How to dodge the crowds and enjoy old Taiwan charm of Jiufen, magnet for Japanese tourists
- Reached by a single switchback road, the century-old mining town is feeling the negative effects of mass tourism
- But once the sun has set and the crowds have departed, Jiufen becomes the town it once was
The narrow old streets of Jiufen, a former gold-mining town perched on steep hills to the northeast of Taipei, offer visitors a chance to experience an older Taiwan filled with neighbourhood temples, hole-in-the-wall eateries, and a charm lacking in the island’s bustling capital.
That, at least, is how Jiufen might feel if it wasn’t proving so popular with tourists.
The 100-year-old town is straining under the ever-growing number of visitors, and feels deluged at weekends by those seeking its old Taiwan charm.
Japanese tourists especially are drawn by Jiufen’s supposed influence on many of the buildings in the wildly popular 2001 fantasy animation Spirited Away.
While the film’s director Hayao Miyazaki has denied this, it has not stopped the myth being repeated, and thousands of Japanese tourists join Taiwanese and Chinese visitors filling the narrow streets to take a look for themselves.
