While Jiufen is absolutely worth a visit, the sheer number of tourists making their way here every day makes public transport busy and uncomfortable, sometimes even requiring you to queue for a long time just to board a bus.
If your time is limited, and you are keen to visit Jiufen alongside other attractions nearby, then join us on a tour. Jiufen has a long and fascinating history of gold mining that our guides on the Jiufen Sky Lantern tour will only be too happy to tell you about!
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Namespaces Page Discussion. Views Read Edit View history. Main page Travel destinations Star articles What's Nearby? Tourist office Random page. During World War II, the town housed a Japanese prisoner of war camp where captured Allied Force soldiers mainly British were forced to work in the gold mines. After the war, gold mining activities declined, and the town today exists mainly as a tourist destination remembering and celebrating Taiwanese history and culture.
From the beginning of the s, Jiufen experienced a tourist boom that has shaped the town into an attraction easily accessible from Taipei City as a nice day trip around 2 hours away roundtrip by public transit. The three roads running perpendicular to Shuqi Road Jishan St.
Besides the main roads, there are numerous small alleys and lanes that snake around the area and sometimes even run beneath buildings. Explore Jiufen and the surrounding mountain area as part of a tour inclusive of transportation with an English-speaking guide to enjoy your day without having to worry about taking public transportation in and out of Taipei City.
Since there are a limited amount of guesthouses and hotels in Jiufen and it is one of Taiwan's more popular destinations, early reservation is recommended. Gold was discovered in the area in the s, resulting in a gold rush, and Jiufen developed as a gold boomtown. Jiufen reached its peak during the Japanese colonial occupation of Taiwan Many Japanese inns from that era survive today.
Nearby Jinguashi suffered the same fate as Jiufen, and today is the site of the Gold Ecological Park , commonly visited in combination with Jiufen. This initiated a domestic and later international tourism boom that saw the city redevelop into the tourism center that it is today. Jiufen only seems to get more and more popular every year. It has been promoted heavily in Japan, Taiwanese people love going there on the weekend, and it is one of the top day trips from Taipei for international tourists.
If you are interested in Japanese-era architecture in Taiwan, you can find information about other Japanese buildings in Taiwan in my guides to the best temples in Taipei , historic Dihua Street in Taipei , and places to visit in Taichung.
Spots are in nearby Jinguashi, a minute ride past Jiufen by bus. You only need about 2 hours to cover the Jiufen attractions, including stopping for food and tea, but you can easily double that if you add Jinguashi. The old street begins beside the 7-Eleven near the Jiufen Old Street bus stop, and meanders uphill, which numerous lanes and staircases branching off from it.
You could walk all the way up to the top of the village and back down in about 30 minutes, but most people spend a couple hours here, including some shopping, photo taking, snacks, and stopping somewhere for lunch or tea. The old street is very touristy but still has a lot of charm. After that, the road leads to a collection of hillside houses that has a more local feel, where a temple, several guesthouses, and a very traditional teahouse are located. You can find lots of Spirited Away souvenirs on the staircase leading up or down to it.
This beautiful wooden building once housed the only blacksmith in Jiufen, and it has been beautifully preserved and maintained. If you come during the day or early evening especially on weekends , the line to enter may be really, really long. Therefore, it is very smart to pre-order your tea set online minimum 1 day in advance. I went quite early when I visited around 9 a. For the tea set, you only need to choose between hot or iced tea. Each set comes with four little treats: brown sugar mochi, green bean cake, sesame crackers, and sweet plums.
The tea is served in the traditional kung-fu style, and the waiter gave me a thorough demonstration on how to do it and speaks perfect English. You have to enter through a stone tunnel from the street that miners once used to get to the Jiufen mine, which is pretty surreal! You are more likely to get a seat with a view here than at Amei or any seat at all.
Further up the Jiufen Old Street from the staircase down to Amei, there is a section with several quieter teahouses that all have great views. It was built with Taiwanese cypress hinoki in the imitation Baroque style popular in Japan at the time.
Inside, you can see old movie posters, a well-preserved concession stand, and an old movie projector. The square in front of the theater was once a bustling social center and marketplace in Jiufen. Visitors to Japan love renting kimonos and yukatas for their visit; now the thing to do in Taiwan is to rent a traditional Chinese qipao sometimes spelled chipao in Taiwan to stroll around and take photos. The easiest way to do this is to order your qipao in advance online.
None of them will take offense, and Taiwanese love renting kimonos when they travel to Japan. Another popular place in Taiwan to rent a qipao is historic Dadaocheng in Taipei.
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