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Showing posts with label Taipei. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taipei. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

✈ Day 3 in Taiwan: Cyuanji Temple (勸濟堂), Baoshi Mountain (报时山) and Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park (金瓜石黄金博物园区)


Getting to know more about the history of Jinguashi (金瓜石) - Cyuanji Temple (勸濟堂), Baoshi Mountain (报时山) and Gold Ecological Park (黄金博物园区). This marks the last day staying in Jinguashi and we will be traveling back to Taipei later in the afternoon. Since we wanted to go to Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園) while on the way back to Taipei and we both were carrying big luggage, we decided to hire a driver and took this opportunity to visit places which we didn't get to go in the past two days. So we started off our journey by visiting Cyuanji Temple, the perfect location overlooking the whole Jinguashi area and one historical site here.


Commonly known as Qitang Temple (祈堂廟) to the locals, Cyuanji Temple (勸濟堂) was built in 1896 and is considered as one of the three main temples in Jinguashi, alongside Jinfu Temple and Baomin Temple. Cyuanji Temple has a very distinctive design with an amalgamation of Eastern and Western elements. The wooden carvings throughout the temple's exterior and interior, such as the shrine, table, beams and even pillars are the masterpieces of national treasure folk artisan, Huang Gui-Li during his prime.




This gold and bronze Guan Gong statue holding the Spring and Autumn Annals in hand on the roof of the temple is the largest statue in the world, weighing more than 25 tons and 35 feet in height.


From the highest floor of Cyuanji Temple, one can overlook the exquisite panoramic view of Jinguashi here including the well-known Yin Yang Sea (阴阳海), the Little Jingua Gold Outcrop (小金瓜露头) where Jinguashi got its name from, Benshan Fifth Tunnel (本山五坑) and etc.


Located 250m away from Cyuanji Temple, there's one wooden platform on Baoshi Mountain (报时山) offering breathtaking view of the bay below. When I first saw it in a travel book, I swear to myself that I must visit this place and I'm more than happy to be here! This place is way too gorgeous! Baoshi Mountain is a tiny mountain peak - its name originated during the Japanese Era when large air raid sirens were installed on the mountain; the alarms went off in regular intervals, hence the name Baoshi Mountain.


As I've mentioned previously, there are so many abandoned factories and remains of the mining industry here in Jinguashi and this is one of them; remain of a cable car which used to transport mines from the tunnel above to Shuinandong Smelter (水湳洞精鍊廠).




Coming down from Baoshi Mountain, we decided to visit Gold Ecological Park (黄金博物园区) as one last stop before leaving Jinguashi. The Gold Ecological Park is Taiwan's first museum planned as an eco-museum, the aim being to combine community power and completely preserve the precious natural resources, mining relics, landscape, historical memories and cultural property of Jinguashi.


The first thing I spotted is this Four Joined of Japanese-Style Residence (四连栋) which was formally called Living Art Experience Workshop (生活美学体验坊). Four joined house Japanese buildings are very rare in Taiwan hence it's a precious cultural asset in Jinguashi. If you do notice, this building has actually appeared in Show Luo's drama "Corner with Love" (转角遇到爱) as his residence.



In the Gold Ecological Museum, the first floor exhibitions include a history tour of the mining regions of Jiufen and Jinguashi and its artifacts. The contents include a model of the mining tunnels, displays of the ore seam, old mining equipments and other utilities, along with a history lesson on the Japanese WWII camp. The most popular exhibition is the newly added gold sphere - it truly embodies the prowess of the private gold refineries in Jiufen.








While the second floor's theme is gold. You can spot this map of gold mines around the World once you enter the exhibition, addressing the history of gold, chronicling stories about gold from both Eastern and Western cultures.



They also display how the role of gold has played through mankind - how it is used in different occasions in one's life, such as weddings, funerals, ceremonies and etc. There are also films on gold artisans sharing notes on their creations and display of gold artworks created by local artists.


The main attraction on the second floor is this 220kg gold ingot - the treasure of this museum, featuring an electronic sign displaying today's gold prices. Tourists are allowed to touch it and get a feel the value of this 220kg ingot. Besides, it's mentioned that anyone who can lift up this 220kg gold ingot can bring it home but obviously no one has yet to success.



Among the 9 tunnels in Benshan Minefield, this Benshan Fifth Tunnel (本山五坑) is the most well preserved tunnel in Jinguashi and open to public where tourists can see and feel the mining work done in the past.


