Taiwan - Part IV : Jiufen, Fulong

Although we’ve been to Jiufen before, we still made it a point to head back. We’ve even spared 2 days from our plans to be there. Why? Because we absolutely love the place!

Jiufen, situated on a hill, was a mining village back in those days. But right now, it is a tourist destination with quaint streets, tea houses, Chinese and Japanese styled buildings and wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean.

We were very lucky to have met the acquaintance of Shu Da Ge and his lovely wife, Chen Jie – whom are owners of the Windsor Bed & Breakfast, a family run homestay in Jiufen. The rooms were carefully selected to face the Pacific Ocean and each room is uniquely designed by Shu Da Ge himself. We strongly recommend for you to stay here on your visit as you will definitely not regret the hospitality and the scenery from your stay.

Have a look at the owl-filled “villa” that we were assigned to. I personally adored the bathroom tiles. And I think I’ve started to have this fascination for owls now. :)

 

Windsor Bed & Breakfast main office

The cafe with a view

Another part of the cafe 

That's our room, or rather villa

Our villa's welcoming band

The dining area, over-looking the Pacific Ocean

View from the upper bedroom

Decorations

The couch

The lower bedroom

The bathroom

And the winking owl

We had made our way by train from Taipei to Ruifang, early that morning. Shu Da Ge had picked us up from the Ruifang train station himself and gave us a little tour around the coastal area before making up to his homestay. We made a brief stop at the Golden Waterfall – a waterfall that reflects its golden appearance from a combination of rainfall in the mining area and metal elements deposited in the riverbed. No, there are no actual golds flowing down.

We hung out a lot at the Jiufen Old Street – combing through each and every shop, trying out the local delicacies, browsing through the hundreds of adorable souvenirs, snapping pictures here, there and everywhere. 

We were there early in the morning when the shops were yet to open and the tourists have yet to arrive. We were there late at night when the red lanterns have been light up and the street was dark and empty. We were even there during mid-day when it was jam packed with tourists. We were there on each different scenes. We spent so much time on this street that there was even a point where we used up more than an hour just selecting hand-sewn owl souvenirs!

Those are the hand-sewn owls

And some snippets of the Jiufen town, which we explored in the day....

A part of town

Postman at work

On the street towards our "villa" 

The other side of town 

In between the local houses

More stairs

Narrow streets

Upon exhaustion, we would head to Shu Da Ge’s café for some brewed coffee and local snacks and had chats with the friendly couple – about their country, about our country, about family, about life.

Brewing us some coffee 

In-house cafe decorations 

Won't it be nice to have this view everyday?

One evening, we had the opportunity to watch the sun set from the horizon. That few minutes where the sky change colours, where the sun disappeared behind the mountains. Where it turned dark and transformed Jiufen into another picturesque setting.

  

In the night, we joined the pleasant couple for tea at Ah Mei Tea House – a prominent tea house in Jiufen with its characteristic red lanterns and strong Japanese architecture. It surely had been a relaxing night – sipping tea on the balcony, engaging in conversations with the owner, watching the flickering fishing boats in the vast ocean, without a thought of the worldly affairs.

The next day, Chen Jie took us on a tour on the east coast road, towards Fulong Beach. The beach is located at the mouth of the Shuang River, with its “golden” sand and separated by the Rainbow Bridge. It is these golden, mineral-like quartz sand that allowed the Annual Fulong International Sand Sculpting Festival. Sand sculpting? Oh boy! We have never seen one before. Off we ran towards each of them and started gaping at their precisions – like little kids. The friend had been so immersed that she had to capture each sculpture from each different angle.

Sand sculptures!

Rainbow bridge

Fulong is as well famous for its lunch boxes (biàndāng in Chinese or bento in Japanese). Chen Jie had been kind enough to get us a few for dinner. It comes with slices of marinated pork, Taiwanese cabbages and dried vegetables, stewed egg and a bowl of soup. It was indeed tasty and fulfilling! Oh shucks! We have been so engrossed with our lunch boxes that we have forgotten to snap a picture of them. But be sure to try one while you are in the area.

On the day of returning to Taipei, Shu Da Ge had been so kind to offer to drop us back to the city. He even went out of his way to give us another round of tour of the north eastern shores – highlighting to us the Guishan Island (a.ka. turtle island), the windmills, the geological attraction of Yehliu and finally making a stop at Zhi Xiang Yuan restaurant at San Zhi for lunch. Another round of delicious meal – home cooked style. I couldn’t quite recall the names of the dishes but that bamboo dish…I can still taste the flavours…yummy! Even the vegetables tastes better than the ones at home.

That's the restaurant

It all ended too soon. We left with such heavy hearts. There are still so many places to explore, so many dishes to try out. We have much to thank all those whom we have met on the way. The friends that we have made - Na Jie, Shu Da Ge, Chen Jie. They have shown us so much hospitality that went beyond our expectations. We are very fortunate to be able to stand witness to the natural wonders that have been presented to us. We have been very fortunate throughout the trip.

The country have been nice. The people have been nice. The food have been nice. We will return, very soon…….