ChangeX Beer – South Garden

ChangeX Beer's South Garden (南園酒家) occupies a restored 1915 building at the corner of Minzu Road and Jiguang Street in Taichung's old city centre. The building once housed Jingyang Xuan (精養軒), a Western-style restaurant, and reopened as South Garden in October 2021 after a three-year restoration. By day it runs as a bakery and coffee shop, with bread from partner bakery 酵容滿麵; in the evening it becomes a craft beer bar and restaurant serving draught beer.

ChangeX has long roots in Taichung's beer scene. The company opened its first ChangeX location in 2011 and in 2012 launched ChangeX Beer, which it describes as the city's first craft beer retail shop; a tavern stocking 200 to 300 craft beers followed in 2014. It also has its own beer brand, Monster Brewing (妖怪釀造), and an earlier ChangeX shop was known for its collection of Taiwanese brews.

Food covers set meals, brunch, desserts and afternoon tea, and pizza is on the evening menu. Past promotions have included a Wednesday happy hour, a litre of beer for NT$300 and a second pizza at half price, though offers change. The venue also takes buffet-style private events.

ChangeX organises Taichung's annual beer festival, first held in 2019. The 2026 ChangeX Craft Beer Festival ran from 10 to 12 July at South Garden and along a closed-off stretch of Jiguang Street between Minquan Road and Taiwan Boulevard, with 37 domestic and international brands including Zhang Men and Jim & Dad's, NT$200 tasting passports and more than 40 food stalls. It suits drinkers who want Taiwanese craft beer in one of the city's historic buildings.