From the coastal area of Yehliu, Peter drove us upland towards Jiufen, located in a mountainous area of the Ruifang District, New Taipei City. Jiufen is a historic gold-mining town. The gold was said to have been discovered when a railway was being built in the vicinity. Prior to the gold rush, the village was composed of only nine families, isolated from the rest of Taiwan.
The drizzle became more apparent when we arrived at the Chenghuang Temple. Peter handed each of us an umbrella and gave me a map. He gave me instructions on which road to traverse and how to get back to the temple.
We climbed a flight of stairs, walked a curved road and entered a small alley. We weren’t sure if it was the right street since it was too narrow and filled with stores on both sides. Since it was a Saturday, the alley was jam-packed. True enough, it was the old street of Jiufen.
Restaurants, souvenir stores, jewelry shops, pastries, drinks, Chinese items, and various goodies could be found along the winding path. We missed our turn and came to the dead end which was an overlooking. We asked around and we turned back a short distance and found the cobblestone steps of Shuqi Road.
We followed the crowd descending the flight of steps until we got to the Shengping Theater. There was a long line and it was raining so we turned at Qingbian Road going back to the Chenghuang Temple.
Here are the three items I found interesting in that lane:
- Mochi store – these are glutinous desserts with various flavorful fillings or powdery coatings.
- Grape juice – fresh grapes are blended together into a syrupy concentrate. The smell is that of real grapes and you can see how it is prepared right in front of you.
- Peanut blocks – that’s what I’ll call these blocks of peanuts solidified by sugar. It looked like the Philippine version of peanut brittle or bande to me. But this one is bigger than a hollow block and they scrape it to make it powdery and they put it as filling in what seemed like a lumpia wrapper.
It was a fun shopping escapade, filled with history and culture. Plus, nice views, too. Want to see our photos? Check this link of my Facebook page album.
