Jiufen Old Street

A bit about Jiufen Old Street History

Jiufen is located within the hills in Ruifang district, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The name ‘Jiufen’ originated from the 9 families who lived in this isolated mountainous area during the Qing Dynasty. Later during Japanese occupation in 1893, the town rapidly developed as the center of gold mining activities. After the war, the gold mining has fallen into non-active mining site. However, a lot of authentic and traditional buildings remained the same until today which attracts people to come and experience Jiufen’s cultural and historical environment. Therefore, Jiufen Old Street has now become one of people’s favorite tourist destinations they won’t miss while in Taiwan.

next87 — Landscape view from sight seeing spot in Jiufen

next44 — The most epic view of Jiufen area during afternoon of a sunny day in winter

next71 — Some old architecture of a local building with some Chinese lanterns

next72 — The alley of the Jiufen Old Street with a lot of food stalls around

next70 — On the other side of Jiufen Old Street, there is also a beautiful layer-view-mountainous area.

One special characteristic of Jiufen is its small alley full of hanging Chinese red lantern and Japanese-influence building architecture. Exploring Jiufen, there are a lot of things to do and experience in this beautiful village such as souvenir shopping and food hunting. Around Jiufen Old Street, there are some unique teahouses where visitor can spend their afternoon having tea and enjoying the view. Admiring landscape view of mountainous area and epic ocean scenery of Keelung outer sea before night is one thing you should not miss. For food recommendation, we personally love the peanut ice cream roll, handmade yam/taro/sweet potato balls and traditional fish balls! You will fall in love with it too. Don’t forget to visit the area nearby A Mei tea house to experience the atmosphere like in the Japanese Anime movie by Studio Ghibli “Spirited Away” written by Hayao Miyazaki.

The locals not only keep the old design of their houses, but they also decorated it to be colorful like this mural on the wall.

They are selling many kinds of souvenir.

Want to eat in a classic Chinese style restaurant?

Traditional Taiwanese food all over the old street, just grab and try some

Love some artistic works? Meet some local artist and bring home their works as a gift or collection

next43 — Looking for some traditional Taiwanese household stuff to put in your house? This place sales most of the stuff made of wood.

Try the famous traditional fish balls and tofu filled with fish balls

Next39 — This maybe not a favorite for some people, but we found this unique. He is a chiseler. He engraves your name and a little symbol on a stone that you have chosen. He did it quick and with skills. Then, you can choose whether to make it as a bracelet, necklace, or keychain.

Front gate or the entrance of Jiufen Old Street

How to get there: Take the train to Ruifang Station from Taipei Main Station. Exit the train station and go to Local Residents Plaza bus stop, take bus with routes 788 or 827 heading to Jiufen. To go back to Taipei City take bus route 1062 Keelung Bus. Keep in mind that around 6 p.m. there will be a lot of visitors waiting for the bus going back to the city. If you want to skip the long wait, just go back earlier before the crowd.