Friday, February 01, 2008

Narrow Street of Jiufen, Taiwan - Photo Hunt

During one trip to Taiwan, I brought Jaymes and my students to Jiufen (九份),a popular tourist attraction on a hill. It was once a prosperous mining town but sank into oblivion when mining was stopped. Interest was revived again when a movie director fell in love with the old streets and mining village. Award winning Taiwanese film, 'A City of Sadness' (悲情城市) was filmed here.

We took a train(NT80 each) from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang. I bought biandang (packed food boxes, NT60 each) to eat on the train. Each packet of rice has a braised egg, pork chop & vegetables.

We took a public bus (NT20 each) in front of Ruifang train station.


The view in Jiufen, from the hill was amazing. The day was quite warm. We walked along a long & narrow winding lane of shops & eateries.

Occasionally there would be a car, small truck or motorcycle passing through it, sending everyone to scurry to the sides. The street is so narrow that we were pressed to the walls.



There were many stalls selling Taiwanese snacks. We bought and ate so much food as we stroll leisurely through the street. The kids found a shop selling magic tricks. They tried some of the products and bought some magic tricks.

We stopped by a restaurant to have tea. It was very popular with tourists because it was on the highest point, overlooking the town of Jiufen. The kids ordered milk shakes while I ordered chocolate & peanut butter toasts.

We took the train (NT52 each) back to Taipei Main station.



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88 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Emmm.....make me want to go to Taiwan!

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  2. Doreen,
    Taiwan is an interesting and fun country, it never fails to amaze me whenever I'm there.

    Their tourism industry is well-developed. It is easy to get around the country. Should visit it some day... preferably with friends who are fun-loving.... ahem ahem.... hehehe....

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  3. I wanna go to Taiwan too! Wanna roll down that street! With wheelchair!

    PS: I was kidding about sending the foodstuff to Italy! No way will Italian Customs allow those to pass through! But thanks for the offer! :-)

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  4. Looks like an interesting place worth exploring. It must have been a fun and exciting experience.

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  5. Nice sight!
    hello there feel the love this month...visit my blog...

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  6. LB,
    It would be so exciting and fun to roll down that street... and go bump bump bump over the steps right down to the bottom of the hill! Wheeee.....

    Alamak! Cannot send waxed meats to Italy? When I go, I smuggle it in. hehe....

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  7. Sigh, of my 3 trips to Taipei, never went to Jiufen!! what a waste!

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  8. And you didn't take me???? What kind of New Year spirit is that? I'm removing some lucky money from your red envelope!

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  9. Food food food!!! woman!! you always make me drool with ur posts leh!! I wanna go Shilin Ye Shi to snack my belly out :P

    It's 1213am and I'm salivating over my keyboard thinking of the snacks in Taiwan... *Smack.head*

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  10. What a wonderful place. It looks like so much fun and so green and lush.

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  11. from the pictures i guess all of you must have had loads of fun :P

    the narrower the streets the more you get to see :P

    have a great weekend !

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  12. Did you know I've never been to Taiwan, but always wanted to go there - lucky you and your students! Very exotic to an Norwegian you know :-)

    Btw: I'm getting more and more curious about that Waxed Duck! Maybe I should ask for one? hehehhe

    Wishing you a great end to your week!

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  13. Wah...I'm still thinking of what photo to put in!!

    But in any case... Gong Xi Gong Xi, may the year of the rat bring you and your family good health and good wealth!

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  14. ECL, that sounds like a great trip and you've got the photos to prove it. Good shots for the theme. Have a great weekend.

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  15. Oh... I haven't take my breakfast yet! And, The food looks so yummy! So hungry ler...
    Where is my breakfast? *sop* *sop*

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  16. Those are all good shots and it sounds like an interesting trip. I love the look of the narrow streets. I hope you have a great weekend.

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  17. Looks like a fun place to visit. Maybe I will get a chance to visit someday. Happy Chinese New Year!!

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  18. Looks like you had a very fun and interesting day! Thanks for sharing it with us. Wish I could have tried the delicious food with you!

    Some great shots for our narrow theme. Nice choice for The Hunt.

