Jiufen Old Street 九份舊道
Arguably, the biggest attraction in Jiufen is Jiufen Old Street 九份舊道. This is a very busy strip of street lined with various shops and stalls. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting something like this here. I read about Jiufen being an old mountain village and I was imagining an idyllic village stuck in time. Reality is much different from this idealized version of Jiufen. The closest thing I could compared it to is a typical Taiwan night market. Indeed, it may not be that different from a Shilin Night Market, apart from Jiufen being built on top of a mountain.
Masks on Sale at Jiufen Old Street 九份舊道
I have been to old streets in mainland China, and I think the ones they have there are much more attractive. Commercialized is what comes to mind when you see Jiufen Old Street and that is probably fine. Some of the shops are interesting and are worth a visit. If you aren’t into shopping, there would always be the snack stalls which you can choose from. Jiufen is known for some stuff and one of them is tea. Being on top of a mountain, the climate is conducive for growing tea. A friend of mine wanted some so I need to remember to buy some before I leave.
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