Today's itinerary:
Walked back up the Jiufen Old Street to get to the 7-11 which is a prominent point for many drivers to pick up or meet passengers.
Next stop was the Gold Ecological Park 黃金博物園區 and the Gold Museum in the town of Jinguashi 金瓜石.
It is quite interesting at the Gold Ecological Park, with the history of gold mining and Japanese culture around the area, however, if you have small kids or elderly, you might want to reconsider going as the park is on the slope of a mountain and hence, there are alot of slopes and steps which will make taking a pram difficult and tiring for the elderly.
As the first ecology museum park in Taiwan, Gold Ecological Park 黃金博物園區 was opened in 2004 to preserve the gold-mining heritage and natural surroundings of the area and serve as a venue for environmental education.
The first stop we made in the Park is the Four-joint Japanese-style Residence 四連棟, which is also the location where <Corner With Love 转角＊遇到爱> was filmed at, starring Show Luo 罗志祥 and Barbie Hsu 徐熙媛 (aka 大S).
There is an air-raid shelter made to protect residents from kamikaze pilots.
Inside the residence, visitors are shown a video with English subtitles about the history of the buildings and how they were maintained and rebuilt using a mix of original and new cypress beams and posts.
During the colonial era, the Japanese Mining Co. built dormitory to house Japanese mine technicians and their families. There are four types of house: detached single dwelling houses, semi-detached, joined houses (3-4 homes in one building) and long houses. The type and location of these houses differed according to the rank of the employee in the company. Four joined house Japanese buildings are now rare in Taiwan.
The Crown Prince's Chalet was built in 1922 to accommodate Prince Hirohito, later Japan's emperor, on a state visit, although he never actually came here. The public are not allowed inside, but the bilingual signs outside are a superb introduction to Japanese architectural concepts (as well as plant and tree species) and the open doors allow visitors to peek into the house. Do make sure you go behind the bungalow to see the archery range and miniature golf course.
Benshan Fifth Tunnel is the only underground section open to the public, and one of the few places in the park where admission is charged (NT$50 per adult) which visitors are given safety helmets and disclaimers before they enter, but don't worry, the tunnel is safe; the helmets are just in case as it is still an old tunnel. The depiction of mining conditions is over sanitized; nonetheless, do enter to see the wax figures shovel, drill, eat rice lunch boxes and submit to searches when leaving the mine.
The next stop was to try out the gold-panning 淘金体验 using the traditional way. It cost NT100 per person for the experience and bottle of gold sand as souvenir. The guide will give you a pan of sand to wash in the canal of water and will guide you through it. Do beware of Fool's Gold which looks like real gold but is not and will rust after keeping for a while.
You can see sparks of shiny sands when you hold it against the light and these tiny sparkling sands are the gold sands.
We travelled downwards towards the Yingyang Sea 陰陽海, halfway through, our driver brought us to a ruined building, which he claims to have a great view of the Yinyang Sea. After we climbed up the ruins, the view and wind at the top is indeed refreshing and worth the effort! But sadly, we are unable to see the Yinyang Sea because of the weather making the wind and waves too huge.
As for Yingyang Sea, it was initially believed that the sea color was the result of pollution from Taiwan Metal Mining Corp’s smelting activities. but over more than 10 years after the company stopped its activities, Yinyang Sea still exists. It is speculated that the Jinguashi geology has a large amount of pyrite that, after millions of years has formed Fe3+ which does no dissolve easily in water. This forms iron ion floating particles when it flows into the sea, resulting in the unique sight of the Yinyang Sea.
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After which we travelled to Keelung Miaokou Night Market 基隆廟口夜市 for a break and lunch.
This famous night market was easily identified by the three lines of yellow lanterns on each side of the street and you just have to follow the lanterns to know its boundary. Some people known it as Keelung Night Market 基隆夜市while others called it the Miaokou Night Market 廟口夜市 as it is literally a night market outside a temple.
Next, we headed for Yehliu Geopark 野柳, but sadly (or not so sad), the park was closed due to bad weather. So we gave a call to our driver and went to walk the market beside it. Bought nothing as it does not suit us, but it do have interesting items such as sakura prawn and stuff.
As we are not able to enter Yehliu, our driver actually drove us to another part where the cliffs are actually similar to the stones in Yehliu, all being "designed" and "shaped" by Mother Nature. It was indeed pretty amazing as to what Mother Nature can do and the pretty outcomes she produces.
Note: Releasing sky lanterns is so popular that thousands of people gather for the annual Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival every 15th day of the Lunar New Year.
Although it has neither the traditional buildings found on Pingxi Old Street nor the wave of nostalgia of Jingtong Old Street, the Shifen Old Street showcases the one and only scene of “trains passing right in front of residents’ doors” in Taiwan. The 13km rail line was originally built in 1918 to transport coal and was re-purposed as a tourism route in 1992. Houses and shops are separated from the railway tracks only by a narrow old street without the protection of high fences or railings. As a result, Shifen is a Mecca for railway enthusiasts and photography aficionados.
