Hey Taipei! - Part Two
Discover more from Tales of the Orient by Simon Ostheimer
Hey Taipei! - Part Two
As you probably gathered from part one, Taipei is a truly amazing city full of fantastic sights, but what makes it even better are all of the special destinations surrounding it
Somewhat worn out from the previous day, but enthralled with this lesser known city, we’d hired a driver to take us on a trip to the villages and countryside outside Taipei. While you could honestly be overwhelmed by the number of options there are for day trips (local writer Nick Kembel says there are a mere 40 you can’t miss!), for those with limited time there are two that you can’t really miss: the villages of Shifen and Jiufen.
The names of the two mean ‘10’ and ‘nine portions’, respectively, and according to legend were the numbers of families that lived in each place during the Qing dynasty. Due to their remote and hard-to-reach locations, whenever a shipment of supplies would arrive on the coast, officials would automatically allocate and deliver enough supplies for that number to them. These days of course there are many more people living there, and even more visiting, due to their fame as major tourist destinations.
Our car arrived at the Energy Inn bright and early, and we wound our way through the downtown streets before hitting the highway and heading east of town. Quickly we found ourselves surrounded by rolling hills dotted with small houses that reminded me of those in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Indeed, like my hometown, with its hilly topography that doesn’t allow for rampant development, Taiwan is remarkably green.
Our first stop was the pretty little village of Shifen. The settlement is divided by train tracks, with the line running right through the center. This branch line connects the town with Taipei, though as we had multiple stops we’d opted to take a car instead. Walking from the car park, we wandered along a small lane before coming across an unexpected and colorful spectacle - huge, man-size lanterns rising up to the skies. Getting closer, we saw they had large hand-painted Chinese characters on them, which we found out were wishes from those sending them on their way. Lighting a small fire in the bottom, the lanterns slowly soared into the mountains around us.
Though tempted to join in, our IB-educated kids reminded us of the unnecessary pollution these caused to the environment (are they biodegradable? What about the metal? Think of the wildlife!), so we instead satisfied ourselves with taking photos of others standing on the tracks, taking care to get out of the way when the train horn sounded. Of course, this being Taiwan there were several new snacks to try, including delicious rolled peanut ice cream and chicken drumsticks stuffed with savory rice.
The other attraction of Shifen is the waterfall, so we followed our friends (who had not stopped so long for food) to the waterfall, 15 minutes walk northeast of town. Having been starved for nature in Cambodia (it’s there, just not accessible), it was a true joy to be out wandering through the countryside, again reminiscent of hiking the country park trails back in Hong Kong. We wound our way along two suspension bridges, one parallel to the train line, before emerging at the spectacular Shifen falls, where still green mountain water cascades down steep rocks into the river below. It was time to pause, reflect and take in the view - before heading to our next stop.
Instead of going straight to Jiufen, we made a stop at the intriguingly-named Houtong Cat Village, to see what a feline-dominated settlement might look like. Unfortunately, though the place was full of plenty of cute cafes and lots of cat-themed merchandise, the number of cats was somewhat underwhelming. That said, we enjoyed the rather unexpected Miner’s Museum, which told the story of the mining history of the area, and the difficult life endured by miners so they could feed and clothe their families.
With the skies beginning to darken and light rain beginning to fall, it was time to head to our final stop for the day, the hilltop town of Jiufen. As we wound our way up the twisting, narrow road, the heavens finally opened and the light shower became a deluge. Parking under a large temple, our driver pointed towards a nearby set of stairs as the way to the Jiufen Old Street. Taking care not to slip on the large, stone steps, we dodged the umbrella-laden crowd and emerged into a small, covered laneway.
Jiufen has a an interesting history. Founded in the 1600s, it remained a small place (home to 10 families, presumably) until the late 1800s when a chance discovery of a gold seam in the area led to a gold rush and rapid construction of houses, which were described in 1903 by American diplomat James Davidson thus: “Kyu-fun is as odd looking a settlement as one could find. [...] never before has the writer seen so many houses in such a small space. Some appear to be partially telescoped in adjoining buildings, other standing above as though unable to force their way to the group, and each structure seems to be making a silent appeal to its neighbor to move over.”
Not much has changed in the last 120 years it seems. Jiufen remains an overlapping collection of buildings, set partly into and on top of of the hillside, though of course from the walking street, and with the pouring rain we were unable to see much of it. However, winding lanes are home to shops, cafes and restaurants, and before long we found a small place to sit down for a bowl of beef noodles and a local craft beer (I was pleased to discover there is a small but interesting craft brewing scene in Taiwan). We sat inside, but outback was a terrace that promised stellar ocean views - if the entire sky hadn’t been covered by grey cloud. A friend visiting a few months later regaled us of stories of blue skies, green mountains and island views, which did sound beautiful.
However, there is also a dark side to the area. During World War II, the Japanese - who ruled Taiwan as a colony for 50 years from 1895 to 1945 - brought in thousands of Allied prisoners of war to work in the nearby mines, digging for gold, silver and copper, all essential to the imperial Japan war effort. Hundreds of POWs died at the Kinkaseki camp in particular, mainly from poor treatment and rampant malnutrition. This sad past was, admittedly, unknown to me as we toured the charming laneways, and marveled at the teahouses and the red lanterns glowing in the gloom (along with hundreds of other sightseers). Indeed, the marvelous 2001 animated Oscar-winning movie Spirited Away, which features a young girl working in a traditional bathhouse inhabited by spirits, has been said to be based on Jiufen, though the director denies it.
And indeed, for a magical few hours we did feel as if we were in another realm, before - after sampling a few more local snacks including pineapple cake and miner’s pastry - it was time to head back to the big city. We would see much more during our week in Taipei, including spending the day at the zoo, riding the cable car up to the former tea plantations at Maokong, visiting the National Palace Museum, which contains items brought to Taiwan from Beijing’s Forbidden Palace by the retreating Nationalist army, seeing old Portuguese forts and British consuls, strolling along the ocean waterfront, witnessing the changing of the guard at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial (below), and much more shopping, walking and eating. There really is just so much to do in Taipei.
After 40 years, I really only had one question: why did I take so long to go back?
Hey Taipei! - Part Two
You visited some fabulous destinations there, so much to see and do in Taipei. Have never been to Jiufan, looks a stunning place !