When I went back to Taipei for a short visit in the beginning of June, I met up with my local friend, Wanyi, and Jamie for a day trip to Jiufen.
The first time I went to Jiufen was with Jamie back in December of last year. And because I’m such a laggy blogger, I never even wrote about it (but check out Jamie’s posts and pictures). Since nothing on my blog is in order anymore, I’m going to talk about this 2nd visit first. :)
One of the best things about Taipei is the abundance of day trip opportunities. Just an hour on a bus lets you completely escape from the big concrete jungle and puts you in little coastal towns or among the luscious mountains. Of course I haven’t been everywhere outside of Taipei City, but my favorite is Jiufen.
Jiufen was a prosperous Japanese gold mining town back in the early 1900’s (during Japan’s occupation of Taiwan). Since mining activities have stopped, it’s become primarily a tourist destination. People come for the windy, hilly alleyways, street vendors, dragon-topped temples, tea houses, ocean views, and of course, the red lanterns.
But this time, we came to see the Golden Waterfall. And unbeknownst to me at the time we set off for this mountainous seaside village, apparently, we also came to climb a mountain.
Keelung Mountain, taken from where we started the hike, next to Jiufen Old Street
Keelung Mountain is the large towering mass you see as you enter Jiufen (precisely, it’s 588 meters tall). The Chinese for this is 雞籠山, literally translated as “chicken cage”. I guess some thought it resembled the shape (though I don’t see it).
Jamie and Wanyi both wanted to climb it, and I’m always up for an adventure. “It takes about maybe 30 minutes to the top,” Wanyi said. Okay, 30 minutes sounds easy enough. And it doesn’t look toooo high, right?
So we began our journey.
entrance to the hiking trail
The climb is made up of stone steps laid into the mountain. There are three pavilions along the way, with our final goal being the last one set on the mountain top. If you look reaaaally closely at the mountain picture, you can see the pointy roofs of first two pavilions way up there. The 3rd pavilion is that dim structure on the far right of the mountain top.
the steps are well constructed and not as steep starting out
It all started off innocently enough. The steps are nice and flat, going up at a nice steady incline. I took slow and measured steps, knowing to pace myself.
This was June in Taipei, which means dreadful tropical weather. Think unbearable heat with extreme humidity that envelops you like an infinite permanent sauna. But we were lucky – this was a cloudy day. So even though the heat and humidity were still there, at least it wasn’t magnified tenfold with the added torture of a blazing sun. I think this was the only reason I made it through.
up, up more stairs we go… getting steeper now
By the time I had reached the first pavilion, I had completely drenched my shirt. It was now a gray 3 shades darker than its original color. And I was TIRED. I was huffing and puffing like a life-long smoker after a marathon.
But the view was pretty nice.
The MOST amazing thing is that you can see Taipei 101 from here!! Taipei 101, which is 50 MILES AWAY from Jiufen! I knew Taipei 101 is tall, but it’s still incredible to me!
Can you find it? I’ll give you a minute to look.
Here it is! (I only had my iPhone camera that day, so excuse the poor photo quality.)
By the time I reached the second pavilion, I thought my legs were going to collapse under me. They were turning into jelly and were actually shaking from the effort. I seriously considered just staying there and letting my friends go on by themselves to the top. But I’m not a quitter. And plus, you’re in danger of a bug attack anytime you’re not in motion.
So after a brief rest to catch my breath, I geared myself up for the final stretch. The rest of the climb to the top was excruciating. It took immense energy to lift myself up for every step, as well as great mental determination to fight through the screaming pain in my legs.
I’m not even exaggerating. This is a strenuous hike, and I want anyone thinking about doing it to not be fooled.
the higher up you get, the more treacherous the steps become
By the time I made it to the third and final pavilion, I was covered in head to toe sticky sweat. And thanks to all the bugs up in the mountain, a more accurate description would be covered in sticky sweat, itchy bug bites, AND dead bug splatters. But it’s okay, because Jamie and Wanyi didn’t look any better.
But I was proud of the accomplishment!
you can see by my shoes that I was totally unprepared for a hike :P
The panoramic views at the top were worth all the effort.
view to the east
view to the west – it was almost sunset, and you see how heavy the clouds were that day
The hike down was a relief. I think all of us were looking forward to making it back down as quickly as possible so we can just sit on an air-conditioned bus. And we were treated to gorgeous views as we descended.
you see the small structures in the center (to the left of the buildings)? Those are tombstones on the hillside.
One last picture of the sunset and the temple tops as we reached the bottom. I love all the distant layers of hills you can see.
We were all too tired after this hike to walk any more, so it was straight onto the bus we go. And I’d like to note that by the time we got back to Taipei an hour later, my shirt was STILL wet.
But it did feel good to have this feeling of achievement and conquest. And I would do it all over again. :)
If you’re visiting Jiufen and have an extra couple of hours, I’d recommend this hike, especially if you like hiking. I’m glad we went on a cloudy day because the clouds surely helped with the heat, but the views were also obstructed a bit. I can imagine that the views are breathtaking on a clear sunny day, but keep in mind that the trail is mostly in the open without any shade.