Note: The train will pass by the street once an hour.
We went in the first shop along the street that sells the sky lantern 天灯. Apparently each color represents a wish (e.g red=health and peace, yellow = money luck) so the more wishes you have, the more you pay. Depending on what you would like to wish for you can get 2 colours or 4 colours.Even if you are bad in Chinese, don't worry, they provided a list of helping words according to colour which represents different wishes. Or I do see people writing in their native language, so do go ahead and give it a try.
You can also choose to add a string of firecrackers at the bottom of your lantern at an extra cost, perhaps this will gain the attention of the heavens and grant your wish faster?
After releasing the sky lantern, the sky turns dark and our trip with the driver ends at Wufenpu 五分埔.
The literal translation of Wufenpu 五分埔 is "five parcels of land," indicating that in pioneering days the first Chinese settlers bought up a large plot here in modern Taipei's Songshan District in a group of five. To today's Taipei residents, however, the place name is synonymous with a renowned wholesalers' district stuffed to the brim with quality inexpensive clothing and related adornments -- and stuffed with happy bargain-hunters most every day. It is now rightfully gaining recognition on the tourist map as well.
After shopping at Wufenpu 五分埔, we walked over to Raohe Night Market 饶河街观光夜市for a walk. It is easily located by the crowds heading in the same direction and when you spot the temple, you are at the right place.
Final stop of the day! Karaoke at New CB Party 星聚點, it was really grand!
When you entered the building, it feels like you entered a grand hotel with a lobby and a restaurant. As we did not book ahead, we checked with the counter and with her assistance, chose one that suit us, and it comes with drinks and food!
After making payment, we heads into the restaurant area to choose our food and drinks. It's all electronic, as in you were given vouchers with QR code that worth some value and you will order your food from the computer and scan the QR code as payment.
After that, you will be given receipt which you will head to the various stall to collect your food. After collecting the food, you can choose to bring your food up or hand it over to the lady at the counter with food lifts at the back.
Once you passed your tray of food to her, she will cover it and give you a tag number. Do tell her your floor so that she can send it to the correct level.
After you reached your floor, heads to the counter to "collect" your tray, which you will be told to go ahead to your room and the food will then be delivered to your room by a waiter.
- Gold Ecological Park (Gold Museum) 金瓜石 (黃金博物館)
- Yingyang Sea 陰陽海
- Golden Waterfall 黃金瀑布
- Yehliu 野柳 (It was closed due to bad weather)
- Keelung Night Market 基隆夜市
- Shifen 十分老街
- Wufenpu 五分埔
- Raohe Night Market 饶河街观光夜市
- Ximending 西門町
Woke up and heads out to the cafe of the Minsu for breakfast!
Along the way, we saw some other Minsus.
The cafe has a cosy and friendly ambience, and the food are simple but yummy!
Walked back up the Jiufen Old Street to get to the 7-11 which is a prominent point for many drivers to pick up or meet passengers.
It is quite interesting at the Gold Ecological Park, with the history of gold mining and Japanese culture around the area, however, if you have small kids or elderly, you might want to reconsider going as the park is on the slope of a mountain and hence, there are alot of slopes and steps which will make taking a pram difficult and tiring for the elderly.
As the first ecology museum park in Taiwan, Gold Ecological Park 黃金博物園區 was opened in 2004 to preserve the gold-mining heritage and natural surroundings of the area and serve as a venue for environmental education.
Inside the residence, visitors are shown a video with English subtitles about the history of the buildings and how they were maintained and rebuilt using a mix of original and new cypress beams and posts.
Next, we visited the Crown Prince Chalet 太子賓館 which the Crown Price did not get to stay. However, it provide visitors a chance to appreciate the elegance of a Japanese palace style building.
The Crown Prince's Chalet was built in 1922 to accommodate Prince Hirohito, later Japan's emperor, on a state visit, although he never actually came here. The public are not allowed inside, but the bilingual signs outside are a superb introduction to Japanese architectural concepts (as well as plant and tree species) and the open doors allow visitors to peek into the house. Do make sure you go behind the bungalow to see the archery range and miniature golf course.
Next, we went to Benshan Fifth Tunnel 本山五坑 which allows a peak into the life of a miner.
Do come in proper shoes (no sandals, no slippers, no heels) though as the tunnel can be slippery.
The Museum of Gold is housed in the former offices of the Taiwan Metal Mining Corp. The first floor exhibitions include gold discovery journey, Benshan tunnels (1-9), ore seam display and old mining equipment, mining transport systems and cultural artifact display.
The highlight of the Museum of Gold would be the 220.3kg solid 999 pure gold ingot that made the Guinness World Record in 2004. What’s also mind-boggling is – you would probably need to dig 40,000,000 tons of rock in order to gain 220 kilograms of gold. However, on the day we went, there were kids going on school excursion which make taking pictures tough as they were all crowding around the gold, blocking the view.
