On Her First Day as a Candidate, Ho Hsin-chun Returns to Taichung’s “Starting Point”

Ho Hsin-chun began her Taichung mayoral campaign not with a rally, but with a walk through the city’s old quarter. On the first day of candidate registration, she chose the streets, historic buildings and places tied to her own past as the setting for her campaign’s opening.

Ho formally registered her candidacy on the morning of the 2nd, accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party legislative caucus leader Tsai Chi-chang. In the afternoon, she made no plans for a large-scale campaign event. Instead, she undertook a 90-minute urban walking tour that included the old Taichung railway station, the Green River Rail, the National Taiwan Comic Museum, Taichung First Senior High School, Taichung City Hall and the Taichung Prefecture Hall.

The old railway station marked the beginning of the route. Ho followed the former rail corridor into the center of the old city, tracing its transformation from a transport route into a space for urban life and recreation. The tour then took her back to her former school, Taichung First Senior High School, adding a personal memory to the city’s broader history.

From the school campus to the historic city and prefecture offices, Ho presented the walk as a way to look at Taichung’s past while considering its next stage. “Running for office is a new journey, but we cannot forget where we started,” she said. She said returning to the old city on registration day was meant to help find a direction for Taichung’s future in its history and culture, while creating a new urban vision that preserves historical memory and embraces a newer cityscape.

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Running for office is a new journey, but we cannot forget where we started.