One of the places to visit in Taipei is Jiufen. Located in the Northeast Mountains of New Taipei City, expect a view of the Keelung Sea, mountains and let’s not forget the cascading small houses of the village. Jiufen can be reachable by getting a train or getting a bus, but we decided to hire a driver/tour guide/car rent for the day. He picked us up at our hotel in Ximending. I will be posting the details before this post ends.
A long time ago, Jiufen only houses nine families. When the roads in the area were not yet built, ships are used to transport everything that the families needed. During road construction, it was an accident when a gold was discovered. It was then that it became an attraction to other citizens until the Japanese era took over that it became the center of gold mining.
Jiufen tourist spot in Taiwan
Jiufen became popular with tourists when a movie in the 1990s, A City of Sadness, made it as the setting. It has become a symbol of Old Taiwan. Also, a Japanese anime in the 2000s, Spirited Away, is said to be inspired by the popular A-Mei Tea House located in Jiufen. It has become a tourist attraction to the Japanese. I believe I have a photo of tea house but was deleted probably because I have a bad portrait of it or what.
photo not mine
Enough with the history and let’s go to the adventure my friends and I had.
This is the famous staircase to
strike a pose. There are so many tourists even if it was a Monday. Truthfully,
it was not easy to have a perfect picture with the rain, umbrella, and the
crowd passing by.
Jiufen famous stairs
This is the old mining tunnel with
graffiti that is converted to a secret passage to another part of Jiufen.
Jiufen mining tunnel
There are so many quirky stuff, tea houses, food to discover here. It is another good place to shop to take home. The road is narrow at the very start and it gets narrower because of the people flocking in. I really had pictures taken here, it’s weird it’s gone.
For the car/tour guide/driver we availed in Taipei, here are the details:
Jerry Taxi Tour
Tel: 0913 967 292
Jerry Kakao Talk ID: jerrytaxiwei, jerrytaxiem,
Email: wsh2526@yahoo.com.tw
Jiufen tourist guide
He’s a Taiwanese but can speak English. He toured us in Shifen Waterfall, Shifen Old Street, and Jiufen. The places you want to visit can be coordinated with him but his service is good for 6 HOURS only. It’s a pickup and drop-off at your hotel.
Check the direction here to go to Jiufen.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. Photo watermark is named after my old site.
