[RD] Discovering Taiwan

[warpus]

Hmmm...Alice keeps showing up.... Tell us more about her. Does she live in Taiwan? Will she visit you at home or in the US?

Alice is a Taipei area hiking expert, but basically has extensive knowledge of all sorts of trails all over the island. She works in Taipei though so that's her area of most expertise. We had fun hiking and hanging out and still occasionally keep in touch. I am grateful for her basically being my guide for most of these hikes and taking me to places I otherwise wouldn't have found. I do believe her obligations are going to keep her in Taiwan for the time being, but I wouldn't want to assume anything either.

I do invite the people I meet on my trips to Canada, in that I say that I would be more than happy to help show them around if they ever showed up in Toronto. That's actually only ever happened once though. Even some of my cousins are on this growing list of hypothetical visitors.

 

[warpus]

Day Twenty Five Reflections
Saturday, November 30, 2024

Total Distance Walked This Day - 12.9 km

Another day in Taipei to remember! This was the right kind of sendoff with 2 full days left in Taiwan before the flight home.

 

[warpus]

Day 26

Day Trip to Jiufen (九份)
Sunday, December 1, 2024

Jiufen is one of the most popular day trip destinations from Taipei and a place I had hoped to spend a day or two in. It takes about an hour and a half to get here from central Taipei, via a train with a transfer to a bus in Ruifang. It's a bit out of the way, but well worth a visit, not only for Jiufen itself, but also nearby hiking trails.

Jiufen is a popular destination in part because it's a picturesque seaside mountain town built on steep slopes overlooking the Pacific. It's known for a sort of enchanted atmosphere with narrow steep walkways, cliffside teahouses, breathtaking views, a rich history, bustling markets, and a large amount of those red lanterns. It creates a very unique vibe reminiscent of the 2001 Japanese movie Spirited Away, so much so that a lot of people end up believing that the setting in the movie is based on Jiufen. A lot of Spirited Away souvenirs and trinkets are even sold here, adding to the confusion. The director of the movie has gone on record to say that there is absolutely no connection, although if you ever visit you will probably see the similarities.

A bit of foreshadowing there, as we decided to climb Mt. Keelung shortly after arriving, seen in the distance in the second photo.

 

[warpus]

Mt. Keelung Summit

Mt. Keelung is a popular nearby lookout point from which you can see Jiufen, Keelung, the beautiful coast, and if you're lucky even Taipei 101. It's fairly close to Jiufen, which is a huge tourist draw, so a decent amount of people attempt the ascent almost every day.

It took us just about an hour and a half to get to the summit from the location where the following photo was taken. I'm including it so you can get a slightly better look at 2 of the 3 pavilion rest areas near the summit. They came in incredibly handy, as the sun was out in full force and there was absolutely no shade from the clouds (or lack thereof). By the time we reached the first pavilion I was sweating big time and ready for a 5 minute break.

At the 13 - 15 second mark of the video or so you will be able to briefly see Taipei 101 in the distance, which is about 30km away or so. It also shows up again during the 22 - 26 second mark, but the camera is moving decently faster at that point.

The coastal city you see in the video is Keelung, which is essentially a part of the Greater Taipei metro area. A decent amount of people live in Keelung and work in Taipei, which is about 45 minutes away by train. The map in this post will add a bit more context to what I'm describing here.

 

[warpus]

Mt. Keelung Hike Snapshots

The best picture I have from the hike that shows Taipei 101 in the distance is this one:

Most of Keelung City is actually not visible from the summit of Mt. Keelung, most of the buildings end up hidden behind hills. In the following photo, if you count the bays from the bottom, the city technically begins near the 2nd bay, but the main bay the city is built around (the 4th one) is decently out of view.

Another photo from the hike, this time facing in a completely different direction.. possibly directly south:

Overall the hike was rewarding in terms of the sights, but also a bit draining in terms of the energy required. The sun blasting down on us was the biggest factor - a steady hike uphill in the sun can tire you out fairly quickly. Pretty cool and interesting to see the north-eastern coast of Taiwan from this vantage point though, and I was pretty happy about the nice weather regardless. It just meant that we'd have to sit down in the shade for a bit and recharge a bit longer after the hike.

