Today we are going to visit Jiufen Old Street 九份老街. It is said that this place was the inspiration for the town in Spirited Away. However, Miyazaki has always denied this. So why do people keep thinking that this is “real life Spirited Away”? I’m guessing the resemblance lies in the red lanterns and the vast quantities of food.
Jiufen is about 1.5hours away from Taipei and is easily accessible. Many people travel to Jiufen (as well as Shifen十份) for a day trip. As for us, we only visited Jiufen. If I could do it over, I would have taken the train straight to Shifen in Pingxi 平溪 for the sky lanterns and stopped by at Jiufen on the way back. However, since this was a last minute change to our itinerary, it is what it is.
How to get to Jiufen from Taipei?
This question is probably highly searched on Google, as it seems easy, yet challenging to get to Jiufen. From Taipei, the best and possibly easiest way, is to go to Taipei Main Station and follow the signs for ‘TRA‘. This is a train and unlike the metro, a bit older.
You can purchase tickets ahead of time online and select your seats, or you could, like us, just use your EasyCard. It did not make sense for us to purchase the tickets separately when we had already loaded money into our EasyCard. However, using your EasyCard has a caveat because you are not assigned a seat. This is where it became tricky and made me a bit antsy. I did not want to be sitting in someone else’s seat, but apparently, what happens is you sit in any empty seat and when someone comes to claim that seat, you just move onto another empty seat until you arrive at your station. I was observing the locals around me, and it seemed pretty common.
Follow the signs and board the train toward Ruifang Station. Ok, another problem occurred here. I saw a sign that stated Ruifang Station with an arrow pointing southbound, so we boarded a southbound train, but we felt a bit uneasy so we got off at the next stop and asked an officer at the train station. WE HAD TO GO NORTHBOUND. So we venture back down to the platform and wait for the train. While we were waiting for our train, my dad decided to ask another officer but this officer told us to get on a different train than the first officer. NOW I’M PARANOID. So who is right? Gotta ask another person to find out. This time we asked a local who guided us toward the train the first officer told us about. I had found this map online for the Ping-Hsi line, just in case, to see if we were going in the right direction. YES, THE FIRST OFFICER AND LOCAL WERE CORRECT!
After you exit the station, you will turn left. Probably 3 blocks down, you’ll see the police station on the right. You’ll also notice a bus stop on the same side. You can’t miss it because there is a bunch of people standing there. Several buses (#788, #827) head toward Jiufen Old Street, so just look at the LED banner on the bus. We happened to board bus #1062, which is one of the buses that goes from Taipei to Jiufen, without any transfers. However, since it is a bus, it would have been a lot slower..and bumpier. Which is why we chose the train.
The skill of these bus drivers as they made these sharp, squiggly turns up the steep hills was astonishing- but they probably drive up and down these routes day in and day out. After about a 10 minute roller coaster ride on this bus, we arrived at our destination! Walk about 2-3 minutes up this hill and we are at the entrance of Old Street. Since there is barely any sidewalk to walk on, you’ll be on the street- be careful of the cars/buses.
We tried so many different types of food. Ranging from peanut rolled ice cream to bitter melon juice to oily hot dogs. Some foods we couldn’t take pictures of because our hands were all full. We ended up spending most of our cash here so when we got back to Taipei, we had to go to the bank for more. (TIP: there was a better exchange rate from USD–>NTD in Taiwan vs. US). With the endless amount of foods and souvenirs, Jiufen is definitely worth a trip! 👍 A whole day to walk, stop, eat and shop. My type of a ‘perfect life’.
WHEN BACK IN TAIPEI..WE EAT AGAIN
When we came back to Taipei, we rested for a bit then headed out for some dinner. There was a local spot in an alley way that served delicious beef noodle soup. This place was mentioned when I searched for must try foods near me. A little hole in the wall called Liu Shan Dong 刘山东.
We actually sat in the street to eat because it was packed! Reminds me of those olden day dramas of locals eating at 大排档. Besides them serving you the noodles, the condiments, including the pickled vegetables 酸菜 was in a stainless steel canister with unlimited refills. While eating, I noticed a sign that stated this was a Michelin Restaurant. WOW. I never would have guessed since it was inexpensive..and in an alley. 😅 I didn’t have the beef noodle soup because I am on a no beef cleanse but my parents, who ordered beef, said that it was yummy. 🤤 Go check it out the next time you’re in Taipei.
KLEI TRAVELS 