Taipei Family Trip (Part 3)

Last part of this family trip we took last Sep, I’m going to introduce to you a few places we visited on a 1-day trip to Jiufen (九份) and Shifen (十分).

If you are looking to read about my past posts, here there are: Taipei Family Trip (Part 1) & Taipei Family Trip (Part 2).

On this road trip, we visited Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園)). It’s a suggested place enroute to Jiufen, but if you are not so keen on nature stuff like rocks and fossils, then you can safely skip this place.

Do note that the place will be unsheltered almost 90%, so bring along an umbrella or wear a cap.

 

What can you expect to see? Like I said, lots of rocks, but very unique geological formations including the famous iconic “Queen’s Head” (女王頭).

Due to long-tern weathering and erosion, the appearance of the Queen’s Head is gradually wearing down. In order to preserve the original shape and elegance of the iconic attraction, a fiberglass replica was produced for tourists’ appreciation.

Mushroom Rocks
This formation is characterized by its mushroom-like shapes, with relatively thin stems topped by larger rocks. The caps of the mushroom rocks are rich in calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) and are therefore relatively more resistant to weathering than the necks. Through time, the necks becomes narrower and narrower because of differential erosion.

It does looks like a tooth too right?

Monocline Structure
There are several monocline (cuesta) structures in Yehliu forming a distinctive landscape.

Statue of Mr. Lin Tien-chen, as a reminder of his brave actions in March 1964, when Mr. Lin tried to help a student who visited Yehliu and was swept to sea by the waves. Unfortunately, both Mr. Lin and the student lost their lives.

Even if you do not wish to join the long queue of people for the photo taking chance (mainly for Queen’s Head), just walk around the landscape and capture the beautiful unique rock formations, created and designed by nature.

This sort of reminds me of those movies on some other planets.

 

Any direction you turn towards, the view is simply spectacular.

Drop by the small market just outside the park, and quench your thirst with some super nice freshly squeezed juices. Great place to hide from the scorching sun too.

From Yehliu, we continued on to Jiufen. Apparently Jiufen is situated on a mountain top, which was something new to me.

The main road in Jiufen.

The gem of Jiufen are the old streets (老街). You have to weave through the 老街 and find the true spirit of this place. Littered with small eating corners and shops all throughout the place, you will not go hungry at all here.

I’ll let the photos do the talking.

 

And of the course, the super famous, not-to-be-missed Juifen Fenyuan (九份粉圆).

Joey was pulled into this shop where an old man was practicing his magic tricks.

What about buying a pair of clogs? Model not for sale.

You can find quite a few of these cafes situated just over the mountain slope, providing some of the best views for coffee and a break.

With the shades all over the entire street, we were mercifully sheltered in the cool and shopping was just more fun.

 

The 5 ladies with me.

Me? Just give me a cup of bubble tea, I will be satisfied.

After Jiufen, another 40mins or so, we arrived at Shifen, the land of Kong Ming Lantern Tian Deng (天燈).

If you ask me, this is really so “tourisy”. But since we are indeed tourists, let’s just do it.

 

 

Can you see my mother’s slightly annoyed face becos of the heat? =p

 

And off it goes.

   

The train station at Shifen is still in use, so be careful when you are there, don’t let the kids run on the tracks without supervision.

 

Behind the tracks, hidden from the crowd is the Jingan Suspension Bridge (静安桥). Built in 1947 for coal transportation, not it is just part of the tourist attractions in Shifen.

Last but definitely not least, we stopped over at Keelung Miaokou Night Market (基隆廟口夜市).

Only Jayne was tiredly looking at me.

There is nothing much here, only food. The night market shopping cannot be compared to those in Taipei, so if you are too tired to visit, you will not miss much.

But this 油饭 is something worth the trip.

Coupled with the soup, our dinner was settled.

A slow stroll along the streets before we finally called it a day and return to rest.

Hope you enjoyed all the posts on my Family Trip to Taiwan.