 

[warpus]

Jiufen at 8:49am
vs
Jiufen at 12:45pm

When we arrived in Jiufen the streets were almost completely empty and most of the establishments were closed. We were able to find an open teahouse with a scenic view where we ate some cheesecake and waffles for breakfast, but for the most part Jiufen felt like a bit of a ghost town. It made it easy to explore the city and get a feel for the layout and to visit some of the lookout points and other locations of interest.

When we returned from the hike the streets of Jiufen were unrecognizable. It was only then that I appreciated arriving so early in the morning, to be able to see it all empty. It's a completely different place.

I should have planned these sets of photos so that they were taken at the exact same location, but you get the idea.

It was a bit shocking how quickly all the walkways filled up with seas of people. And I mean, it makes sense, we were gone for just over 2 hours after all, and you know it will be busy on a weekend, but it's still a bit of a shock when you experience the two extremes in person one after the other.

 

[warpus]

Jiufen at 9:23am
vs
Jiufen at 7:19pm

I tried to find two photos taken from a similar spot at different points in time.. and this is the best match in terms of location that I could find. It's not exact, but I do believe the lit up white oval sign in the distance in the 2nd photo is the same white oval sign that's just in front of us in the first photo.

This is actually one of the busier and most popular walkways in Jiufen, it takes you by a number of attractions, most popular teahouses, lookout spots, and photo opportunities.. But after 7pm it's quieter here. A decent chunk of visitors leave 5-6pm, it's basically all the people who want to be back in Taipei in time for dinner. Generally speaking the crowds tend to start thinning out of Jiufen as early as 3:30pm, that's when some day trippers who arrived early start to pack up. Not us though, we had another hike in the plans.

 

[warpus]

Jiufen's Labyrinth of Shops and Tea Houses

Jiufen gets so packed you might wonder how fun a visit can even be.. It's such a unique location though, all the narrow winding walkways in between structures built on steep ground. A truly wonderful setting full of interesting shops and food stalls. All the people around you are sort of a part of the experience. We spent about 12 hours here, minus the time spent on the two hikes, and it didn't really feel like it was too much at any point in time. At the end of the night I was ready to head back to Taipei, but as far as day trips go, this one was wildly successful.

 

[warpus]

Taro Potato Teahouse Passageway

Jiufen is built on a steep hillside partially on top of old manually carved mining tunnels and passageways. It was initially founded as a support town for the gold mining industry, which sprung up here after gold was discovered in these hills in the 1890s. By the 1930s Jiufen and the nearby Jinguashi had become one of East Asia's major gold-producing regions, but by the 1970s large scale mining had stopped and many tunnels were sealed. Population declined sharply and Jiufen nearly became a ghost town. In the 1980s, 90s, and early 2000s the city slowly experienced a rebirth from a mining support town to something a bit more tourist-oriented. Tunnels became walkways, mine buildings became teahouses, etc.

When Jiufen was reimagined as a tourist getaway, some of the old tunnels and passageways were repurposed for public use. We found an entrance to one of them just off the popular Siqi Road.

So what does any of that have to do with Taro Potato Teahouse? This tunnel is how you get there, if you are a customer at least. Technically you can reach the teahouse via other side streets, but if you are walking along the main tourist artery (Siqui Road), the tunnel is by far the easiest and most obvious access point to the teahouse, which sits in a narrow alleyway.

Of course we knew none of this at the time. I had to translate the sign above the tunnel and read up on the Taro Potato Teahouse connection.

 

[warpus]

Stinky Tofu (臭豆腐)

Stinky tofu is a very popular Taiwanese night market snack. It is unknown when and where exactly it was invented, but most sources place its origins somewhere in China during or before the 1600s.

The tofu is soaked in a special brine that could include anything from fermented milk to vegetables or meat. It is the brine that ferments, the tofu simply soaks up the fermented brine and absorbs its odours and flavours. It is then deep fried until golden brown and served with pickled cabbage.

