Plain Can Be Lovely

We took the Pingxi train back to Ruifang where we got off to try to figure out how to get to Jiufen. I was excited about visiting Jiufen because it looked beautiful and was also the place that inspired the look and feel of the town in Spirited Away.

We never realized how close we got to Ah Mei Teahouse. Jiufen is beautiful, even in the rain.

There was some confusion as to where to catch the bus so I asked for directions in Ruifang Station. Dan seemed to understand where to go, even though the instructions were all in Mandarin. After following Dan I realized that his interpretation of the instructions wasn’t what I thought they had said. Somehow we found a bus stop and somehow it was the right one. We got on the bus and got seats. The bus we took was the Keelung Transit bus and it was also on the Easy Card system, so we just paid by swiping our cards. Later on the bus filled up so that many people had to stand, so we felt lucky to have seats.

Dan and I leaving the platform in Ruifang Station.

On the bus to Jiufen. We were lucky to get seats!

The bus ride was about 15 minutes from Ruifang. When we arrived it was pouring rain again so we decided to walk to the Visitor Centre. When we got there we asked for directions to a local teahouse where we could stop and warm up. They recommended a place called Ah Mei Teahouse, which is apparently a famous teahouse. It’s located on Shuqi Street, which was the inspiration for Spirited Away.

Misty Jiufen.

The tunnel in this picture is Wufan tunnel. It was excavated in 1927 and used to transport coal.

We followed the directions and eventually, feeling wet and tired, ended up in a teahouse. Not Ah Mei Teahouse. Looking at my pictures later I realized we were almost across the street from it. Oh well.

I liked this teahouse. The staff were very nice and we we warmed up with some beauty tea. We also ate some xiaolongbao and started to feel more human. It poured rain the entire time we were in Jiufen. After hanging out in the teahouse for a few hours we decided it was time to explore.

Me drinking tea and warming up.

Xiao Long Bao. They were delicious.

Tea

View of the outside where it was pouring rain.

Inside the teahouse

A City of Sadness poster

Selfie of Dan and I

Dan leaving the teahouse.

Even though it was pouring rain, Jiufen was still busy with tourists. It probably wasn’t as crowded as it usually is, but it was still pretty crowded. We still stopped and tried to take a few pictures. Despite the rain, it was still a beautiful nostalgic feeling town. I could just imagine it from Jiufen’s gold mining days. The famous Taiwan film A City of Sadness was also shot in Jiufen and is credited with helping to revive Jiufen as a popular tourist destination.

Another teahouse. If you go in and walk through the cave you’ll eventually get to it. Pretty cool!

Climbing the stairs in the rain.

Dan on the steps of Jiufen. You can see how hard it was raining since the flash reflected off of some of the raindrops!

We made our way to Jiufen Old Street and explored the shops and food stalls. Because of the rain I wasn’t in much of a mood to shop or eat. We were drenched and chilled to the bone. We stopped in a cheesy souvenir shop where we looked at t-shirts for couples (Dan refused to indulge me and buy one). I bought an “I love Taiwan” shirt. I couldn’t help myself.

Even with the rain, Jiufen was still busy.

Jiufen Old Street

Mei on Jiufen Old Street.

Couple t-shirts. Dan refused to get any.

We also found a beautiful Ocarina shop. The owners make Ocarina’s shaped as cute little animals. He was demonstrating one so I bought a frog ocarina. I haven’t learned to play it but it’s definitely beautiful to look at.

Demonstrating how to play an ocarina at Taiwan Ocarina. The most whimsical ocarinas I’ve ever seen.

These are all ocarinas. I ended up buying a small blue frog. So cute.

The sign for Jiufen Old Street.

Since we were now thoroughly soaked and had explored as much as we could, we decided to head back to Ruifang. We couldn’t figure out where to wait for the bus so instead we flagged down a taxi. The taxis have set price between Jiufen and Ruifang, which was good for us because we didn’t get ripped off. The driver dropped us back at the station and we decided to wander around and look for food.

This sign shows the fixed taxi fare rates. It was 180 NT to get from Jiufen to Ruifang.

Rainy Ruifang.

As we were wandering, I some of the few words that I can read in Chinese. Beef Noodle Soup. The woman asked us if we wanted a large bowl or a small bowl and I asked Dan and he immediately said “ohhhh, a large bowl.” She laughed when I told her. It was some of the best beef noodle soup I’ve ever had. It filled us up, it was tasty and it warmed my core.

Eating the most delicious beef noodle soup ever. Perfect after a cold and rainy day.

We loved our beef noodle soup.

After this we walked back to the station where Dan bought some candy. He bought a Haribou Goldbaren because it was a gold bear and he liked the German sounding name. Soon it was time to board the train and we headed back to Taipei and to the warmth of our hotel.

Dan and his candy. Haribo Goldbaren became a fast favourite.

My ticket to Taipei Station.

Dan and I on the train. We were happy we had reserved seats. We saw some people who didn’t have seats sitting on the steps.

More wayfinding signage in Taipei Main Station. I love it.

Back in the hotel I watched a hilarious show. There was a challenge were contestants had to put their sweater on a hangar while they were still wearing it and then race around an obstacle course while dragging the clothes rack. Then their teammate would join them and they’d do it again and so on and so forth. The team with the fastest time won.

I loved this show.

Much to Dan’s annoyance, I couldn’t get enough of the show. I love Taiwan shows.