NT 50 each person per entry and we were given a safety helmet before entering the tunnel as there might be some water dripping from the top.


To realize the eco-museum ideas and give tourists an experience of being in an actual tunnel and a better understanding of the working conditions underground, Benshan Fifth Tunnel was renovated and partly re-opened to the public as the tunnel experience area.


There are lifelike wax figures and information boards inside the tunnel to show you the process of the ore mining and how the miners worked in the past. Audio guided tour services are also provided through the conversation of an older miner with a younger miner, tourists can get a better understanding of how the blasting, cleaning wasted rock, collecting and excavation were done.



While you walk along the pathway, there's a small booth setting up specially for gold mining experience (costs NT 120) where tourists can get a lesson on how to pan for gold and they're allowed to bring it home of which they accumulated through panning.


Before we going for lunch, we make a quick visit to Crown Prince Chalet (太子宾馆) which was built in 1922 during the Japanese colonial period in anticipation by a visit by the crown prince of Japan but he didn't actually visit in the end. Being the finest Japanese style wood building surviving in Taiwan today, the building and the gardens are arranged in a goose flight formation with red cypress building material forming a pure Japanese style house.


It's getting late when we're done visiting the Museum of Gold, Benshan Fifth Tunnel and etc, we decided to have our lunch here at Golden Impression Cafe and Restaurant (矿工餐堂之黄金印象意式餐厅) and go to Yehliu Geopark right after.


Being the most popular restaurant here in Gold Ecological Park, how can we not order the star item on their menu, Mineworker's Lunch Box (矿工便当) for NT 290 which consists of Taiwanese pork chop with tofu, pickled vegetables, rice and black tea and you can actually bring back the container, handkerchief and even the chopsticks as souvenirs. Honestly, I don't really fancy the food here and I guess people only come for this Mineworker's Lunch Box as momento.


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Recommendations/Tips:
It is not necessary to hire a driver to get around Jinguashi and those places I've visited like Cyuanji Temple, Baoshi Mountain and Gold Ecological park are all easily accessed by public transport (eg. bus). I'm not saying tour guide is a waste of money but I personally prefer to explore like the locals and not rushing from one to other attractions meaninglessly. Tour guide is good as well because they can explain everything to you in details so you can know more about the history of the place and they know which specific point offers the best view. For my case, we wanted to visit Yehliu Geopark on our way back to Taipei and we both were carrying big luggage, it will be very troublesome for us to take public transport and change station from one to another.

For those who need touring, I would recommend my driver, Mark Lin 林冠宇, he is very friendly and he does very detailed explanations in every single aspects. I love the effort he puts in that he even print out some materials like photos for us to understand better the history of Jinguashi. Mark is staying in Jinguashi hence he's very familiar with this area and he speaks fluent English (he used to be an English teacher). You may contact him at 0920416332 or drop him an email at mark0918@gmail.com. WeChat or LINE are also available at @marktouring. I'm not paid to write this but I truly think his excellent service is worth to be credited.

Back to my itinerary, I would suggest one to plan a half day trip here in Gold Ecological Park because there are too many things to see and experience it on your own especially if you're a person like me who is curious of everything and my mum who will actually read every single thing on the information board provided. We only managed to stay here for about 3 hours and made a quick visit to the Museum of Gold, Benshan Fifth Tunnel, Crown Prince Chalet and gold mining experience. The area is so big that there are many stuffs we didn't get to see yet so we will definitely revisit this place in the future!


Sneak peak of my upcoming post of Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園) and I will be holding my very first giveaway soon! Stay tuned for more :)


Other posts of Taiwan:
[Accommodation] Levite Villa (利未庄园民宿): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/10/accommodation-levite-villa-new-taipei.html
[Accommodation] Cloud Village (雲山水小築民宿): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/10/accommodation-cloud-village-new-taipei.html
Day 1 & 2: Keelung Miaokou Night Market (基隆庙口夜市) & 891 Goldwater Romantic Shuttle Bus (891金水浪漫号): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/11/day-1-2-in-taiwan-keelung-miaokou-night.html
Day 2: Shifen, Jingtong and Jiufen (十分, 菁桐, 九份): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/11/day-2-in-taiwan-shifen-jingtong-and.html

Monday, November 17, 2014

✈ Day 2 in Taiwan: Shifen (十分), Jingtong (菁桐) and Jiufen (九份)


Continued from my previous post of day 1 & 2: Keelung Miaokou Night Market (基隆庙口夜市) and 891 Goldwater Romantic Shuttle Bus (891金水浪漫号): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/11/day-1-2-in-taiwan-keelung-miaokou-night.html...

