Jiufen and Taoyuan | 九分和桃園

December 9, 2022

Since mom left Taiwan, I’ve been very busy with lots of trips! The first (of many) was to Jiufen, a small town about an hour and a half but ride from Taipei. The town is famous for its beautiful scenery (especially at night) and its teahouses. Hannah, Anna (a friend from my floor), and I left around mid-morning and arrived in Jiufen just before noon. Since we had a late breakfast, we decided to first take a hike up Mt. Keelung. The hike wasn’t too long, but was very vertical with lots of stairs. Despite the strenuous climb, the view at the top was so worth it! We had a panoramic view of Jiufen, surrounding mountains, the ocean, and Keelung City. We could even see Taipei 101 in the distance!

Me at the top of the mountain with an Onegeri (Japanese Rice Ball), my go-to hike snack

With the view!

The water was so blue! The picture doesn't do it justice!

After descending the mountain, we made our way to A-mei Teahouse, the most famous Teahouse in Jiufen for some afternoon tea and treats. We had an amazing view of the ocean from our seat, and really enjoyed sitting and talking while sipping on some locally grown tea.

View from the teahouse

A cup of freshly poured tea

After teatime, we walked around Jiufen Old Street to do some shopping. I was personally more interested in the food than the shops, but it was fun to see what was available. The atmosphere was very cheerful and sentimental which was lovely! As the sun went down, the town began to light up with long rows of red lanterns. It was so beautiful to see the streets shrouded in red light. It was a fun opportunity to take some very beautiful pictures.

A-mei teahouse at dusk

All the streets are lined with beautiful red lanterns that come on at dusk

Before making our way to the bus station, we made a stop at the Jiufen visitor’s center to see if they had any local stamps…Hannah and I were amazed to find the most stamps we’d ever seen in one place! We didn't take all of them, but we both collected a lot which was really fun.

The stamp desk at the Jiufen visitor's center

The collection of stamps from Jiufen

That weekend, I went on another day trip to Taoyuan, a city to the southwest of Taipei. My morning didn’t start well…I completely overslept and almost missed the bus. Luckily, I was able to dash out of my room and make it! The trip was organized through ISIE, a club at NTU that organizes events for international students and local students to do together. I was paired up with a local student named Cassandra. As we got to know each other, I found out that she did an exchange in Minnesota a few years ago, and actually met my friend Luke from St. Olaf at a band camp in San Diego in 2018! It was a crazy small world moment and a wild connection.

Our first stop was at a small farm that had some DIY projects for us to do. First, we painted spinning tops, a famous children’s toy in Taiwan. They’re actually quite challenging to spin…there is a string wrapped around the top, and you have to throw it and release the string in order to get it to spin. It was challenging at first, but eventually I got the hang of it. Next, we made some small pizzas in our groups, but unfortunately they were really small, so we only got to try a bite of each.

Pizzas in process

Painting the spinning top

Finished pizzas

My partner for the day, Cassandra

After our DIY activities, we went to Daxi Old Street to find some lunch. Daxi is very famous for their dougan, a type of tofu. I also went to a shop that sold handmade peanut brittle which was amazing! I watched them make a fresh batch before buying a box to take back to Taipei. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time at Daxi, and it was very crowded. I would have loved to explore more…the area had a lot of unique and interesting architecture and other shops as well.

On our way back to Taipei, we stopped at a park to play some games and watch the sunset. The view over the field and hills was really beautiful, but as it was getting dark, we hopped back on the bus and went home.

Daxi old street

At the peanut brittle shop, freshly made in front of me!

ISIE group photo

Our last stop to catch the sunset!

Recently, I’ve been feeling inspired to go out and do things on my own. Since I’m such an extrovert, I prefer to go with friends, but I’m realizing that my time in Taiwan is quickly coming to an end and there’s still so much to do! I decided on a whim on a Monday afternoon to hike up Xianshan or Elephant Mountain, an easy hike accessible by the MRT. It’s one of the easiest and most famous hikes in Taipei known for its view of the city at sunset. The view was absolutely beautiful, and it was so nice to get out for a walk! As I was riding back to my dorm, I bought some tianbula (fish tempura) from my favorite shop and a two-toned dragon fruit which was beautiful and delicious.

At the Xiangshan marker

Looking over Taipei with a sunset view

Beautiful sunset

Two-toned (雙色) dragonfruit

A couple other small updates: Fullbright hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for all the scholars which was really fun to attend! The food was a bit disappointing…I was expecting more thanksgiving food, but instead it was just a pretty typical meal. It was fun to get together and catch up with the other CSAT guys who we haven’t seen for awhile. After the banquet, we went and watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which, if you haven’t seen yet, I highly recommend. In other news, when I first came to Taiwan, I lost my green Nalgene water bottle. Many of you have seen this water bottle and know that I take it pretty much everywhere I go. I was super bummed out because I couldn’t seem to find one in Taiwan. I went with a friend to buy a backpack cover (for the rain) in preparation for another trip, and they had Nalgenes in the store! I immediately bought one and am so excited to have my familiar green Nalgene once again. Finally, I found a Tony’s chocolate advent calendar at 7-11! It’s been a yummy daily treat and taste of home.

My new backpack cover--essential

A new nalgene!

Tony's advent calendar

Lego bubble tea

I’ll be packing a lot into my last weeks here in Taiwan…it feels like a long time, but it will go really fast! As usual, there are food and boba updates, feel free to check them out!