Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Taiwan 8D7N | Yehliu – Shifen – Jiufen – Raohe Night Market 2

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Taiwan Itinerary Day 6

Yong He Soy Milk
Yehliu Geopark
Shifen Waterfall
Jingtong Station
Shifen Old Street
Nanya Rocks
Yin Yang Sea
Remains of the Thirteen Levels
Jiufen Old Street
Raohe Night Market
ChiaTe Pineapple Tarts
Morwing Hotel

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Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Trip to New Taipei City

On Day 6, we travel to the New Taipei City covering places like Yehliu Geopark, Shifen, Jiufen Old Street and more! After a long day of sightseeing, we end our day at one of the most famous night markets in Taipei – Raohe Night Market.

Check out a clip of our trip here:

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Yong He Soy Milk Breakfast 永和豆浆

On our Day 6 morning, our driver of the day – Ah Zhong – fetched us from our hotel early in the morning.  Since we planned on visiting a long list of attractions, we decided to have our breakfast on the go. Initially, we included the famous Founder store of Yong He Soy Milk under Zhongzheng Bridge in our food list. But due to time constraints, we didn’t make it there. We stopped by one of the Yong He Soy Milk chain stores on our way to buy our breakfast.

We bought Shao Bing with Meat (烧饼夹肉蛋), Shao Bing with Egg & You Tiao (烧饼油条夹蛋), Scallion Egg Pancake (葱花蛋饼), cold soy milk and hot soy milk (sweet). Among all of the food that we tried, we found the Scallion Egg Pancake to be the nicest of them all. Unfortunately, the soy milk that we bought had a burnt taste which was not intended (I suppose). The Shao Bing is crispy but a bit bland and lacking the key fragrance.

*Shao Bing is a type of crispy, flaky sesame flatbread while You Tiao is a fried dough stick.

If you wish to have a taste of authentic Yong He Soy Milk’s breakfast, I would recommend you to visit the founder store of Yong He Soy Milk – Yong He World Soy Milk King or Yong He Soy Milk King, which is one of the more popular outlets of the famous chain store.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Driver of the day

On our day 6 in Taiwan, we explored the north-east area of Taipei, including Yehliu Geopark, Pingxi area and Shuijinjiu (水金九) area. We included a long list of attractions for a single day and it is almost impossible to finish them by public transport. Hiring a private or taxi driver is highly recommended as it would really help you to save a lot of time and trouble.

Related: Taiwan Travel Guide: 8D7N Trip Summary, Expenses and Handy Tips

We engaged Mr. Zhong (阿钟) from TaiwanEzgo (台湾旅游包车自由行) as our driver of the day. TaiwanEzGo is a reputable travel and charter service company in Taiwan. They even have an office in Singapore.

TaiwanEzgo has a whopping 125k fans on their facebook page. Aside from the charter service, they do provide private tours and planning, airport shuttle, hotel booking, car rental and etc. You may check out TaiwanEzgo website for their latest promotions and packages.

Contact: TaiwanEzgo; ezgotaiwan@gmail.com
Cost: Price may varies depending on the itinerary and number of pax. Please contact their Facebook page to ask for a quotation.
Service hour: 10 hours
Language: Chinese (English speaking driver available upon request)
Website: http://en.ezgotaiwan.com/
*Insurance worth NT$2-3 Millions is included for each passenger

The driver service that we engaged included the following places:

• Pick up from Taipei hotel
• Yehliu Geopark
• Shifen Waterfall
• Jingtong Station/Old Street
• Shifen Station/Old Street
• Nanya Peculiar Rocks
• Yin Yang Sea
• Remains of The Thirteen Levels
• Golden Waterfall
• Jiufen Old Street
• Raohe Night Market

The scenery along the Northeast Coast from Taipei City to Yehliu Geopark

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Yehliu Geopark 野柳地质公园

Yehliu Geological Park (野柳地質公園) is a cape with eroded rock formations along the Northeast Coast of Taiwan. The rare geological landscape is formed by strong winds, sea water, wave attacks and earth movement on the softer rock layers over the years. Yehliu Geopark is a very popular attraction in New Taipei. The place can get really crowded on weekends and public holidays.

The entrance fee for each adult is NT$80.