It's always fun and adventure to hop on from one bus to another and discover these beautiful small towns. After experiencing 891 Goldwater Romantic Shuttle Bus and visited all the attractions in Jin Gua Shi, we then rode on Pingxi and Shen'ao Line (平溪,深澳双支线) at Ruifang Station (瑞芳火车站), winding its way almost 13km up the Keelung River valley to the atmospheric village of Jingtong and passing through the old mining communities of Shifen and Pingxi. The railway was originally built to transport coal and now has transformed to an internationally renowned railway for one to discover the coal-mining history of Taiwan and experience lighting sky lanterns.


The original Pingxi Branch Rail Line has now been replaced by Pingxi and Shen'ao Line with extra stations. One day pass is available at only NT 64 per person with unlimited rides. The routes for Pingxi Line and Shen'ao Line are as follows (it's printed at the back of your ticket as well):
Haikeguan (Museum Station) (海科馆) > Ruifang (瑞芳) > Houtong (猴硐) > Sandiaoling (三貂嶺) > Dahua (大华) > Shifen (十分) > Wanggu (望古) > Lingjiao (嶺腳) > Pingxi (平溪) > Jingtong (菁桐)


Our first stop, Shifen Station (十分车站). If you do notice, Shifen Station is larger than other stations along the Pingxi and Shen'ao Line as it has dual tracks that allow trains to intersect here.

Shifen Old Street (十分老街) has steadily become one of the busiest tourist stops along this line. It's mainly filled by sky lantern and souvenir shops, grocery stores and restaurants on both sides of the railway. Although Shifen Old Street is now a popular tourist shop, the old street still keeps its nostalgic, relaxing ambiance, where one may sometimes find residents sit in front of their houses, chatting and socializing. Shifen Old Street is not only a great place for photography, sky lanterns and to see the unique scene of trains running right through the old street, but also a nice place to sample local snacks that will satiate your taste buds.








Hand-drawn map of Shifen was discovered in one of the alleys.


The famous Jingan Suspension Bridge (静安桥) is located right behind Shifen Station. The bridge connects Shifen and Nanshan Village (南山村), and was originally used for transporting coal and later renovated to a pedestrian bridge after coal-mining industry has ended. According to travel information which I've found online, all the houses in Nanshan Village (windows, doors and even exterior walls) are all painted in blue, which is one of Nanshan Village's characteristics.



One activity where you can't miss out here in Shifen, the sky lanterns. When settlement was underway in Pingxi during the early to mid-19th century, the village was often disrupted by bandits. After autumn harvest ended, villagers packed their belongings and retreated to the mountains to hide. When Lantern Festival came, somebody would be sent back to the village to see if the bandits are gone. The scout then released a sky lantern so the villagers would know it was safe to return. Sky lanterns soon came to symbolize peace and represent the sending of one's wishes to the heavens.

Sky lantern comes in various colours and each colour represents different wishes (eg. red for health, yellow for wealth, purple for study, green for success and etc). For those who has multiple wishes, most of the shops do sell multi-colour sky lanterns as well. The price for sky lanterns and souvenirs are the same for every shops so there's no need to compare price and bargain. Besides, they do provide 'photography services' where the owner or staffs will help you take pictures while you lit up and release the sky lantern.


Apart from Shifen Station and sky lanterns, one of the popular attractions here is Shifen Waterfall (十分瀑布), 15 to 20 minutes walk away from Shifen Old Street. As a cascade waterfall similar to Niagara Falls, where the bedrock slopes in the opposite direction of the water flow, Shifen Waterfall is known as "Taiwan's Niagara Falls" and it's actually Taiwan's broadest waterfall with a total height of 20 meters and 40 meters in width, located on the upper reaches of the Keelung River. Shifen Waterfall is also called the "Rainbow Pond" as it's often shrouded in mist throughout the year, iridescent rainbows appear against the clear sky when the sun shines on the droplets of the waterfall and form this spectacular natural phenomenon. My mom and I were too lazy to walk there, hence we just linger around Shifen Old Street.