As you make your way through Taiwanese night markets, the odours that hit your nose are usually pleasant. Deep fried foods, bbq'd meats, these are all very welcoming to the nose. But occasionally you'll smell something foul.. It's such a huge contrast to all the other smells. That smell is stinky tofu. You can smell it from a mile away, and I always stayed away from it mainly because the other smells were so much more inviting. I had stinky tofu on my list of things to try though, so eventually I did.

Regarding what is happening at the beginning of the video: At some point previous to this Alice had pointed out that I was holding my chopsticks a bit too close to the front. Holding them a bit differently would give me a lot more holding power & flexibility. I thought I was doing it right, but I guess not quite.

And yeah, the stinky tofu was pretty good, the foul smell is a bit deceptive. It sort of tastes like cheese, but not quite. I'm glad I tried it

 

[warpus]

Jiufen Taro Balls (九份芋圓)

Taro balls are an iconic Jiufen snack. They are associated with the town's post-mining revival in the late 1980s and 1990s, when locals who had fallen on hard times made these snacks and sold them from small family kitchens and storefronts. Jiufen style taro balls differ from taro balls you'll find in other parts of Taiwan. There's usually more tapioca starch, so they are more chewy, but less sweet and with more of that taro flavour.

To make Taro balls you steam and mash taro roots, mix the mash with potato flour and/or tapioca starch, form it into dough, which you season, roll into logs, which are then cut into small pieces, coated in starch, and boiled until they float. This is then eaten in a variety ways, including Taro Ball Sweet Soup (芋圓甜湯), which usually has a red bean soup base and is often flavoured with brown sugar and ginger.

The taro balls are chewy and kind of sticky and make an interesting yet agreeable snack. The warm sweet soup took me a bit longer to get used to. On top of plain taro balls, which I also tried, you can get taro balls with shaved ice, served mixed hot-cold, served with grass jelly, or served with herbal jelly. Jiufen prides itself on their taro balls, there's vendors here selling all kinds.

Botanically and technically taro roots are not roots at all, but rather corms. But everyone says tarot root and not tarot corm.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Hawaiian poi is also taro root based. i am not a fan.

Poi (food) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[warpus]

Hawaiian poi is also taro root based. i am not a fan.

Poi (food) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'm not sure if the flavour is similar, but it's got to be some degree, but yeah, it definitely seems like it would be an acquired taste for some. I called it "agreeable", I couldn't think of a better way to describe what it tasted like to me. It was sort of... not bad.. not amazing.. sort of neutral

 

[Birdjaguar]

I'm not sure if the flavour is similar, but it's got to be some degree, but yeah, it definitely seems like it would be an acquired taste for some. I called it "agreeable", I couldn't think of a better way to describe what it tasted like to me. It was sort of... not bad.. not amazing.. sort of neutral

Hawaiian poi tastes and feels like eating paste.

 

[warpus]

Teapot Mountain (茶壺山)

Teapot Mountain is one of Taiwan's most iconic and popular day hikes. It is popular for its unique rock formation at the summit, which is said to resemble a handle-less teapot, which today is a symbol of the region. Lookout points along the trail and at the summit offer epic panoramic views of the region, which is the main reason I wanted to get up there. We wanted to wait a bit for the sun to die down a tad before attempting the ascent, as Teapot Mountain is a decent degree more challenging of an ascent compared to Keelung Mountain. It's steeper, a part of the route takes you over loose gravel, it's higher up, and the terrain and route are generally more physically strenuous.

The closest trailhead is just 10-15 minutes away from Jiufen by bus, which is how we got there. From there it takes over an hour to get to the summit, which contains an interesting cave and several lookout points.

We had read conflicting reports that the trail was closed to the public, since some of the trail was destroyed or washed out following typhoon Leon. Some Taiwanese hiking trails commonly close down following a typhoon as a precaution, as landslides are possible even weeks after a typhoon. We decided to head out there anyway to see the state of the trail for ourselves.

Sure enough parts of the trail were in rough shape. Some of the route uses stone steps and concrete reinforced paths, and some of those had been washed away. It made the hike more strenuous and you had to be more careful not to slip or step on an unstable stone, but we saw groups of people heading up, and no barrier anywhere near the trailhead, so we proceeded to attempt the ascent.