At Yehliu Geopark, there are rocks with different unique shapes that have been given imaginative names due to their resemblance to certain things. You can find Fairy’s Shoes, Sea Candles, Elephant Rock, Princess’s Head and the iconic Queen’s Head here.

This unique rock shape along the coastal line gives a stunning view at the sea bay.

There are a lot of Mushroom Rocks along the coast, including the famous Queen’s Head Rock. The top part of the rocks are also known as Honeycombed Rocks, which are covered with holes of different sizes, caused by rock decomposition and organism debris dissolved by sea water.

If you’re visiting Yehliu Geopark on a weekend or public holiday, be prepared for a crazy queue to take a photo with the Queen’s Head. This is the most popular scene in Yehliu Geopark. The iconic honeycombed rock has a striking resemblance to a Queen’s head. Lucky for us, there was almost no queue when we were there!

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Shifen Waterfall 十分瀑布

From Yehliu Geopark, we moved on to the Pingxi district. The journey took around 50 minutes. In Pingxi district, we visit Shifen Waterfall, Shifen Old Street, Jingtong Station and old street. Some people would visit Pingxi Station and Pingxi Old Street as well, but we decided to skip those as we found them pretty similar to Shifen Station and Shifen Old Street.

Visiting Shifen Waterfall (十分瀑布) requires quite a bit of walking. Our driver, Ah Zhong dropped us at the nearest point that cars can access. We walked for about 15 minutes to reach Shifen Waterfall.

The stunning Shifen Waterfall is surrounded by a few platforms. Set your camera with slow shutter speed and take photos of this 20-meter high waterfall to your heart’s content.

There are some stores and a suspension bridge near to the waterfall. If you don’t hire a driver, you would need to walk for around 20-30 minutes to Shifen Station from here.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Jingtong Station 菁桐車站

From Shifen Waterfall, we moved on to our next attraction – Jingtong Station (菁桐車站). Ah Zhong recommended us to visit Jingtong Station first before Shifen Station. This is because it was still too early to have lunch (more food at Shifen Old Street) and Shifen Station is sort of on the way to our next destination – Nanya Rocks.

Jingtong is a beautiful place and located at the last station of Pingxi line. Jingtong Old Street (菁桐老街) is located just next to the station . Unlike Shifen Old Street and Pingxi Old Street, Jingtong carries a different aura.

Jingtong used to be a coal mining town. As the coal industry slowed down, the small town turned into a tourist attraction. You can find some food and souvenir stalls at the old street. There’s also wishing bamboo rolls (许愿竹) available at some souvenirs shops. You may buy the bamboo rolls and write your prayers and wishes on them.

Shifen Old Street and Pingxi Old Street is always filled with people. Jingtong on the other hand, is much quieter and less crowded. If you would like to avoid the crowd while visiting the old street and train station, you have got to visit Jingtong especially in the morning. It was so much easier to take photos without having to include other strangers in your shots.

Jingtong Train Station is one of the few railway stations in Taiwan that preserves the wooden architecture.

If you would like to take some pictures by the railway without the crowd, you can do it here at Jingtong. Before you do so, please check the train timetable and keep in mind not to get hit by an oncoming train.

There was barely any crowd when we visited. We spent a long while taking pictures on the railway tracks.  The tracks and old buildings in the background make Jingtong a perfect photo spot.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Shifen Old Street 十分老街

From Jingtong station, we moved on to Shifen Old Street. Shifen Old Street (十分老街) is located along the railway track at Shifen Station. Unlike Jingtong Old Street, Shifen Old Street was super crowded. Even the railway tracks were filled with people. You can see a lot of tourists releasing sky lanterns at the tracks.

Releasing sky lanterns is one of the must-dos in Pingxi area. There are a lot of sky lantern stores along Shifen Old Street for you to choose from. Ever since the popular movie “You Are The Apple of My Eye”  (那些年，我們一起追的女孩) aired in 2011, the tourism in Pingxi has been blooming. In the movie, the male lead and female lead wrote their wishes on the sky lantern and released it at the Pingxi’s railway tracks.

There’s another suspension bridge behind Shifen station, called Jingan Suspension Bridge.

Along Shifen Old Street, there are a lot of souvenir shops and food stalls beside the railway tracks.