After an hour, we hop on the train and move to our second destination. The final station on the Pingxi and Shen'ao Line, and the one with the most Japanese influence, Jingtong (菁桐). Entering the traditional wooden building is like stepping eight decades back in time. The wooden ticket gates speak of an earlier age, as does the tiny boarding area. Antique tables and safes are still used, and old electric train tablets for preventing collisions remain. Jingtong Station is an excellent destination for anyone with a fondness for history or an interest in the golden age of the Pingxi Line.


There is a Jingtong Mining Museum (菁桐矿业生活馆) here displaying various cultural artifacts of Pingxi including coal and railway relics where you can get to know more about how the coal-mining industry operates back in years ago.







One of the reasons why I visit Jingtong, and also highly recommended by my host family, is this police precinct with a 9-meter-high glass structure in the shape of a sky lantern (菁桐天灯派出所). Everyday from 4pm onwards, it will display LED animated videos about the history of sky lanterns. We only managed to catch half of the show as we don't want to miss the train and move on to Jiufen.


Jiufen (九份) is definitely one popular tourist spot and always on my must-go list in Taiwan. Long time ago where there were only nine families living in the area and due to the inefficiency of transport to the region, the families would reserve nine portions of each household good to be delivered at one time. Thus, the name Jiufen, "Nine Portions", stuck and has been the name of the town ever since.

It's very easy to get around Jiufen; it's covered by two pedestrian streets: Jishan Street (基山街) right beside 7-11 which runs along the ridge line, and Shuqi Street (豎崎路) which runs up and down the slope of the hill. For Japanese anime fans, you may recognize that Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) served as the inspiration for the setting of Hayao Miyazaki's Academy Award winning "Spirited Away".



There are many eateries up here in Jiufen and the first one we've tried is this Fish Ball Uncle (鱼丸伯仔). It's a famous homemade shark fish ball noodle stall with more than 60 years of heritage. Taiwanese fish balls are very different from ours one; theirs taste very Q and chewy with tangy broth which I personally love it very much. (Y)

Add: No. 17, Jishan Street
Operating hour: 10:00AM - 7:00PM daily


A-Xin's Shop (阿信的店) selling various specialty Taiwanese snacks including fruit jelly, plum wine, mochi, almond cookies, peanut brittle, iron eggs and etc.

Add: No. 21, Jishan Street
Operating hour: 8:30AM - 7:00PM daily



One of the souvenir shops which attracts my attention, Shicheng Taiwan Ocarina (是诚陶笛). Ocarina is a kind of wind instrument made up of pottery clay. As long as the airflow control is proper, the notes with above two bars can be blown out with a little air. The ocarinas here are made into many different type of animal shapes such as duck, elephant, cat, dolphin and etc... too cute to resist! I've bought myself a mini owl-shaped ocarina for NT 150 and comes with a guidebook and instructions.

Add: No. 4-7, Jishan Street
Operating hour: 10:00AM - 7:00PM daily


Cute cartoon shaped maltose candies (麦芽糖) are spotted!


Another popular snacks highly recommended by travel bloggers, A-Zhu Peanut Ice Cream Roll (阿珠雪在烧). Two scoops of ice cream with grounded peanut, malt sugar and celery leaves wrapped in popiah skin, it tastes really good surprisingly!

Add: No. 20, Jishan Street


Ah Lan Hakka Glutinous Rice Cake (阿兰芋粿草仔粿); it taste exactly the same as Ang Ku Kueh (紅龜粿) here in Malaysia but the texture is much more chewy. There are sweet and salty versions of fillings while I picked the one with red bean filling and shredded radish for mummy, both taste equally good!

Add: No. 90, Jishan Street
Operating hour: 9:00AM - 10:00PM daily


Among all the eateries, Grandma Lai's Yuyuan (赖阿婆芋圆) seems to be the most popular and favoured by the locals. Chewy and flavourful taro balls in hot red bean soup is definitely the best comfort in this chilly weather.

Add: No. 135, Jishan Street
Operating hour: 7:00AM - 9:00PM daily



Shuqi Street (豎崎路) and A-Mei Tea House (阿妹茶楼) are often flooded with tourists. If you are wondering, Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "A City of Sadness" (悲情城市) has utilized Jiufen as the backdrop to the events of the 228 incident and these two are specially featured in the movie.


