you without a booking, lines three and four needed a booking anyway.
Price bands and pitfalls for every district are in How to choose a Taichung massage or SPA. Hungry afterward, the Gongyi Rd dining belt walks it number by number.