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  19. This reminds me of a similar place here, Baguio City. On Dos Palmas, your friend is correct. It's a very relaxing place.

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  20. Lovely interpretation. And thank you very sincerely for the generous praise you left on my Photo Hunt shots.

    You said ``a lesson from a great photographer''. Very humbly, I say thank you for those words.

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  21. rach,
    Taiwan is a fun and exciting place for a holiday. The kids love it. Shopping's great but expensive.

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  22. Leonard,
    You should go up to Jiufen if you're ever in Taiwan again. You would love the place, seeing that you like to travel and take photos.

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  23. Mike,
    Nooooo!! Not the red packet money!

    To make up to you, I'll be going to Taiwan in March, you can come. It's going to be an exciting trip. Don't say I didn't give you ample time to prepare for the trip!

    Now, where's the red packet?

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  24. napaboaniya,
    You need not only an empty stomach for Shilin Night Market, but it better be huge too! There are too many yummy snacks and too little space in my stomach for them!

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  25. renny,
    You should do a tour of Asia! Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Every country is different in their culture, food, traditions....

    Can I send a Waxed Duck to Norway? I can pack it nicely for export. hehe....

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  26. Wah.. I really envy you. You have so much time to travel and so many places to visit. Next time bring me along :P

    Taiwan sounds like a nice place to visit and lots of food to eat but I wondered why my brother only brought back rice crackers ~~sweat~~

    Anyway, Gong Xi Fatt Cai to you in advance. If you have the time, do check out my another interpretation at http://www2.crizlai.com/2008/02/02/photo-hunters-narrow/

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  27. been to just taiwan, italy, and the inside of a candlestick holder by following "narrowminded" photohunters =] i'm loving all of your photos =]

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  28. Ooo, I've seen Hou Hsiao Hsien's "City of Sadness" but didn't know where it was filmed until I came across your blog entry. Thanks for the info!

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  29. Terrific collection of photos. Looks like a great place to visit!

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  30. That is all so interesting. I really enjoy reading about other places, and I'm especially fond of places with narrow winding streets :)

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  31. wow! i like train rides. it's a lot of fun especially if you have friends traveling with you. :) And that place you featured there looks very interesting. i've been to a mining area here in my country and they even showed us how the get the gold from the stones. very educational indeed. :)

    thanks for checking out my entry. ^.^ ~ BLOGSILOG

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  32. Wow! What a fun adventure! Thank you for explaining about this place :) Happy photo hunting!

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  33. wow very narrow streets fun little place to visit

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  34. hahaha. I guess you knocked me off with your narrower roads.
    have a great weekend!

    Morning Sniffles

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  35. Lovely. Now I'm hungry and want to trade my cup of coffee for a pot of tea. Happy Photo Hunting.

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  36. how come no blogger from taiwan come to my blog? then when go visit taiwan, got tour guide.. hehe...

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  37. beautiful photo and great subject!

    Gong Xi Fa Cai! :)

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  38. Nice photo,such a beautiful scene,heard a lots about taiwan,havent been there yea,,must pay a visit one day.
    Happy chinease new year!!
    Mine's up too
    http://shoohao.com/?p=84

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  39. pretty photo of the narrow street!!! The sun filtering around the trees makes it even more pretty.


    My "narrow" is shared, I hope you can drop by and leave a comment. I love visitors. Have a happy weekend!

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  40. Criz,
    I used to travel a lot, lately I have cut down my trips.

    Taiwan has lots of snacks and food. There are many must-buys. I'll post all the Taiwanese snacks next time so your brother or any of your friends or relatives who go to Taiwan cannot 'cheat' you of yummy snacks. hahaha....

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  41. My angel,
    You don't need a Taiwanese to bring you around the country. I can tell you where to go for great food, shopping, fun and destressing! Call me when you are going to Taiwan.

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  42. Would you believe Miss Bee and I took a trip to Taiwan in 1968, our honeymoon.....

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  43. jaymes will make an excellent business man. thanks to you and chris 's training.