At the end of Jishan Street (基山街), there's a platform where you get to enjoy this scenic and breathtaking view of Jiufen. There are many tea houses and coffee shops along the streets as well. Jiufen is such a treasury with an array of local Taiwanese food along the streets, offering exquisite view of mountains and lively environment in this area. Here's a list of eateries and shops which I've compiled from various bloggers (including me!), travel books and also the locals (in no particular order):
  • 李仪饼店 Li Yi Cake Shop
  • 鱼丸伯仔 Fish Ball Uncle
  • 九份张记传统鱼丸 Chang's Traditional Fish Ball
  • 金枝红糟素肉圆 Jinzhi's Vegetarian Meatball with Red Vinasse
  • 阿珠雪在烧 A-Zhu Peanut Ice Cream Roll
  • 黑山猪香肠 Kurobuta (Black Pig) Sausage
  • 阿兰芋粿草仔粿 Ah Lan Hakka Glutinous Rice Cake
  • 赖阿婆芋圆 Grandma Lai's Yuyuan
  • 阿柑姨芋圆 A Gan Yi Yuyuan 
  • 海悦楼 Hai Yue Lou Scenery Tea House
  • 阿妹茶楼 A-Mei Tea House
  • 是诚陶笛 Shicheng Taiwan Ocarina
  • 泥人吴 Sculptor Wu's Ghost Mask Museum
  • 昇平劇院 Shengping Theater

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Recommendations/Tips:
As I've mentioned in my previous post, I hop on the 891 Goldwater Romantic Shuttle Bus to get around Jin Gua Shi at Gold Ecological Park and get off at the same place as well. Then I hop on to another bus, Keelung Bus No. 788 (基隆客运788) (bus routes as attached) to go to Ruifang Station and rode on Pingxi and Shen'ao Line. From Jin Gua Shi to Ruifang Station, bus fare costs NT 15 one way per person (swipe your EasyCard (悠游卡) one time only) as it doesn't passes the staging point, New Taipei City Community (新北市界).


In my opinion, one can spend the whole day here for Pingxi and Shen'ao Line discovering these small towns. The popular stations are Houtong (猴硐), Shifen (十分), Pingxi (平溪) and Jingtong (菁桐). Houtong was one of Taiwan's largest coal-mining sites up until the 1970s but now it's acknowledged as "Cat Village" (猫村), where approximately 100 stray but friendly cats roaming the streets freely. Definitely a must-go place for cat lovers! While for Shifen, Pingxi and Jingtong, I personally think these three places offer the similar scenery and activities, hence if you're rushing for other itinerary, you may just stop by Shifen only.

Based on my experience, I would suggest you to stay about 2 hours in Shifen includes visiting the "Taiwan's Niagara Falls", Shifen Waterfall and lighting a sky lantern. You may need to estimate longer time for picture taking if you're going with a big bunch of friends/family. One important thing that you must take note when taking Pingxi and Shen'ao Line is time management as the train interval is 1 hour. If you miss the train, you will have to wait for another hour and there may be nothing much to do around the village. Hence, you must mark down the time when you get off the train and come back on time.

After visiting Jingtong, we took the train back to Ruifang Station and hop on Keelung Bus No. 788 again to get to Jiufen. The bus station is right opposite of Ruifang Station and in front of Wellcome Supermarket (顶好). There are two stations where you can get off the bus and access to Jiufen, namely Jiufen (九份) (nearby police precinct) and Jiudao (旧道) (nearby 7-11).

(map sourced from Google but edited on my own)

As I've mentioned earlier, Jiufen is covered by two pedestrian streets: Jishan Street (基山街) and Shuqi Street (豎崎路). I would recommend you to get off the bus at Jiudao Station (nearby 7-11) and start exploring from Jishan Street and walk further down to Shuqi Street. In that way you can skip climbing up the stairs all the way to Jiufen Old Street. I've attached the map of Jiufen as above for your references.


Other posts of Taiwan:
[Accommodation] Levite Villa (利未庄园民宿): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/10/accommodation-levite-villa-new-taipei.html
[Accommodation] Cloud Village (雲山水小築民宿): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/10/accommodation-cloud-village-new-taipei.html
Day 1 & 2: Keelung Miaokou Night Market (基隆庙口夜市) & 891 Goldwater Romantic Shuttle Bus (891金水浪漫号): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/11/day-1-2-in-taiwan-keelung-miaokou-night.html
Day 3: Cyuanji Temple, Baoshi Mountain and Gold Ecological Park: (勸濟堂, 报时山, 黄金博物园区): www.yuhjiun09.com/2014/11/day-3-in-taiwan-cyuanji-temple-baoshi.html

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