2013.11.25 — A Nostalgic Day Trip to Jiufen
The day before, a Sunday, we had taken Lisa and her classmates to catch crabs, have a barbecue, and play paintball in Tamsui. Unsurprisingly, neither of our two girls could get out of bed the next morning. They stayed buried under the covers for ages.
By the time we finally got them through the school gates, it was already after nine. T.T
I decided to slack off, take the day off, and go on a date with my wife instead. ^.^
We headed to Jiufen, one of our favorite places before Lisa and Belle came along.
It was a cold, rainy Monday, so I assumed many of the shops up in the mountains might be closed. Jiufen proved me wrong: the Old Street was open for business and still busy with visitors.
It may be called an “old street,” but the things sold here felt noticeably different from those at other old streets—and perhaps a little more upscale. We wandered around until lunchtime without noticing the time. ~.~'"
We asked a nearby shopkeeper for a restaurant recommendation. The answer was “Taro and Sweet Potato,” behind A-Mei Tea House.
Its entrance was a small, inconspicuous opening in the hillside that would have been easy to miss. ~.~'"
Going inside did not immediately reveal a hidden wonderland. Instead, we found ourselves in a tunnel?! Only after walking through it did the restaurant finally appear. ^.^
The food was good, but a little expensive: a bowl of sesame-oil chicken noodle soup and an order of three-cup squid came to NT$690. @.@'"
Luckily, the owner gave us a discount and charged only NT$600. ^.^
After lunch, we retraced our steps through the tunnel to Shuqi Road and walked back through the Old Street to our car.
With full stomachs, it was time to take my wife to a hotel...
Whoops, I left out two characters: I meant the Crown Prince’s Chalet. ^.^
There was no need to fly to Japan—the atmosphere here already felt distinctly Japanese.
Following the signs toward the Gold Museum from Jiufen led us to the Japanese-era chalet built in anticipation of Crown Prince Hirohito’s visit, although he never ultimately stayed there. ~.~'"
The entrance was easy to overlook, but everything beyond it was beautifully maintained.
The grounds were not very large, and the building’s interior was closed to visitors at the time, so we made one circuit and moved on.
We had planned to walk up to the shrine behind the museum before heading home to pick up the girls from school. On the way, however, we came across a section of mine-cart track.
Following it brought us to the remains of Benshan No. 5 Tunnel. I immediately changed the plan and pulled my wife into the pitch-black mine... Ha. Ha.. Ha...
The restored visitor tunnel had motion-triggered audio explanations along the route, which made the walk surprisingly engaging. ^.^
This had been a spontaneous outing, so I had not brought my camera. I took these pictures casually with my phone—please forgive the less-than-perfect image quality.
See those glittering gold-colored specks on the rock? We were told there was still quite a bit of gold here. ^.^
My wife and I agreed that someone had probably sprinkled them there on purpose. If the gold were really that easy to extract, the mine would have reopened long ago. ~.~'"
The tunnel also recreated a scene of miners placing explosives in preparation for a blast.
In roughly 180 meters, the route condensed much of the hardship once endured by the miners. Stepping out of the tunnel into the open air truly felt like returning to daylight. @.@'"
It was getting late, so it was time to head home.
Driving down the mountain, we unexpectedly found Golden Waterfall—a place we had once made a special trip to find and somehow missed. What a happy surprise! ^.^
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