If you are heading to Taipei, You have to visit Jiufen and Shifen
A trip to Jiufen and Shifen requires a day to complete. You could hire a driver to plan your itinerary or opt for a tour. We took a tour from Klook that basically include transportation to the major attractions.
Book your Day Tour from Klook
Book your own Driver from Klook
The places we stopped included Yehliu Geopark, Jiufen, Shifen, Golden Waterall and Shifen. At price starting from about $20 per person, it was one of the cheapest and reliable way to explore these places. With over 5 stops, it is indeed value for money. Compared to hiring a private car and driver, it would be a much cheaper option.
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| Klook Jiufen Tour |
You can book your Day tour from Klook here
YEHLIU GEOPARK
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| Yiehliu Geopark |
After departing from our meetup location in Ximending ( Gakuden Bakery Near Exit 4 Ximen Station), we took an hour long bus ride and arrived at our first destination - Yehliu Goepark.
Located at northern Taiwan, Yehliu Geopark is similar to the Pinnacles in Perth. Home to a number of unique geographic formations that resemble certain objects or people, it is a popular tourist site.
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| Queen's Head |
It is well known for the iconic Queen's Head as well as other rock formations such as Sea Candles, Elephant Rock and the Queen's Head successor - Princess Head.
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| Princess Head |
For entrance, we do recommend you to purchase the entrance tickets together with the tour to avoid a long queue. The tour allow us a stopover of about 1 hour at Yehliu Geopark.
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| What can you see? |
It is more than sufficient to explore the park. For those who wish to shop, do allocate about 15 minutes to explore the row of shops at the exit.
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| Buy Buy Buy |
YING YANG SEA
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| Ying Yang Sea |
Our next stop is Yin Yang Sea, located 40 minutes from Yehliu. We stopped in an open-air carpark next to the see to snap a few photos of the unique blue and yellow coloured bay. The colours of the sea is due to the pollution from nearby mining activity in the past. Given the highly contaminated water, we do not recommend you to dip your toes in the water!
Directly opposite, you can spot the old mining factories facing the sea.
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| Old Mining building |
GOLDEN WATERFALL
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| Golden Waterfall |
Next stop is the Golden Waterfall, located 10 minutes away. Here you see a Waterfall cascading down with a golden hue. Unlike the namesake, there are no gold in these water. Rather, it is the heavy metal elements on the river bed that produce this unique colour.
This is a 10 minute stop for photos
JIUFEN
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| Jiufen landscape |
We arrived at Jiufen that is located 20 minutes away. Here we are given 2 hours to explore this quirky village build on a hill. The most famous part of this village is Jiufen Old Street.
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| Jiufen |
Jiufen is famous for its resemblance to the landscape of the popular anime movie from Japan - Spirited Away.
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| Spirited Away |
Lined with its tea houses, narrow lanes, steps and lanterns, the coincidence to the show is eerily similar. The director of the show had denied that Jiufen is the inspiration behind the show, but the undeniable similarity made it a popular haunt for the fans of the show.
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| Ah Mei Teahouse |
One of the more popular Teahouse is Ah Mei Teahouse. This 100-year-old multi-stories teahouse resembles the impressive bathhouse of
Spirited Away on a smaller scale.
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| Tea at Ah Mei |
We booked the
Amei Teahouse experience from Klook to compliment our trip.
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| Enjoy the view |
The experience allow us to enjoy tea and Taiwanese snacks while admiring the view from the Teahouse.
You could read our experience here
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| Ah Mei Teahouse Sign |
If you plan to take the same experience, we would suggest taking the back lanes to the Teahouse. You could ask your guide for directions. The back lanes has no crowd and allows you to get to the teahouse much faster. The teahouse is located near the middle of Jiufen Old Street.
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| Map |
Do allocate at least 45 minutes to head back to the entrance
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| Big Crowd |
The distance is not very long, but the narrow streets, large crowds and numerous food options would create enough distractions for you to make the trek back longer.
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| Juifen Old Street |
If you are skipping the Ah Mei Teahouse Experience, you could pop into the many stalls that line the street for lunch.
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| Food @ Jiufen |
In the event, if you get lost, just remember 7 Eleven. It is located at the entrance where we were dropped off earlier. Ask the stall owners for direction. They are more than willing to point you to the right direction.
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| 7 Eleven |
We do wish we had more time in Jiufen. Nonetheless, 2 hours is good to have a sample of Jiufen.
SHIFEN
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| Shifen Suspension Bridge |
Our last village to explore would be Shifen. There are 2 stops for this part of the trip. Shifen is located about 40 minutes from Jiufen
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| Shifen Waterfall |
The first stop is Shifen Waterfall where we spend 50 minutes exploring the shops and admiring the waterfall. The Waterfall is much more impressive than the Golden Waterfall.
You could shop for souvenirs here or tie a good luck ribbon around the place.
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| Good Luck Ribbon |
For couples, sweethearts and lovers, do stop by the clock tower of love for a photo.
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| Clock Tower of Love |
Our next stop is to Shifen Old Street. Shifen Old Street is famous for releasing Sky Lanterns on the railway track. It is a romantic scene you would come across in the movie.
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| Add caption |
Before we head there, the guide had provided us with a Sky Lantern List. If you intend to release sky lanterns, you might want to purchase them from the guide as they are cheaper than the store. Price starts at NT 140 (S$6) for a single colour and NT190 (S$8.5) for a multicolour one. Choose wisely as each colour represents a different wish.
You will be given them to write your wishes on the sky lantern,
Once that is done, you will be lead to the train track to release the Sky Lanterns.
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| Watch out for the train |
Do take note that it is a working train station, so get out of the way when the train arrives. There will be ample warning from the staff so you will be aware of the arrival.
Another thing you could do at Shifen Old Town is to enjoy the delicacies. They are famous for ice cream and stuffed Chicken wings.
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| Ice Cream |
While releasing sky lanterns has always been a must-do for us, we do realise the impact on the environment as a result of it. At the same time, it provides a livelihood for the people in the village. It is a delicate balance that hopefully will be addressed in the near future.
The Jiufen - Shifen Tour is just a part of our itinerary in Taipei.
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