Visit Jiufen, Taiwan to experience a former goldmining town where teahouses, souvenir shops and street food vendors compete for space in the narrow alleyways of the beautiful old town.
Jiufen in Taiwan is a popular destination for tourists who flock to explore the town that has been credited with being the inspiration behind the movie ‘Spirited Away’ (though this has been denied by the movie’s director, Hayao Miyazaki). Nevertheless, the similarities are there for all to see and Miyazaki’s denial has not stopped the town from benefiting from the connection; merchandise can be found in every souvenir shop.
How To Get To Jiufen From Taipei
We took a bus from Taipei Ximen Station (map) which took just over an hour. We departed the bus somewhere on the steep climb up to the town and began to try and find our accommodation.
The winding stairs and narrow alleys were not making life easy and the blue dot on Google Maps was jumping around all over the place. Apparently, there are signs showing directions to the guesthouse but all the signs we saw were in Chinese so of little help to us.
Up above, we could see the main town of Jiufen. It already looked magical.
After a short while, we located our accommodation.
Where To Stay In Jiufen
These are some of the best budget hostels in Jiufen, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I found Agoda to be much better than booking.com in Southeast Asia. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.
Linyuan Village Guesthouse
Many people visit Jiufen as a day trip from Taipei and, as it is a small town, there are not too many places to stay. Booking in advance is advised, though we did manage to book a room just two days in advance.
We arrived at ‘Linyuan Village’ (map) and were greeted by a friendly woman who could not speak English so instead communicated with a translate app on her phone. We realised that this was her house that she shared with her husband and we were their only guests.
Lin Yuan Village, Jiufen
The rooms were small but cute.
Rooms in Lin Yuan Village, Jiufen
There was only one shower between 6 rooms but, as there was no-one else staying, we had it all to ourselves. We could have done with bigger towels though!
Small towels in Lin Yuan Village, Jiufen
There was a small communal area which had old, Taiwanese vinyl on the walls.
Communal room in Lin Yuan Village, Jiufen
As it was located high up the mountain, the views were wonderful.
Views from Lin Yuan Village, Jiufen
A wonderful, traditional breakfast was provided for us with a number of dishes to feast on, mostly vegetarian.
All this just for us!
Jiufen has a reputation of feeling ‘magical’ and staying here really added to our experience. It felt like staying over at our grandparents’ house! I would definitely recommend it for a short stay in Jiufen.
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We paid £43 for a two night stay in a double room with shared bathroom.
Click here to book a stay at Linyuan Village.
Things To Do In Jiufen
Jiufen Old Street (Jishan Street)
We left the homestay and within minutes we were on the famous ‘Jiufen Old Street’ (map). This is what the tourists come to see and it was quite busy with day-trippers. Here you can try the traditional food of Jiufen, stop for a drink in one of the many tea-houses and treat yourself at one of the many souvenir shops.
Jiufen Old Street
We walked from one end of the street to the other leaving all the side-alleys and stairs to other streets for later.
Jiufen Old Street
Jiufen had already had won us over with its charm so we decided to return to the homestay for a rest before checking it out again in the evening.
Jiufen By Night
As darkness fell, we headed back out to wander the alleyways of Jiufen. I had read that night time is the best time to experience the town, as the lanterns light up the streets and the day trippers have disappeared. As it turned out, only half of this advice proved to be true. The town is even prettier by night but there was no shortage of tourists.
Jiufen by night
Jiufen by night
Surprisingly, most of the cheap food places started to shut down around 8.30 meaning there was very little for us to do. Our options were to eat in one of the pricey restaurants or have a 7-eleven supper. We opted for the latter. We took snacks and beer back to our homestay and had a relaxing night in with the Taiwanese grandparents, taking in the wonderful scenery on our way home.
Jiufen by night
Day Trip To Jinguashi
The next day, we decided to visit the nearby town of Jinguashi. We took a bus from here and it cost just $15 (around 40p) and we arrived in less than 15 minutes. You can also walk there in around half an hour.
