Taipei 2015 – Pingxi line (平溪线)

Thank you for visiting my blog. If you like the previous post on Shenkeng 深坑 you might also enjoy this post. Along the Pingxi line, we started with Jingtong 菁桐 which was nearest to Shenkeng. Then we went on to Pingxi 平溪 and Shifen 十分. All along this line, visitors can release sky lanterns 天灯. Before releasing them, well wishes and blessings are written usually with a calligraphy brush 毛笔 or thick markers. The lantern is then lit, wait for it to inflate and release into the sky. They gradually lose their flame and will fall back to the ground some distance away.

Jingtong is a tiny place with one or two small cafes, a food stall and retro souvenir shops. Here, visitors can visit an old school coffee place above the train tracks or write wishes and blessings on bamboos and wooden boards. We got some fried chicken rolls 鸡卷 which did not really taste like chicken but maybe some yam and other stuffing. Buy some mini lanterns or rocks in tiny colorful bottles before leaving…

Pingxi 平溪 means calm creek. There are more shops and food stalls made famous by local stars. These were the Taiwanese black pig sausages and yam balls stalls. There were also a few wall art around the vicinity. There’s more things to explore here – the temple, eight deity hole, goddess of mercy cave.

Shifen 十分 was made popular by a Taiwanese movie. When we visited 2 years back, there were barely anyone on the Saturday. Now, this place is so busy on a weekday with tourists mostly from China, Korea and Hong Kong. This is the most popular place on this line to release sky lanterns, needless to say it’s got the most shops and eateries. And it was not like this 2 years back which was much nicer and not as commercialized. As for the waterfall 十分瀑布 entrance was not free, now it is free for all and as they were upgrading and the queue to get the best view was so long, we didn’t bother but still manage to get some decent shots.