While walking along the old street beside the track, we saw a train coming into Shifen Station. The train comes in once every hour. You can see the unique scenes of colourful trains running through the station while people on the track move to the side.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – What To Eat At Shifen Old Street?

If you’re into something light and some local small dishes, you may try the Vermicelli Under Banyan Tree (榕树下米粉汤). This is one of the recommended stalls by the locals.

There were some Taiwanese small dishes available, but we only ordered the signature Vermicelli Soup. The dish was decent but a bit too light for us. On hindsight, we should have ordered some other dishes to go with it.

Near to the end of the street, there’s a famous food stall (溜哥烧烤鸡翅包饭) selling Fried Rice stuffed into BBQ Chicken Wings. There are two flavours available, Egg Fried Rice with Ham flavour and Kimchi Smelly Tofu Fried Rice flavour.

The chicken wings were barbecued to perfection and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The combination of the fried rice and the chicken wing is just so good. We loved it! Of course it isn’t as good as Din Tai Fung’s fried rice…

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Nanya Rock Formation 南雅奇石

After we had our lunch, Ah Zhong brought us to our next stop – Nanya Peculiar Rocks (南雅奇石). Nanya Rocks is located within the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area. If you are visiting Jiufen with a hired driver, please make a brief stop here to see the unique erosion landscape. The peculiar rock formations along the Northeast Coast has made the Northern Coastal Highway (北部濱海公路) one of the best drives in Taiwan.

The Peculiar Nanya Stone was formed after the sandstone weathered and the iron in the rocks was oxidized by the air. Due to the weathering and erosion, the surface of the rocks transformed into different shades, forming a stunning topographic landscape.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Yin Yang Sea 阴阳海

After the stop at Nanya Peculiar Rocks, we moved to the Shuijinjiu area (水金九). This area includes Shuinandong, Jinguashi and Jiufen. Yin Yang Sea (阴阳海) is located merely 15 minutes drive from Nanya Rocks. Ah Zhong stopped by the road along the bay for us to snap some photos.

Yin Yang Sea has an interesting mixture of yellow and blue colours. In Chinese, Yin and Yang carry the meaning of two opposite forces. The name was used here to reflect the contrast in the natural colours of the sea. The patch of yellow colour in the sea was due to the minerals flowing with the streams from the Jinguashi Mountain.

If you have time, you may visit BaoShi Mountain Obvervation Deck for a better view of Yin Yang Sea. The observation deck has really good scenery but it requires a little bit of hiking.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Remains of the thirteen levels/Shuinandong Smelter 十三层遗址

From where we stood beside the Yin Yang Sea, we could see the Shuinandong Smelter (水湳洞精炼厂). Shuinandong Smelter is also known as the Remains of The Thirteen Levels (十三层遗址). It is the remains of a thirteen level copper-smelting refinery. Visitors are no longer allowed to enter the smelter. But if you would like to get close up, you may take the side road from Jinguashi Golden Waterfall to the Shuinandong Smelter.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Jinguashi Golden Waterfall 黃金瀑布

The Golden Waterfall (黃金瀑布) is located within the Jinguashi area, near the Gold Ecological Park. The water from the waterfall is “golden” because the water in the area is rich in heavy metal elements. Even before we reached the Golden Waterfall, we could see the stones in the stream nearby that were coated with “gold”.

The area near the Golden Waterfall was pretty crowded in the afternoon. Ah Zhong dropped us right at the side of the waterfall and parked the car nearby.

The Golden Waterfall looks stunning and the golden water made it so different from the other waterfalls. Even though the golden water looks beautiful, it is toxic due to the heavy metal deposits. Please do not touch the water when you visit this place!

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Jiufen Old Street 九份老街

From the Golden Waterfall, we finally moved to our next destination, also one of the highlights of the day – Jiufen Old Street (九份老街). It took around 10 minutes to drive from the Golden Waterfall to Jiufen Old Street. Jiufen is one of the most popular attractions in Taiwan. This place can get insanely crowded on weekends and public holidays. In fact, we purposely chose to visit Jiufen Old Street on a Monday but it was still very crowded.

Jiufen is an old town located high up on a mountain. Jiufen Old Street is an attraction famous for its good local delights as well as the scenery. Jiufen Old Street is one of my favourite places in Taiwan. The old town is filled with a vintage atmosphere and there are food and souvenir shops all over the place.

