Amei Teahouse - One of the most popular teahouses in Jiufen

Jiufen: Seeking the Charm of Yesteryear

To all the world, the mountain town of Jiufen looks as though it has been plucked out of an old Chinese storybook. With red lanterns lining steep alleyways and atmospheric tea houses serving tea in the traditional way, the charm of yesteryear is vividly alive in this former mining town

At first glance, Jiufen (九份) appears as an odd-looking settlement clinging to the forested hills of Ruifang District. There seem to be too many houses cramping into a limited buildable area. But unlike in Gamcheon where houses are built in staircase fashion so that no house blocks any house behind it, Jiufen’s buildings seem to be making a silent appeal to their neighbors to move over. Some structures look as though they are sliding into their adjacent ones, while others seem to stand above their neighbors.

Snaking through this chaos is a maze of narrow alleyways and staircases. They wind up and down the hills, leading to Buddhist temples, vista points, and eventually to the old town where shops and food stalls stand shoulder to shoulder. Day and night, an endless stream of visitors passes through these lanes. Perhaps they are seeking the charm of yesteryear embedded in every corner of this peculiar town.

Spectacular view from Jiufen
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A brief history of Jiufen

During the first years of the Qing Dynasty, Jiufen was founded as an isolated village comprising merely nine households. Due to its inconvenient location, the locals would always request nine portions every time shipments arrived in town. For this reason, the town was named Jiufen, which literally means “nine portions”.

The nostalgic scenery is the main draw of hilly Jiufen.

The village remained largely unknown in the next centuries until gold was discovered in 1893. Accordingly, inns, teahouses, restaurants, and even a cinema spawned up to accommodate the needs of gold-seekers and merchants. Within years, the once-isolated village rapidly developed into a gold dynamic mining town.

After World War II, Jiufen’s role as a mining town started fading as a result of declining mining activities. And for a while, it was mostly forgotten. The town only regained attention in the 1990s as the film location for A City of Sadness by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, and later in 2001 as a model city for the Japanese anime movie Spirited Away by Studio Ghibli (the director Miyazaki has denied this claim). Though bearing little resemblance to the town in the movie, Jiufen’s nostalgic scenery is still a draw for many visitors.

Having tea at Jiufen

Another unmissable experience when visiting Jiufen is to sip tea at one of its atmospheric teahouses. There are currently a dozen traditional teahouses in town. But we ended up at Jiufen Teahouse (九份茶坊) – a classic teahouse that originated as a Chinese medicine clinic.

In contrast to its modest storefront, the interior is beautifully decorated with traditional furniture, antiques, and numerous teapots. The hostess led us to a cozy room, with a glimpse of the fog-covered hills below. On her recommendation, we picked the Oolong tea and savored it in a very Taiwanese way: pouring water constantly warmed by charcoal into loose-leaf tea. A relaxing teahouse moment, while outside it started drizzling…

Jioufen Teahouse – Not the most popular in town, but certainly one of the most atmospheric
Cozy room in Jioufen Teahouse
A relaxing teahouse moment

How to get to Jiufen from Taipei

  • Located 40 kilometers east of Taipei, Jiufen is easily accessible by local trains from Taipei Main Station. Just take Line 801 towards Su’ao (Yilan) and get off at Ruifang Station. The trip takes less than one hour.
  • From Ruifang Station, take Keelung Bus Nr.856 to Jiufen. Please note that the bus stop to Jiufen is located about 400 meters left of Ruifang Station. The one in front of the station only runs to Keelung. I made this mistake and as a result, a supposedly one-hour trip was turned into three hours.
  • The entire trip can be paid for with the EasyCard – an add-valued smartcard that can be used in most of Taiwan’s public transportation system.
  • Houtong Cat Village – the feline paradise – is just one station away. That’s why many people combine these two destinations on a day trip.

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10 thoughts on “Jiufen: Seeking the Charm of Yesteryear”

  1. XingfuMama – Seattle – Amateur photographer seeking beauty in both the memorable and the mundane. Sharing pictures, stories and meditations from here and there.
    XingfuMama says:

    This is fascinating, I’m going to put it on my list of places to try to see.

    1. If you do, I would suggest visiting at late afternoon/night. The town looks more magical when they light up all the lanterns. The town is also less crowded after sunset 🙂

      1. XingfuMama – Seattle – Amateur photographer seeking beauty in both the memorable and the mundane. Sharing pictures, stories and meditations from here and there.
        XingfuMama says:

        Thanks.

  2. Chỗ này nửa đêm không người, thích lắm! Đi lên mấy bậc cầu thang cứ như đang quay In The Mood for Love =)

    1. Chắc ảo lắm hihi. Mình cũng tính ở lại chờ đèn lên, nhưng mà mưa quá. Cộng với toàn người là người nên thôi 🙂 Phải công nhận người Đài thích ăn thiệt. Đâu đâu cũng là hàng ăn, mà hàng nào cũng đông ấy.

      1. Hồi mới qua cũng shock cái này lắm, già trẻ lớn bé gì lúc nào cũng nghĩ tới ăn thôi, đi đường thấy ai cũng cầm đồ ăn đồ uống vừa đi vừa ăn là bình thường, sẵn sàng xếp hàng cả cây số để đợi mua, học sinh bạn bè này kia lên plan làm gì cũng ăn đầu tiên :))))))

    1. Chỗ này ko xa Taipei lắm đâu cô. Khi nào có dịp transist qua đây, có thời gian thì cô ghé qua. Town này nhỏ lắm, nên nửa ngày là đủ xem hết rồi. Nhưng mà chỗ này hơi bị đông. Hiện tại thì chắc là vắng rồi 🙂

  3. Bama – Jakarta, Indonesia – Based in Jakarta, always curious about the world, always fascinated by ancient temples, easily pleased by food.
    Bama says:

    If only I had more time in Taipei during my trip back in 2013, I would probably have visited Jiufeng as well, and gone to one of those atmospheric teahouses.

    1. Hihi Jiufen might be less crowded back then. I cannot tell you about other teahouses, but Jiufen Teahouse is definitely worth a visit. The loose-leaf tea is pretty good. In my opinion, it tastes better than the tea bag. And also more eco-friendly 🙂

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