The Baoshi Pavilion (寶獅亭) is one of the lookout points of note near the summit. The prominent mountain with little structures on the summit that you'll see in the following photo is actually Mount Keelung, the mountain we had climbed earlier in the day.

This second photo was taken right outside the entrance to the cave at the summit. As you can see it had been fenced off, as a safety precaution.. That did not stop us though. We saw others bypass the barrier and make their way up to the cave.. which I don't recommend! If you see a barrier, stay behind it. If I had been there on a solo hike, I would have probably stayed behind as well. Alice is an adventurous and well experienced hiker though, and her spidey senses told her that it was safe for us to continue.. and so we did.

 

[warpus]

Teapot Mountain Summit

The next picture shows you Teapot Mountain Summit, which from certain angles resembles a teapot. I didn't really see it personally, but I was tired from the day's activities, the climb, and was paying more attention to the nice views. From what I've been able to determine the right-most protrusion you see in the picture is supposed to be the spout.

To get into the cave we had to climb up a bit of this rock face and then carefully make make our way around towards the left. The spot where I am standing in the second photo was the hairiest part of the experience. There isn't much room at all and the fall down probably wouldn't have been fatal, but it could have easily lead to a serious injury. The picture doesn't do a very good job showing you how high up it is. At one point I had to take off my backpack and pass it to Alice so I'd have an easier time squeezing through. She of course has been here many times and was leading the way with confidence.

The climb down into the cave wasn't so bad, but it was quite dark, and as you'll hear I ended up hitting my head on something along the way. Just slightly though, luckily.

The cave has an exit on the other side, from where you can get on a lookout ledge. Supposedly you can even climb a bit higher, but we were done.

Warning: There is one swear word used at the end of the last video.

 

[warpus]

Day Twenty Six Reflections
Sunday, December 1, 2024

Total Distance Walked This Day - 13.9 km

An adventure of a day that started before 6am and saw me return to my hotel close to midnight. The most complete Jiufen day trip experience I could have ever hoped for!

On top of the pictures you saw and descriptions you read, we ended up doing a decent around of walking around the Jiufen alleyways and shopping plus food tasting. I bought some souvenirs for family members and I can't not mention the cool custom stamp souvenir that Alice got me, known as a yìnzhāng (印章) . It's got the phonetic Mandarin version of my name that was laser engraved onto the bottom of the stamp while we waited. As part of the process you personalize every single part of the package by selecting the container, the stamp style, ink pad, font style, the ornament on top of the stamp, and a couple of other elements. I have it sitting in my home office and occasionally stamp things with it for fun. It's a very common Jiufen souvenir and many people get it, but it's pretty damn cool, and the fact that it was a gift made it more meaningful.

My second last full day in Taiwan was now over.. but what a day it was! A worthy sort of grand finale to the trip, with one more day left to do a bit more sightseeing before the flight home.

 

[warpus]

Day 27

Boba Tea (珍珠奶茶) at Tao Tao Tea
Monday, December 2, 2024

Boba (bubble) tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. It usually includes tea, milk or creamer, sweetener, tapioca pearls, and sometimes other toppings. The "bubbles" originally referred to the foam created when shaking the tea, but now most people associate "boba" with the tapioca pearls.

This was my last full day in Taiwan and I made my first mission of the day to find a well reviewed bubble tea shop, so I could finally have my first bubble tea in Taiwan. I ended up going with Tao Tao Tea - they combine Eastern and Western tea culture with 30 years of British tea experience, using Taiwanese and Sri Lankan teas, while embracing British afternoon tea aesthetics with an emphasis on proper tea brewing.

I ordered their flagship product - the Classic Milk Tea (經典奶茶), which uses a strong black tea base and isn't too sweet. The drink has a focus on "tea clarity" rather than heavy toppings, and it came recommended to me by the employee of the shop, when I inquired about a good starter bubble tea to order, something that was classic and tasty. I'd only ever had bubble tea a handful of times back in Canada, so while in Taiwan I wanted to sample a good solid base I could compare future bubble tea experiences to.