This is my second visit to Jiufen Old Street. If I were to visit Taipei again, I’ll probably choose to spend a night at Jiufen and spend more time exploring the Shuijinjiu area.

The iconic red lanterns and staircases can be seen everywhere in Jiufen.

There are some must try famous food here so remember to reserve some space in your stomach when you visit Jiufen. We’ll be dedicating a separate post about the must-eat food in Jiufen.

While wandering around the alleys in Jiufen, we found several spots for good mountainous sea views.

Beautiful rows of houses on the hill in Jiufen town are one of the must see when you visit Jiufen.

The view is even more mesmerizing when the lights were turned on as the sun goes down.

One of the reasons why Jiufen is so popular is because of the popular movies filmed here. Jiufen Old Street was also often cited as the inspiration for the famous animation “Spirited Away” (千与千寻/神隱少女) by Hayao Miyazaki.

While we were wandering around the lanes and alleys in Jiufen Old Street, we suddenly saw a huge crowd gathering at one spot.

They were all holding their cameras and handphones just to take photos of this:

The icon of Jiufen Old Street – Ah Mei Tea House! You can’t leave Jiufen without taking a photo of the iconic red lantern tea house.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Jiufen Old Street at night

After the sun goes down, the red lanterns were lit up and Jiufen is releasing a different charm at night. I would strongly recommend visiting Jiufen in the late afternoon to enjoy both the day and night views here.

There are also quite a few homestays/B&B available in Jiufen. All the red lanterns were lit up and that made the old street even more beautiful.

The night view in Jiufen is absolutely stunning. Looking down from the old street, you can see a lot of houses and roads and they look so different from the day.

However, be reminded that most shops in Jiufen Old Street will be closed by 8pm.  If you are reaching Jiufen later than that, you might be missing the fun!

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Raohe Night Market

From Jiufen, Ah Zhong sent us back to one of the most famous night markets in Taipei – Raohe Night Market (饶河夜市)! Raohe Night Market is very popular amongst the locals. We had a lot of good food here including the best pepper bun we found in Taipei. We’ll be posting about the food we had in Raohe Night Market shortly.

If you are interested in shopping, there’s a famous garment wholesale market – Wufenpu (五分埔) right next to Raohe Night Market. You can find the most trendy fashion and accessories here at the cheapest price.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Lindongfang Beef Noodle 林东芳牛肉面

Beef noodle is one of the must-eat food in Taiwan. We have tried several beef noodles in Taipei and we finally found the best one – Lindongfang Beef Noodle (林东芳牛肉面). The beef noodle stall opens until late night so if you have a packed itinerary in the day, you can always have this beef noodle as your supper!

The beef noodles here are super fragrant with an outstanding beef aroma in the soup. The beef is super tender as well. Lindongfang has one of the thickest beef stocks that we have tasted in Taiwan, so if you like your beef soup to be super beefy and fragrant, Lindongfang is the beef noodle stall for you.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Chia Te Bakery

Chia Te Bakery (佳德糕餅) sells one of the best Pineapple tarts in Taiwan. It is located near Nanjing Sanmin station, only one station away from Songshan station, where Raohe Night Market is. Pineapple tarts are one of the best local delights in Taiwan. If you’re looking for ideas of what gifts to bring home when you travel to Taiwan, you may try this!

Other than the award winning pineapple tarts, there are a lot of other pastries available as well. In fact while we were buying pineapple tarts at Chia Te, we noticed that there were a lot of Taipei locals buying from there as well.

Taiwan Itinerary Day 6 – Morwing Hotel 台北清翼居旅店 – 童话馆

After a long day, we came back to the hotel by taxi. We finally have time to take some photos of the hotel’s interior. The Morwing Hotel near Taipei Main Station has a fairy tale theme.

You can see beautiful wallpapers of fairy tales on the walls along the corridors. We found the location of the hotel pretty good especially at such a cheap price. But unfortunately the size of the room was way too small. We found it pretty squeezy when we opened up both suitcases at the same time.

But if you are looking for affordable hotel around Taipei Main Station and don’t mind the limited space in the room, you may consider staying at the Morwing Hotel.

That’s all for our sixth day in Taipei! On the next day, we will be heading to Yangmingshan, Beitou, Tamshui and Shilin Night Market.

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