We tried out the beancurd 坑口豆花, the soft beancurd was served with brown sugar syrup that had been pre-boiled with ginger slices. Very strong ginger flavour complementing the sweet syrup and soft-soft beancurd. However, if you are afraid of ginger taste, you can go for the hot beancurd which you can then request for one without the ginger. But I will recommend to give the ginger beancurd, it's quite unique and yummy, especially in cold weather.
Golden Waterfall 黃金瀑布
Located off the Jinguashi-Shuinandong Highway near the Gold Ecological Park, the water from the Golden Waterfall has a yellow hue from the copper and iron deposits it picks up seeping through Jinguashi’s old mines. The insoluble minerals then produce riverbed rocks that are yellowish-brown in color, creating this unique sight. As the water is heavily laden with metals, it is toxic so please do not dip your hands in.The next stop we went was to spot the Gorilla Mountain 黑金刚大山 which is the side view of a gorilla facing the sea.
As for Yingyang Sea, it was initially believed that the sea color was the result of pollution from Taiwan Metal Mining Corp’s smelting activities. but over more than 10 years after the company stopped its activities, Yinyang Sea still exists. It is speculated that the Jinguashi geology has a large amount of pyrite that, after millions of years has formed Fe3+ which does no dissolve easily in water. This forms iron ion floating particles when it flows into the sea, resulting in the unique sight of the Yinyang Sea.
This famous night market was easily identified by the three lines of yellow lanterns on each side of the street and you just have to follow the lanterns to know its boundary. Some people known it as Keelung Night Market 基隆夜市while others called it the Miaokou Night Market 廟口夜市 as it is literally a night market outside a temple.
We tried the above dishes, but nothing really impressed us. But everyone has different tastes so, you might want to give it a try and see if it suits you!
Below is a map which I found on Google that recommends some dishes in Keelung Miaokou Night Market 基隆廟口夜市.
After that, we head over to Shifen 十分 to release sky lanterns 放天灯, which is a significant ritual in Taiwan and the most notable places to do that would be Pingxi 平溪 and Shifen 十分. It’s a fun experience for most visitors to Taiwan (and the locals too); there’s just something very alluring about being able to write your wishes on a lantern which would carry your prayers to the sky (祈福) – thinking of it as a direct courier service to heaven.
Note: The train will pass by the street once an hour.
You can also choose to add a string of firecrackers at the bottom of your lantern at an extra cost, perhaps this will gain the attention of the heavens and grant your wish faster?
As you can see in the picture on the left, the "fuel" for the sky lantern is a stack of incense paper which we normally use to burn as offerings for the deceased or prayers.
The owner/helper was very nice and even took many photos/videos for us
The literal translation of Wufenpu 五分埔 is "five parcels of land," indicating that in pioneering days the first Chinese settlers bought up a large plot here in modern Taipei's Songshan District in a group of five. To today's Taipei residents, however, the place name is synonymous with a renowned wholesalers' district stuffed to the brim with quality inexpensive clothing and related adornments -- and stuffed with happy bargain-hunters most every day. It is now rightfully gaining recognition on the tourist map as well.
After shopping at Wufenpu 五分埔, we walked over to Raohe Night Market 饶河街观光夜市for a walk. It is easily located by the crowds heading in the same direction and when you spot the temple, you are at the right place.
As it was really packed and we were tired after the long day, we did not take much pictures in this Night Market. But above is a map I found on Google that recommends some food. Do try out the Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Cake 福州世祖胡椒饼 which is highly raved on many blogs and the queue at the stall is really long.
After shopping at Raohe NM, we cabbed back to our hotel to drop our items before heading for the final stop of the day. (Yes, we were crazy to cram so many things in a day, do try to spread it out instead. We were too ambitious!)
When you entered the building, it feels like you entered a grand hotel with a lobby and a restaurant. As we did not book ahead, we checked with the counter and with her assistance, chose one that suit us, and it comes with drinks and food!
After that, you will be given receipt which you will head to the various stall to collect your food. After collecting the food, you can choose to bring your food up or hand it over to the lady at the counter with food lifts at the back.
After you reached your floor, heads to the counter to "collect" your tray, which you will be told to go ahead to your room and the food will then be delivered to your room by a waiter.
Anyway, the whole building of 7 storeys all belongs to New CB Party!
The rooms are huge with a corner stage and a mike that also functions! What I like the most is the ensuite toilet! You do not need to worry about missing any of your songs! Another point I like is that there are two huge screens in the room, one as you see in the picture, another is right behind the seats, which provides the "singer" on stage to be able to see the subtitles and the song!
Yup, and that's the end of our long day!
Overview: Kaohsiung高雄 - Taichung台中 - Taipei台北
Day 1: Taipei台北 -> Kaohsiung高雄
Day 2: Kaohsiung高雄
Day 5: Taipei 台北 (Jiufen)
Day 6: Taipei 台北
Day 7: Taipei 台北
Day 8: Taipei 台北
Day 9: Taipei 台北 -> Singapore 新加坡
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