On our third day in Taiwan, we took a Klook tour of a few places outside of Taipei: Jiufen, Shifen (which included a wonderful Sky Lantern experience), and Yehliu Geopark.
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| A-Mei Teahouse in Jiufen |
As I was planning for our trip, my friends told me that Jiufen and Shifen are quite close to each other so I can do them both on the same day. They also told me that it is advisable to take a tour of both because trying to take public transportation from Taipei to Jiufen and back would be difficult, moreso if we want to go to Shifen as well. Thankfully, I found a tour on Klook that included not only Jiufen and Shifen but also Yehliu Geopark, another place I really wanted to visit.
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| Yehliu Geopark |
We started our day in Shifen. Actually, the initial plan was for us to visit Shifen in the afternoon but our tour guide told us that there were many tours scheduled that day and many visitors were expected to do the Sky Lantern experience in the afternoon. To avoid the crowds, we shifted our schedule. We had two main stops in Shifen: the Shifen Waterfall and the Sky Lantern Experience. We went to the waterfall first.
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| Shifen Waterfall |
Our guide told us that Shifen Waterfall is the largest one in Taiwan by width and volume of water. It is touted as the Little Niagara of Taiwan. My family and I spent a few minutes admiring the beauty of this natural wonder and taking photos.
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| Photo op at Shifen Waterfall |
Before we got off the bus to see it, our tour guide told us that we might also want to take a quick look at a small waterfall underneath the bridge that we have to cross to see Shifen Waterfall. This small waterfall is nicknamed the Spectacles Waterfall because of how it looks like: it flows between two caves that kinda look like eyes or eyeglasses because of how close they are to each other. I made sure that my family and I got to see and appreciate it before heading back to the bus.
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| Spectacles Waterfall in Shifen |
Our next step was Shifen Old Street where we would have our Sky Lantern Experience. The tour I booked doesn't include the Sky Lantern experience so I had to get our passes separately (also through Klook, check out this link). That said, our tour guide informed everyone that those who didn't have tickets could still get them through her (so anyone who takes the main Klook tour I took but forgets to book the Sky Lantern Experience separately can still enjoy it by coordinating and paying tickets through the tour guide).
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| Railway at Shifen Old Street |
Up to four people can fly one lantern. The sky lanterns have four sides, all with different colors. Each color signified something different and we could choose which color combination we wanted. For our lantern, I picked red for health and peace, pink for bliss and joy, blue for career and promotion, and yellow for money and wealth. When we arrived, our lantern with the colors we chose was already prepared. We then started writing our wishes on it. We then went out onto the railway where we were assisted in lighting up our lantern and setting it to flight. It was a spiritual and moving experience to declare your wishes in this way and send it to the heavens. Hopefully our wishes come true.
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| Our sky lantern! |
I also have to commend the people at the Sky Lantern Experience, they took great photos and videos of us with our sky lantern. The woman giving us directions and taking our photos asked us where we were from and when she learned we were Filipino, she said a few Filipino words such as "hawak" (hold) and "bitaw" (let go). Cool!
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| Releasing our sky lantern |
Before leaving Shifen Old Street, we went to Stall #69 to enjoy some peanut ice cream.
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| Peanut ice cream from Stall #69 |
We also pre-ordered rice-stuffed chicken wings while on the bus, and our tour guide brought them to us at Stall #69. She said that this is a popular street food item in Shifen so we decided to try it.
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| Rice-stuffed Chicken Wings |
Our next stop was Jiufen. Our guide told us that decades ago, Jiufen was a bustling town, known for gold-mining. The gold rush here ended around 1971 but it regained popularity when it was featured as a film setting in the Taiwanese movie A City of Sadness.
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| Jiufen |
Because of that, Jiufen became a major tourist spot in the country again. Visitors of this charming town can enjoy great views of the sea and of the mountains. Jiufen Old Street is also known for shopping and food. One of the most popular landmarks here is A-Mei Teahouse, with its old Taiwanese aesthetic made even more beautiful by its many red lanterns. It is said that this teahouse served as the inspiration for the bathhouse in the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away. Naturally, we took a lot of photos of this sight. If we had more time, I would have loved to enjoy some food and refreshments here but our schedule was quite tight.
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| Photo op next to A-Mei Teahouse along Shuqi Road |
I will say that it can be quite a challenge to navigate Jiufen Old Street because of its many narrow winding pathways that go up and down. Add to that the large crowds that go through Jishan Street (the flat street with many shops and restaurants) and Shuqi Road (the steep stone stairway that intersects with Jishan street).
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| Large crowds heading up Shuqi Road |
As such, we barely got to do any shopping here. We mainly took photos and had lunch at one of the restaurants along Jishan Street where we got to enjoy some local fare like xiao long bao.
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| Enjoying xiao long bao in Jiufen |
Our guide also recommended a great pineapple cake store along Jishan Street: Lao Zhen Xiang Bakery. We got to try some freshly baked pineapple cake and it was really good so we ended up buying one box. I would have loved to get more many places in Jiufen including Lao Zhen Xiang don't accept credit cards. Sadly, we didn't have enough cash with us so we couldn't buy more.
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| Pineapple Cake from Lao Zhen Xiang Bakery |
Our final stop of our day tour was Yehliu Geopark, which is known for its amazing rock formations that were formed over time through weathering and erosion. Our main Klook tour didn't include tickets to Yehliu Geopark as well so I purchased entrance tickets separately, also through Klook (through this link). The people in our tour who didn't get to buy tickets in advance purchased their tickets there, aided by our guide.
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| Yehliu Geopark |
We got to see and take photos of some of the most popular rock formations at the geopark, including the Queen's Head, which is the most famous one here,
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| Queen's Head rock formation |
the Cute Princess,
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| Cute Princess rock formation |
and the Heart-shaped Rock.
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| Heart-shaped rock formation |
Yehliu Geopark is quite a large area with many fantastic rock formations to see and admire. Sadly, we only had about an hour to spend here but despite the limited time, we still get to appreciate a lot of its amazing scenery and soak in the wonders of nature.
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| Yehliu Geopark |
It was around 430pm when we got back on our tour bus that took us back to the Taipei Main Station. It was a packed day but despite a bit of a rush, which is true for almost any tour, it was a full of superb experiences and I'm happy that my family and I got to enjoy them all.
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| Suspension bridge in Shifen |
Next: Taichung
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