On our third day, we ventured out of Taipei for a day trip to Shifen, Houtong and Jiufen. I had chosen a weekday for the day trip as it was supposedly less crowded but in reality it didn't seem to make a difference.
Since there were only two of us, we took a train from Taipei Main Station instead of hiring a driver. There are ticket machines but it was slightly confusing so we just bought our tickets at the counter. After a short wait, we got onto the train for Ruifang. After an uneventful ride, we reached our destination and had to buy another ticket to continue onto Pingxi. The Ruifang station was honestly a huge mess. Most of the tourists queued to buy tickets at the counter as they wanted to buy the one-day pass which enables unlimited rides. We were only planning to go to 3 places so it didn't make sense to join the crowd. It was really a mad scramble cos everyone was trying to buy their tickets before the train left. It was seriously quite chaotic even on a weekday, I can't imagine the madness on weekends.
Our first stop was Shifen, which is apparently a really popular place to release sky lantern (tian deng 天燈) aka Kong Ming Deng 孔明燈. The first thing you see as you walk out from the train station is shops after shops selling sky lanterns. No wait, actually the first thing you see is a shop selling chicken wings, haha. Since the entire journey from Taipei Main Station took a rather long time, we queued for some food and then decided to walk around before deciding which shop to buy from. After walking past all the shops selling sky lanterns, we stumbled upon a shop selling noodles and xiaolongbao. After filling our stomachs, we found a small shop slightly off the train tracks which sold sky lanterns and looked more legit than the touristy ones near the train station. The shop owner came out to talk to us and he went into a very detailed explanation of why 天燈 are built the way they are and the symbolism behind the different colours. We've released sky lanterns aka khom loi during Loi Krathong but the ones in Thailand are just in white whereas the ones in Taiwan had 5 different colours for each side. The shop owner was really friendly so we decided to purchase the lantern from him. He gave us traditional Chinese brushes to write and I was quite surprised that I can still write pretty decently though it's been forever since I practised Chinese calligraphy. After writing what sounded like Chinese New Year greetings on all the sides of the sky lantern and referring to my handphone for Chinese phrases, it was time to let it go!
All the shops provide a service to help you take a photograph as you release the lantern. Releasing it while standing on the train tracks is super popular. There is no real danger as the trains come by hourly and they are very slow. After taking our obligatory picture and releasing our well-wishes, we walked around a bit more. There are shops with staff who can speak Korean/ Japanese fluently and they even ask the customers to pose in the Korean aegyo or Japanese kawaii styles, lol. The guidebook also listed a waterfall in Shifen but walking there would have taken too long and we didn't feel like renting a scooter to explore so we left after a while to Houtong.
I had read about Houtong in a guidebook, it's an old town which got a new lease of life when a resident started posting photos of the local strays online and people started visiting the town to play with the strays. We were there in the afternoon so most of the strays were probably asleep as we didn't see that many of them. The town has totally exploited their status as a cat town with many shops selling cat-related merchandise or serving cat-related food and drinks, the pineapple tarts came in cat shaped pieces! There wasn't that many cats for us to play with so after walking around for a bit and taking another short break, we headed off to Jiufen.
If I thought Shifen was crowded, Jiufen was ten thousand times more crowded. The number of tourists was utter madness. I cannot imagine if we had went on a weekend how miserable it would have been. The old streets are where most of the crowds are but if you venture just slightly off that path, it becomes a lot more bearable. We also managed to buy pineapple tarts and taiyang bing which were yummilicious. Walking up and down the less crowded streets would have been quite pleasant if not for the ridiculous crowds. While it was possible to find pockets of peace, I didn't really enjoy the place. Miyazaki may have been inspired there for Spirited Away but I think if he goes back now he would have fainted.
Though the day was long and we were rather exhausted, we made our way back to Taipei and dropped by at Raohe Night Market. I was actually quite excited to go Raohe Night Market as I remember having a good time there. It has expanded quite a bit compared to 10 years ago and the popular 胡椒饼 had a queue which was utter madness. Since we tried the branch at Shilin the day before we gave it a miss. Instead we tried mutton soup, some 状元糕, bittergourd juice which tasted weird but good, and random snacks. We definitely enjoyed Raohe Night Market more than Shilin even though we were crazy exhausted by the time we finally reached the hotel. I would say it's a must-go for Taipei, give Shilin a miss and come to this one instead.
Rows and rows of touristy shops which you see the moment you disembark
Our first stop was Shifen, which is apparently a really popular place to release sky lantern (tian deng 天燈) aka Kong Ming Deng 孔明燈. The first thing you see as you walk out from the train station is shops after shops selling sky lanterns. No wait, actually the first thing you see is a shop selling chicken wings, haha. Since the entire journey from Taipei Main Station took a rather long time, we queued for some food and then decided to walk around before deciding which shop to buy from. After walking past all the shops selling sky lanterns, we stumbled upon a shop selling noodles and xiaolongbao. After filling our stomachs, we found a small shop slightly off the train tracks which sold sky lanterns and looked more legit than the touristy ones near the train station. The shop owner came out to talk to us and he went into a very detailed explanation of why 天燈 are built the way they are and the symbolism behind the different colours. We've released sky lanterns aka khom loi during Loi Krathong but the ones in Thailand are just in white whereas the ones in Taiwan had 5 different colours for each side. The shop owner was really friendly so we decided to purchase the lantern from him. He gave us traditional Chinese brushes to write and I was quite surprised that I can still write pretty decently though it's been forever since I practised Chinese calligraphy. After writing what sounded like Chinese New Year greetings on all the sides of the sky lantern and referring to my handphone for Chinese phrases, it was time to let it go!
Our lonely Tian Deng up in the sky
View from the bridge, away from the main train station
I had read about Houtong in a guidebook, it's an old town which got a new lease of life when a resident started posting photos of the local strays online and people started visiting the town to play with the strays. We were there in the afternoon so most of the strays were probably asleep as we didn't see that many of them. The town has totally exploited their status as a cat town with many shops selling cat-related merchandise or serving cat-related food and drinks, the pineapple tarts came in cat shaped pieces! There wasn't that many cats for us to play with so after walking around for a bit and taking another short break, we headed off to Jiufen.
Friendly cat cartoon greeting visitors at the train station
Some lovely strays just chilling out and wondering why we are disturbing their peace
If I thought Shifen was crowded, Jiufen was ten thousand times more crowded. The number of tourists was utter madness. I cannot imagine if we had went on a weekend how miserable it would have been. The old streets are where most of the crowds are but if you venture just slightly off that path, it becomes a lot more bearable. We also managed to buy pineapple tarts and taiyang bing which were yummilicious. Walking up and down the less crowded streets would have been quite pleasant if not for the ridiculous crowds. While it was possible to find pockets of peace, I didn't really enjoy the place. Miyazaki may have been inspired there for Spirited Away but I think if he goes back now he would have fainted.
Some peace and quiet away from the tourist madness
Though the day was long and we were rather exhausted, we made our way back to Taipei and dropped by at Raohe Night Market. I was actually quite excited to go Raohe Night Market as I remember having a good time there. It has expanded quite a bit compared to 10 years ago and the popular 胡椒饼 had a queue which was utter madness. Since we tried the branch at Shilin the day before we gave it a miss. Instead we tried mutton soup, some 状元糕, bittergourd juice which tasted weird but good, and random snacks. We definitely enjoyed Raohe Night Market more than Shilin even though we were crazy exhausted by the time we finally reached the hotel. I would say it's a must-go for Taipei, give Shilin a miss and come to this one instead.
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