Tunghai University (東海大學) sits on the slope of the Dadu Plateau on the west side of Xitun, and at its center is Luce Memorial Chapel (路思義教堂), one of the best-known modern buildings in Taiwan. You can walk around the campus at any time, but the chapel only opens its doors to visitors for a couple of hours most afternoons, so plan the trip around that. Give it one to two hours.
- Chapel open to visitors Monday to Friday 16:00 to 18:00; Sunday 14:30 to 18:00
- Closed Saturdays, and whenever the central or Taichung government suspends work and classes
- Sunday services 09:00, and 11:00 with live English interpretation
- Address No. 1727, Sec. 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun District
- Getting there Bus 300 to 310 along Taiwan Boulevard to 榮總/東海大學(專用道)
The chapel
Luce Memorial Chapel was completed in 1963. I. M. Pei designed it with Chen Chi-kwan (陳其寬), the first head of Tunghai's architecture department. It is made of four curved surfaces (hyperbolic paraboloids, in the geometry) that rise toward each other and leave a narrow strip of skylight down the middle. The chaplain's office explains the idea: from the door you look out at open sky, and inside the curving walls draw your attention up to that line of light.
The chapel is named after the Rev. Henry W. Luce (1868 to 1941), an American missionary who went to China in 1897 and helped found universities there. His son Henry R. Luce, who founded Time, Life and Fortune magazines, paid for the chapel in his father's memory. The Ministry of Culture made it a national monument in 2019. After about two years of repairs to its leaking skylight and steel windows, with NT$32 million from the ministry, it reopened on 26 September 2024.
Visiting the chapel
- Opening hours. The chaplain's office calls the visitor hours "Moment of Light" (慕光時刻): Monday to Friday 16:00 to 18:00 and Sunday 14:30 to 18:00, as set from 1 November 2024.
- Autumn 2026 Mondays. To fit around general education classes, it opens only from 17:20 to 18:00 on the Mondays from 9 November to 21 December 2026.
- Weather. If the government calls a typhoon day, the chapel stays closed.
- Services and events. The chapel is a working church: Sunday services are at 09:00 and 11:00, and it also hosts memorial services and graduation blessings. The office posts changes to the opening times on its news page, so check before you go.
Good to know: arrive a little before 16:00 on a weekday or 14:30 on Sunday, walk the campus first and finish at the chapel. On Saturdays you can still see it from outside, but the doors stay shut.
The campus
Tunghai was founded in 1955 by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia and Christian educators in Taiwan. The early teaching buildings were laid out as courtyard buildings in a traditional Chinese style, with the modern chapel set apart on the lawn between the teaching area and the student area. The Taiwan Tourism Administration points to Wenli Avenue (文理大道), shaded by banyans into a green tunnel, and the trees along Yuenong Road (約農路). It is a working university, so keep your voice down near the classrooms.
The campus also has a farm of about 50 hectares on its southwest slope, first cleared by agriculture students. The university's dairy shop (乳品小棧) sells milk, yogurt and ice cream from its own dairy; TVBS listed it in 2025 as open daily 08:00 to 18:00, about 12 minutes' walk from the gate.
Getting there
- Bus 300 to 310: every route from 300 to 310 runs along the Taiwan Boulevard bus lane and stops at 榮總/東海大學(專用道), named for the university and Taichung Veterans General Hospital. Routes 300, 305, 306, 309 and 310 start at Taichung Station (臺中車站(A月台)). → City buses
- From the high speed rail: Bus 161 leaves HSR Taichung Station from platform 11 and runs along Taiwan Boulevard to Taichung Veterans General Hospital (臺中榮總(臺灣大道)), the hospital that shares the 榮總/東海大學 stop name with the campus.
- YouBike: there is a YouBike 2.0 station named Luce Chapel on campus. → YouBike in Taichung
- Taxi: from Taichung Station or HSR Taichung Station.
Nearby
Donghai Art Street (東海藝術街), near the university, has the Chun Shui Tang tea house (see tea and coffee in Taichung). On the way back along Taiwan Boulevard, get off at 新光/遠百 for the National Taichung Theater and its rooftop garden.
→ Xitun · Things to do
Sources
Tunghai University Chaplain's Office (Luce Chapel: history, design, services and visitor hours, visitor hours and the autumn 2026 Monday changes); Tunghai University (national monument, 2019); CNA (2024 reopening); Commercial Times (restoration and funding, 2024); Taiwan Tourism Administration (Tunghai University: campus, farm, address, YouBike); Taichung Tourism (Luce Memorial Chapel); TVBS (the dairy shop, 2025); Taichung City Bus (route 300, route 161). Checked November 2026.