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  44. Very interesting post and informative too. We have yet to step foot in Taiwan together. Pato had been their during Army Days..
    Next time if we're going to Taiwan, we know who to get tips from..;)

    Pearl & Pato

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  45. Beautiful shots and a great lesson to boot. :) Thank you for sharing.

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  46. Thanks for the trip through Taiwan!! Great photos!

    Happy New Year!

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  47. go taiwan got try the baths or not? they're famous one leh!

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  48. i visit taiwan 16 years ago , on the way back to Indonesia from USA ( i live USA for some time), and dying to visit taipe again..lots of great food!

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  49. beautiful place!

    how i wish i can visit taiwan too!

    its kidda my year lol!

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  50. sarge charlie,
    Wow! 1968! that's a long time ago. If you visit Taiwan now, you will find it very very different. there are lots of interesting places to visit and yummy food to try.

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  51. misti,
    Jaymes is showing much potential.... he would have better success .... with mentors. You want to be his kai ma? hehe....

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  52. Pearl,
    Both Pato and you have travelled to so many places. It's great to see the world when you are young and don't have kids yet.

    I would be happy to help you with the itinerary for Taiwan. ^-^

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  53. kyh,
    Of course have to try the baths! But got cheated at the first bath-house. sigh....

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  54. It is good that people took interest in that town again, ECL.

    The biandang, I think we have something like that here in the Philippines called "binalot" meaning "wrapped" That is food like rice, pork or any viand, boiled egg and tomato wrapped in banana leaves.

    Have a great weekend! :)

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  55. What a fun trip! And the village shot is just great - they all narrowly fit on that hillside!

    Write From Karen

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  56. I would love to go back to Taiwan again. I like the food more than anything else. I don't miss the narrow streets which are great for today's theme.

    Mine is up too.

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  57. Perfect shot! Wow i wonder if i could go to that place sometime? lol, how i wish! Thank for stopping by mine, have a great weekend!

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  58. I always learn about New things from your photo hunt.

    I real like the green lush hill and I might try to get "A street of Sadness"

    We don't have that many housing close together.

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  59. Looks like you had fun:) Nice photos!

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  60. Another destination to add to my world travel list :)

    Really great post.

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  61. Great shots for narrow. There are so many narrow streets in Taiwan, especially in Kaoshiung. Happy weekend.

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  62. Beautiful shots. Happy weekend.

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  63. What a beautiful pictures! Definately a narrow street that would be fun to walk down one day! Great take on the theme this week! Thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to come again... Have a great weekend...

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  64. How interesting your post is! Did I tell you I have a Wisdom Award at my blog for you? Scroll down a couple of entries and it's there...

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  65. That's a lovely collection of narrow pics. I especially like the first one. Have a great weekend!

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  66. Hi!
    Entrecards design is done, you can download it here:
    http://graphics-illustrations.com/2008/02/02/entrecards-design/

    Best,
    S

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  67. great photos!!! nice interesting place to visit.... Hope you'll visit mine too..

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  68. Nice entries for the theme. Have a nice day and weekend.

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  69. I was born in Taiwan! I have never been there myself so thanks for the guided tour!!

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  70. wow!!! that looks like a very beautiful place to go and see.. great shots!

    come by mine if u gt a chance.. :)

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  71. i never really thought of going to taiwan but i think u've just stirred the travel bug in me! lol =P

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  72. Wow, makes me want to visit Taiwan and get something to eat while I'm there!

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  73. Great photos! Looks like you and your students had a great day.

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  74. Just wanted to say I am enjoying your blog. Thanks for all of your hard work.

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  75. I can certainly see why the director fell in love with that town and area. It is magical in that small valley.

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  76. I always enjoyed my trips to Taiwan, although we usually ended up in some of the yucky industrial parts.

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  77. Very narrow street and a great narrative to accompany it. thanks.

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  78. ah yo, this misti needs mentors herself. wait till she becomes successful then she will dare to be kai ma, okay? :)

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  79. City of Sadness? that sounds like an interesting movie. pssst... Uncle Joe got copy ah?

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  80. It's actually beautiful from that view. I get a little phobic on narrow spaces.

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