Taipei: The Economic and Commercial Hub of Taiwan
Though people tend to think of Taipei as being the economic and commercial hub of Taiwan with its world renowned skyscrapers, such as Taipei 101 and its magnificent views of the city, there are parts of new Taipei which provide a wonderful getaway for tourists keen to avoid the hustle and bustle of city life.
Villages along the Pingxi Railway Line
One such place is the cluster of small mountain villages towards the east of Taipei including Pingxi, Shifen and Jingtong. These villages are located along the Pingxi railway line built for transporting coal during Japanese colonial times. Quaint shops featuring traditional village foods, toys and ornaments are found either side of unused parts of old track paved with pebbles and stones. Largely untouched by industrialisation, with small trees lining the tracks, streams, windy paths and narrow stone stairways which intersect each other, the picturesque scenery takes us back to the days of simple village life.
One of the villages most characterised by the style of Japanese colonial times is the terminus station of the Pingxi branch, Jingtong. Built in wood, complete with wooden chairs and old barriers, with equipment and machines left from the era including a red-green flag, a hand cranked telephone, a blocking device, an old office desk, and a safety box, the station has kept its original look almost in its entirety. Just a few hundred meters from the station, outside the post office, strings of bamboo rolls cascade over a wooden panel with handwritten messages of good will from visitors.
The village is also well known for its local foods including flour tea, chicken rolls and bamboo rice. Other buildings that have remained from colonial times include Japanese tea houses in beautifully landscaped gardens, dormitories and lodgings, originally for coal miners and staff, as well as sections of mines, both of which reside on the site of the Jingtong pit museum. One of the summer highlights in the village is the firefly season. During this season, in early summer, many people travel long distances from all over Taiwan to the wooded area of the mines where coal trucks take you around designated parts of rail tracks to see thousands of fireflies lighting up the scene.
If you’re looking for natural scenery, Shifen is the place to go. With its magnificent waterfalls (nicknamed the little Niagara of Taiwan), expansive rivers, gushing creeks and streams, it is a wonderful place to connect with the great outdoors.
Sky Lantern Festival of Pingxi
On the other end of the Pingxi railway line is Pingxi township, a small village renowned for its sky lantern festival which takes place on the 15th Feb of the lunar calendar. This day officially marks the end of roughly a two-week period of new year celebrations, and as the festival coincides with the first full moon of the Chinese lunar calendar, it is a time when people say a fond farewell to the past year and look forward to a year of new beginnings.
On this night, this small town of about 1500 grows to tens of thousands as people travel from near and far to join in the sky lantern festival. There are many explanations as to the origin of sky lanterns, the most popular is that the light of the lanterns signifies an attempt to keep the relationship between our world and the world beyond alive. So, people write their prayers and dreams on paper lanterns and release them to the heavens above in the hopes that their wishes will come true. The hilly terrain and small gorges connected by bridges running through the village makes Pingxi an ideal location for releasing sky lanterns, a spectacular and a memorable sight as they float into the night sky over the mountain peak.
On the one hand, while Taipei city lends itself to a busy night life with impressive structures and landmarks, if you feel like escaping city life and being in the great outdoors, this cluster of villages boasting waterfalls, streams and traditional landscape, is an excellent choice.
Sources:
Amy, 'Wild Taiwan' http://wildtaiwan.blogspot.com/2006/01/shifen-waterfall.html
Staff writer, 'Lifestyle' http://lifestyle.mpelembe.net/home/taiwan-sends-prayer-lanterns-into-the-sky
Staff writer, 'Kampungboycitygal travel blog' http://kampungboycitygal.com/2009/08/taiwan-best-trip-riding-the-pingxi-branch-rail-line/
Staff writer, 'Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival,' http://www.2011psl.tw/travel2_en.html
Joyin Chou - Hi my name is Joyin Chou and I graduated with a B.Sc. in Psychology before going on to pursue a Masters in Educational Research ...
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