A few weeks ago, we took my kid sister to Jiufen - she's here for a year, studying at Zhengda's Chinese language learning center, and has never been to either Jiufen or Jinguashi. We only made it to Jiufen (though we had planned to visit both towns) because we ended up climbing Keelung Mountain and it took us well into twilight to do so.
Getting to Jiufen was an adventure in itself. We arrived at Taipei 's Main's railway platform at 10:42am, exactly two minutes after the local train to Ruifang had departed. The next one wasn't coming for an hour. Why did we get there so late? We all agreed that we wanted to sleep in a little and not drag ourselves out of bed at 7am. Rather than wait on the platform for an hour (b-o-r-i-n-g) and giving our day a sour start, we boarded the next train, which terminated at Qidu, figuring we'd find a way to Jiufen from there.
When we got to Qidu, all seemed lost - we were simply going to have to wait 40 minutes for that same local to Ruifang (the base from which to take a bus/taxi to Jiufen). The station master didn't know of any other way. Fortunately, at that moment, a nice girl who grew up in the area was heading through the station on the way to visit her mother. She told us that the place where she was planning to meet her siblings to head to their
laojia (ancestral home) happened to have a bus stop where the bus to Jiufen came. Woohoo! We climbed in a taxi with her and her recently-rescued stray cat, Meimei, and headed for a 7-11 on the border of Taipei and Keelung Counties (what else would you expect to be there?). She met her siblings, all of whom had adorable pets in tow, and we gave her some cash for the taxi and boarded the bus to Jiufen, which came soon after. Success!
Below are some photos:
Clay masks along the 'stair street' at Jiufen...most people who've been there have passed this house. Someday I really will go inside.
Jiufen and Jinguashi are noted for having lots of old-style houses, most of which have been coverted into museums, teahouses, cafes and other tourist amenities. While I prefer authenticity to convenience, I guess it's a better fate than being torn down or cascading into ruin.
Brendan and I have been to Jiufen several times (I believe this was my fourth visit) but as Becca hadn't, and wanted to buy gifts, souvenirs etc. from Taiwan, we took her down the tourist street. While I'm not too fond of it (you can get the same stuff almost anywhere) I do like their fancypants soap store, which sells great facial soaps made from herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. I also got a new pair of beaded flipflops for summer and a travel accessory bag made of fake 'Chinese silk'.
The good thing about the market is that there are also lots of different foods on offer. We particularly liked the cup of squid and the deep fried chunks of giant mushroom.
Delicious pickled mango!
Gooey snacks - if you look at the colors, you can see that she's making taro and sweet potato goo-balls, which is a popular flavor combination in Taiwan. And, for some reason I've never figured out, Taiwanese people seem to love gooey snacks...the chewier the better.
The bad thing is that on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, it was packed to the point where even the Taiwanese people there thought it was too crowded (wow). There were times when you couldn't move at all. A good warning to try and visit on a weekday, if at all possible.
Crowds and crowds
Afterwards, hot and tired from the pushing crowd, but well-fed on squid and fried mushrooms, we headed to one of Jiufen's famous teahouses to relax in the sun and have a cold drink. We were the only ones out on the deck except for a couple lounging under the awning, far from the sun...another thing locals seem to hate is getting a tan. But after a winter of clouds and drizzle, we were basking in it.
Traditional buildings have mostly been converted into teahouses. Above is one with Keelung Mountain in the background.
Doesn't that iced green tea look great?
From our balcony perspective, we also got to enjoy Jiufen's famous views over the northeast coast (I actually prefer Jinguashi's views to an extent, but Jiufen's are lovely too).
Afterwards, as the afternoon waned, we decided that we had just enough time to make it to the top of Keelung Mountain and back before sunset. Keelung Mountain is shown in the background of one of the photos above, and it doesn't look all that difficult, does it?
Did we really think we'd have time to make it up and back this late in the day?
Well, it's not a tough climb, per se, but it is all stairs which meant that my knees were creaking as we ascended. It also took longer than we thought.
On the road to the trailhead
Along the way, you can see views of Jiufen on one side and Jinguashi on the other, with strategically placed pagodas from which to view them both. At ground level, the lower levels of the mountain are littered with tiny shrines. As you ascend, the view expands on either end to include Bitou Cape on one side and Keelung City on the other.
Jinguashi on one side...
...and Jiufen on the other
Me and Brendan with a view of Jinguashi's coastline
Tiny shrines dot the sides of Keelung Mountain
Pagodas on the way up give you a chance to rest and enjoy the view.
This may not look like much, but look in the wide valley on the righthand side. Do you see a little stick poking out? That's Taipei 101, as seen from the north coast of Taiwan!
Views of Jinguashi
The sun set on our way down.
As you can see, we didn't quite make it up and back before sunset. It got darker as we descended, and by the time we hit the final pagoda, night had fallen. We walked the rest of the way with barely any illumination, but with the lights of the northeast coast twinkling in front of us, and those of ships out to sea behind us. In the distance we could see the city of Keelung lit up brightly.
We took the bus to Keelung Night Market for dinner, though after all that snacking we weren't very hungry. But Keelung is a great night market spot, so we made room for some delicious, fresh seafood.
Lots of oranges!
Mmmm, sea urchin sashimi. My favorite!
We had sea urchins (visible above), cream crabs (crabs cooked in cream and butter with onions and other seasonings), clams, sweet potato leaves and beer. It was delicious!
A long time ago we visited the Fairy Cave Temple in Keelung. You can get there by bus from the train station; it's in a part of the city rarely visited by foreigners and really quite quiet. Despite being near the harbor the feel of the area is almost suburban. 
Lots of visitors have carved their names on the stone walls in the back corridors.
The walls and passageways are naturally, carved out of a pre-existing cave. They've still got their natural contours.
Lots of carved marble and other white stone statues are displayed around the temple's cave walls.
Painted figures abound in one of the main rooms of the temple.
Idols and icons are carved into the stone walls at the temple.
Statues in the Fairy Temple.
The opening to another section of the Fairy Cave Temple.
Keelung Island (Heping Island?) off the coast of Keelung Harbor. You can see it from the fort near the Fairy Temple on a bluff to the west of the harbor.
Brendan in front of the most beautiful view in the world. We should get our wedding photos taken here!
The walls and passageways are naturally, carved out of a pre-existing cave. They've still got their natural contours.
Lots of carved marble and other white stone statues are displayed around the temple's cave walls.
Painted figures abound in one of the main rooms of the temple.
Idols and icons are carved into the stone walls at the temple.
Statues in the Fairy Temple.
The opening to another section of the Fairy Cave Temple.
Keelung Island (Heping Island?) off the coast of Keelung Harbor. You can see it from the fort near the Fairy Temple on a bluff to the west of the harbor.
Brendan in front of the most beautiful view in the world. We should get our wedding photos taken here!