New Taipei City Government Gold Museum
The bus dropped us off directly outside our first destination, the ‘New Taipei City Government Gold Museum’ (map). Like Jiufen, Jinguashi is a former goldmining town and here you can find out about its history. Admission is only $80 and when we visited it was two-for-one.
At the beginning of the tour, we visited the old living quarters for the owners of the mines before watching an animated educational video about the town’s goldmining history.
New Taipei City Government Gold Museum Opening Times: 9.30 am – 5 pm, Mon – Fri. 9.30 am – 6 pm, Sat & Sun.
New Taipei City Government Gold Museum Entrance Fee:
80 NT.
Teapot Hill
We then decided to climb a very steep hill to reach the ruins of an old temple where we could look out across the town and ‘Teapot Hill’.
Ruins of temple, Gold Museum, Jinguashi
Jinguashi Goldmines
We then paid an extra small admission fee to enter one of the old goldmines to learn about the conditions the workers would have to endure.
Entering the gold mines, Jinguashi
We then continued the tour of the museum. At the end there is a room where you can touch a piece of gold that has a value of almost eight million pounds! It felt surreal that this was here, with no security!
Touching gold at the Gold Museum, Jinguashi
Qitang Old Street
From the end of the museum, we continued along a trail which would lead us to ‘Qitang Old Street’ (map). There were signs telling us to watch out for poisonous snakes and deadly wasps but all we saw were some pretty butterflies.
From the trail, there was a good view over the town and of the huge statue of the God of War ‘Guang Kong’ that overlooks it.
Qitang Old Street, Jinguashi
Guang Kong statue, Jinguashi
Taiwan POW Memorial And Peace Park
We walked down the steep stairs into the small town and came across the ‘Taiwan POW Memorial and Peace Park’ (map). This small memorial park is free to enter and is a little run-down but serves as a good reminder of some of the atrocities that occurred in this part of the world during WWII.
Yin And Yang Sea
We continued our journey with the somewhat-questionable help from Google Maps. We were heading for the coast and our journey took us through some woodland before we arrived at a road that would lead us all the way there.
Heading for the coast, Jinguashi
Eventually, the sea appeared.
The sea appears, Jinguashi
Golden Waterfall
The road was winding and we took a slight detour to visit the ‘Golden Waterfall’ (map). Suddenly, there were groups of tourists taking photos. It is said that these rocks still contain gold. The waterfall is very beautiful.
Golden Waterfall, Jinguashi
As we got closer to the coast, we passed many mountain houses.
Mountain houses, Jinguashi
Yin And Yang Sea
We finally reached the coast just as the rain started. The sea is supposed to be famous for its multi-coloured bay but it didn’t seem that impressive to us. Turning away from the sea, we saw the ruins of an old coal mine, which were much more impressive. The bleak weather added to the atmosphere.
Old coal mines, Jinguashi
Having previously thought we would have to walk all the way back to Qineng Old Street to get a bus back to Jiufen, we were pleased to discover that buses run right from the coast. As it was now raining heavily, this was much appreciated!
Ice Cream And Coriander?
Back in Jiufen, we decided to try some of the local street food. I pigged out on various types of sausage and then we both tried the peanut ice cream roll from ‘A-Jou Peanut Ice Cream Roll’ (map). Two scoops of ice-cream are covered in peanut brittle and coriander (yes, coriander) and then wrapped in a Taiwanese crepe. It’s an odd combination but it was surprisingly good once I’d got over the initial weirdness!
We returned to our homestay and had another chilled night in preparation for our departure the next day.
Is Jiufen Worth Visiting?
You must add Jiufen to your Taiwan itinerary. It is a unique town, unlikely anywhere I’ve ever been. There is practically no nightlife so don’t come here expecting to party, but I would still recommend staying over for at least one night. The town is even more beautiful in the evening and you can always visit the nearby town of Jinguashi (as we did) or even Shifen (this is a little further away). You can also visit Jiufen easily enough as a day trip from Taipei. We spent a great two days here with our Taiwanese grandparents!
