Jiufen Mountain Town
Situated on the north west coast of Taiwan, about one hour by bus out of Taipei, is a small mountain town called Jiufen. It was a gold mining town during the Japanese colonial period and has now become a tourist hot spot with the establishment of some famous tea houses. The main old street of the town is really narrow, packed with shops and stalls all along its entire length. This street, and some of the branching streets, are decorated with lanterns. The A-Mei tea house especially is beautifully decorated with many lanterns and this spot has given the town a striking resemblance to the town seen in the movie Spirited Away, which has helped to increase Jiufen's popularity with the tourists. In the afternoon, and early evening, the already narrow streets are so packed with people that, to move anywhere, requires moving at the crowds pace. This, in itself, is part of the experience of Jiufen.
I visited Jiufen for two days, spending one night there; my hotel was right in the middle of the old street so I was always close to the action. When I first arrived I explored the old street and visited the Jioufen Teahouse, the first tea house established in the town. There, I had a delicious mountain tea, brewing the leaves with a traditional tea set. In the afternoon I visited the next town over (Qitang I think), where there is a gold museum and the start to the famous Teapot Mountain trail. Unfortunately, I was unable to hike to Teapot Mountain as the trail was closed due to a recent natural disaster. So instead, I explored that town and hiked to the ruins of a Japanese Shinto shrine. My final tourist location for the day was the nearby Golden Waterfalls, although I needed to take an Uber both ways as the wait for the bus was too long. I returned to Jiufen where I had dinner, trying some food from a number of different stalls.
On the second day I hiked to Mount Keelung where I had spectacular views of both Jiufen and the sea. I then hiked to a mountain behind Jiufen and up to an outcropping of rocks where I had a good view of Mount Keelung. I returned to Jiufen for lunch and then did a final tour of the town before returning to Taipei.
Seemingly every tourist place I have visited has had the name of the place prominently displayed. Here is the Jiufen sign opposite the bus stop, and the sign at the entrance to the old street.
Many of the streets in Jiufen were decorated with red lanterns. The streets either curved with the contours of the mountain, or went straight up and down the slope with many steps.
I found this hidden sculpture garden with empty furniture woven through with golden thread.
The town square, with the miner's cafe, had this really interesting tree that I photographed from multiple angles.
From the Shinto shrine I had a god view of the Teapot mountain, I could even see how the mountain peak does look a little like a teapot.
The streets of Jiufen at night. After about 8:00 pm or so the stalls started to close and the crowds dispersed.
The views from a couple of lookout platforms in Jiufen at night.
In the morning the street was completely empty with most stalls still closed.
The view from my hotel. The first image was taken from my room, the second from the breakfast room.
The trail up to the peak of Mount Keelung, it was only 900 meters but it was almost exclusively steps all the way up the mountain.
As I climbed higher, I could look back and see a beautiful view of Jiufen and of the cemetary; the downtown is situated on the right side of both images and the tomb is the green area of the hill on the left (those tiny buildings there are tombs).
I passed two of these Gazebo structures situated on the left side of the trail.
The north eastern coast of Taiwan. The first image looks west, the second looks east.
I followed this path up to a mountain peak (right) with a large rocky outcropping.
From the rocky outcropping I had some amazing views of the surrounding countryside.
Jiufen, and the surrounding countryside, was a beautiful area to visit. The main street was really busy with many day tourists, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of this place, in fact, I feel it somewhat enhanced the experience. So many shops and food stalls could open on the main street because there were so many visitors, and that in turn attracts more visitors to the region. I was impressed by how well Jiufen not only captured, but induced the demand for tourism. The mountain scenery is beautiful, and the main reason why I went there, but I can imagine that many others traveled to go shopping on the main street, or to see the tea houses with all the lanterns. All these things combined make the town an excellent destination to visit.
Thanks for reading – Edward
Written 17th of December 2024