Jiufen & Pingxi

Red lanterns over a misty coast, and a single-track branch line where you write a wish on a paper balloon and let it go.

An hour east of Taipei, the old gold-mining town of Jiufen clings to a steep green hillside above the sea. Its narrow Old Street is a covered, stepped lane of teahouses, snack stalls, and souvenir shops, and as dusk falls the red lanterns come on and the whole hillside glows — a scene so cinematic it is endlessly (if unofficially) linked to the bathhouse in Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. Inland from there runs the Pingxi line, a charming single-track railway through old coal-mining villages where the local ritual is to release a paper sky lantern — inked with a wish — into the air. The two pair naturally into one of Taiwan’s best day trips, full of mist, steam, and lantern light.

Illustrated tourist map of Jiufen showing the Old Street, teahouses, and the hillside above the sea — The illustrated Jiufen map. For the branch line and its waterfall, see the Pingxi & Shifen map.

What to do in Jiufen

Walk Jiufen Old Street slowly — it is steep, crowded, and best in the late afternoon as the lanterns warm up. Stop at one of the cliffside teahouses, such as the much-photographed A-Mei Tea House, for a pot of high-mountain oolong looking out over the East China Sea. Try the local specialities along the way: taro balls in sweet soup, peanut-and-coriander ice-cream rolls, and savoury fish-ball broth. The light, the mist, and the tiered red lanterns are the whole point — come for golden hour and stay into the blue evening.

What to do on the Pingxi line

The Pingxi branch line is the day’s second act, and Shifen is its star. Here the sky lanterns are launched right from the railway tracks that run between the shophouses — you scrawl your wishes on the four paper panels, the stallholder lights the burner, and you let it rise. A short walk away, Shifen Waterfall — a broad, 20-metre curtain often called “Taiwan’s Little Niagara” — is the prettiest stop on the line. Buy a day pass and hop between the little stations: tiny Jingtong and Pingxi villages reward an unhurried wander.

Jiufen Old Street — lantern-lit stepped lane of teahouses and snacks.
Cliffside tea house — oolong with a sea view at blue hour.
Shifen sky lanterns — release a wish lantern from the railway tracks.
Shifen Waterfall — the broad cascade a short walk from the station.

How to get to Jiufen and Pingxi

Most travellers do this as a day trip from Taipei. The usual route is a train to Ruifang (around 45 minutes from Taipei Main), then a short local bus or taxi up the hill to Jiufen, and a transfer onto the Pingxi line at Ruifang for Shifen. Your EasyCard covers the trains and buses. Go on a weekday if you can — weekends pack the Old Street shoulder to shoulder.

Pair it with the rest of the north: the capital itself in Taipei, or strike out for the marble canyon of Taroko Gorge down the east coast from nearby Hualien.

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