Day Three: Jioufen

Located some 35km east of Taipei lies Jioufen, a seaside mountain town, and former prominent mining community that has to be one of the most beautiful places in the entire world. At the very least, it’s the most beautiful place this blogger has seen. Today, the town is famous for its Old Street, a winding alley lined with shops, stores, and restaurants all immaculately adorned and lit with gorgeous hanging Chinese lanterns. Many have noted the town’s striking resemblance to the village at the center of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, and given the amount of Studio Ghibli merchandise available, Jioufen certainly doesn’t shy away from that comparison. 

Alas, some places are just hard to capture with words so for most of today’s post, I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Still, here were the major beats of an unforgettable day:

We began by taking a convenient city bus ride from Taipei to Jioufen. How a city bus navigates the twists and turns of this narrow, mountainous journey, I tried hard not to think about. Ultimately though, we arrived in and left Jioufen in one piece for just two swipes of the transit card. Not too shabby!

Once in Jioufen, we started by going as high as we could. At times the journey upward became a bit unusual as lines between public pathway and residents’ backyard seemed to merge. But the hike was more than worth it as, at the top, we were rewarded with stunning views of the town, sea, and mountain below. We also managed to find some stellar points of interest including a temple, a gated town sign, and a monument dedicated to the miners who shaped Jioufen’s past.

From the top there was only one direction to go and so we descended back down Jioufen’s alleys, streets, and walkways managing to only get slightly lost in the process. Eventually, we made it back to Old Street which, again, is really the heart of the town. Now that evening had descended it was especially magnificent to see all lit up. After spending what must have been hours in this tiny stretch exploring every gift shop and eatery available, we headed toward our final destination of the day.

As I mentioned, there is more than a passing resemblance between Jioufen and the town at the center of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. At no point is this more closely felt than at the elevated mountainside Amei Tea House that overlooks Jioufen’s coast. We closed our day by having a full tea service and trying to take in as much beauty of the area and town as we could.

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