This bubble tea was somewhat different when compared to my Canadian bubble tea experiences. I couldn't really tell you what I even had in Canada, but I remember more of an emphasis on the tapioca pearls. In this tea the pearls just hit different, and the overall balance of the tea seemed better. I wish I had time to try more varieties, but in the end I was happy I ended up trying this iconic Taiwanese drink.

 

[warpus]

Underground Book Street (誠品R79 中山地下書街)

As an avid reader and book lover, this place intrigued me quite a bit, but unfortunately I did not have much time to spend here. It is a 550m or so underground walkway connecting two MRT stations that has been converted into a bit of a book lover's paradise.

I was hoping this would mean that there would be multiple book vendors set up here, but it is just one business that has contributed to this space: Eslite. Eslite was founded in 1989 in Taipei and pioneered a 24-hour bookstore concept, the first on the planet. This has helped make Eslite into a bit of an iconic Taiwanese establishment, with 38 branches across Taiwan as well as locations in Hong Kong, Japan, China, and Malaysia. Eslite is not only a bookstore, it incorporates cafes, art exhibition spaces, spaces for events and performances, as well as offering various lifestyle goods. You can think of it as a hybrid bookstore/gallery/lifestyle hub. Eslite is also known for offering one of the largest selections of English language publications in Taiwan. The founder of Eslite, Robert Wu Ching-yu is to this day celebrated as a cultural visionary who helped reshape Taiwan's reading culture.

The underground book street is quite impressive. As you walk through it you walk past many book displays covering a variety of genres, many adjacent book related spaces, reading nooks, new book sections, used book sections, several cafes, event spaces, book related art on the walls (quotes, etc.), curated book displays, and a lot more. You can quite literally smell that smell of books all around you, it's great.

 

[warpus]

Beitou Thermal Valley Park (北投地熱谷公園)

During the Japanese colonial era Beitou was developed into a major hot spring resort area and marketed as "one of Taiwan's eight attractions and twelve scenic spots". There is even a special MRT metro branch line from Beitou Station to near Beitou Thermal Valley Park. Over time this whole part of Taipei expanded to include various spa-related businesses and infrastructure. I figured this would be a good place to go to relax a bit at the very end of the trip, while also seeing some sights.

What's somewhat unique about the geothermal properties here is that there are minute traces of radium in the geothermal pools. What's even more unique is that it is only one of two places on Earth where hokutolite forms - the other one is the Tamagawa Onsen in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Hokutolite is a rare mineral containing radium, lead sulfate, and barium sulfate. From what I understand this is because the conditions required for hokutolite are extremely narrow and specific: near-boiling acidic water, high sulfate concentration, specific volcanic geology, and a slow cooling over time. And it so turns out that only two places on the planet meet all the conditions.

And you might say.. Radium? Isn't that dangerous? I did the math and it turns out it's a matter of amount and perspective. If you were to drink a full liter of Beitou geothermal water you'd get about 0.01% of the radiation you typically get during an X-ray. So while I can't vouch for any of the medical claims written on the following tablet, I can say with full confidence that if your concern is the radiation from the radium just walking through the Beitou geothermal area is 100% safe. Spas in the area do use Beitou hot spring water, but not the boiling ultra acidic water from the thermal valley.

To add to that, having just googled this, the prevailing scientific consensus appears to be that there are no known health benefits to radium. In the early 20th century, after radium was discovered by Marie Curie Skłodowska, it was marketed as a miracle substance by some for a while. There was a bit of hype but it seems there was nothing to it.

Imagine my disappointment when I arrived here and realized that the whole Beitou Thermal Valley Park and many of the related businesses all shut down every single monday. In Taiwan mondays are often designated for maintenance, cleaning, and safety checks, affecting parks, museums, and other establishments, but somehow I had not noticed until now.

While the park and many of the spas were closed, the public spaces in Beitou District were nevertheless worthy of a walkthrough. I was hoping to see the official park and Bitou Hot Spring Museum and a couple of other places, but what can you do, no choice but to enjoy the rest of the day.

I did in the end find a well reviewed open spa where I splurged a bit on a massage by a professional. I swear it was the only open spa in the area that I could find, but it ended up being a properly relaxing and at times intense experience. They pampered me quite a bit and it was awesome.