Practical Information:
- How to get there: From Taipei, take bus 1062 from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station (intersection of Blue and Brown lines), Exit 1. You can use google maps to find the bus station as you’ll have to walk about a block. The bus takes about one hour and gets off at Jiufen Old Street. From the bus stop, walk towards the mountain (away from Old Street) and you’ll come to the start of the Keelung Mountain trail.
Hiking level: I would say this is a strenuous hike. It gets quite steep and it’s just steps all the way up. I’m guessing the number of steps is in the thousands!
Length: Hike takes about 1 hour. Though I imagine if you don’t need to catch your breath so often, you can do it in 40 minutes. - Other Tips: Bring plenty of water!
What are some recent hikes you’ve done?
Like my writing style? Contact me here
This looks exactly like the sort of hike I’d love to make! And I love that places like this exist so close to huge cities :-) Your photos are amazing considering they’re only shot with your iphone!
I had to so much photo color editing because it was so cloudy that day! And I was so mad because I actually did bring my real camera, only to get there and discover that I had taken out the memory card and forgot to put it back in.
I’ve done that soooo many times! Sometimes I’ve been somewhere I was able to buy a new card, so as a result I’ve got a growing collection of memory cards at home now!
Hahaha! That’s the worst, because then you have to drag around the heavier camera too when it’s just there being useless!
Beautiful, beautiful!! I would love to see this place, as anywhere with mountains is a winner in my book :) That sunset is incredible too, dreamy!
I didn’t get good pictures because it was so cloudy! But I’m glad it was cloudy because then at least there was no sun to add to the heat. You would love this place. There’s a really cute Old Street too!
I’m sweating again just reading this! but it was a really fun day and I’m glad we did our hike :) I definitely want to go again… in the winter.
I know! I don’t think I’m ever going to Taipei during the summer again, haha. Next time, we’ll have to do the Teapot Mountain hike!
Damn that looks amazing! But some serious hard work too! totally worth it for those views.
I know… I felt sooo out of shape because I felt like it was really hard! But I read some other reviews and seems like everyone thought it was hard. I agree… it was worth it to make it up there! Not only for the views but also the sense of accomplishment!
I’ve got a bad stamina as it is and even though I have plenty of mountains around me in Norway, I barely use any of them properly :D But that hike would have totally worn me out. I’d be exhausted from just being in the humidity and heat, let alone go and exercise :D The views are really lovely though!
I have bad stamina too, and I was SO tired from all the steps! This is why I hardly go hiking too. I bet the views are soooo gorgeous though if you make it up to one of the mountaintops in Norway!
Sometimes the hardest hikes have the best views. That picture of the ocean at golden hour looks amazing!
I was surprised how hard this hike was, but definitely worth it! It was a bit disappointing I didn’t get better pictures. And photo quality on my iphone seems to be getting worse and worse when the lighting conditions aren’t ideal.
That’s a steep hike but amazing views. Love your photos.
Thanks Ahila! It was really difficult, but totally worth it :)
Even though you weren’t prepared for this hike (I can’t believe you made it all the way up in those shoes!- props to you), it looks like it was totally worth it! Those views are to die for! There are some pretty strenuous hikes around Santiago as well, that I’ve struggled my way up, but once you get to the top it’s all instantly worth it! And you’re right- the accomplishment feels awesome too! Thanks for sharing and linking up Anna! :D
The sense of accomplishment is awesome! It’s been a while since I pushed my body to do something haha. As opposed to what a lot of people think, the travel/working lifestyle could be quite sedentary! Those shoes are sooo comfy though! I can walk for miles in them, and I climbed the Great Wall in them too!
Well done! That looks like it was hard work Anna but totally worth it I imagine when you saw those views and how gorgeous is that sunset?!
It was totally worth it. I really should go hiking more :). And yes, I really love how the sun sets over all the distant layers of hills!
That sunset definitely looks worth the effort! Gorgeous views :)
I completely agree! I was definitely worth it. I need to do things like this more often!
Such beautiful photos! it looks like the tough climb up was definitely worth the sweat and bug bites! ;)
It was! I wish the clouds were a little bit better for pictures, but I’m glad they were there to keep the sun away! Thanks for visiting, Tay! :)
Wow those views at the top are wonderful! It’s funny because at first seeing how people were dressed/shoed I thought it can’t be that terrible of a hike, until I saw your comment about being unprepared haha yes I can imagine how even more strenuous a hike can be without proper shoes!
My shoes (Crocs, haha) are actually SUPER comfy! I know they’re not fashionable, but until I find something equally comfy, I can’t give them up! I think I just don’t have the stamina for walking up a bunch of steps, which reminded me that I need to put a more serious effort into exercising!
WOW! What an AMAZING hike! Thanks so much for posting this! I just found this on Google Earth today. I wanna hike this now, the view looks INCREDIBLE! And I’m glad to see this hike is manageable in June and that the trail isn’t overgrown. This looks even better than the other mountain I found nearby. I wonder if it’s possible to hike all the way down to Jinguashi. Great photos!
Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment Brian! I hope you get to hike it. It is manageable in June, but it was HOT! The good thing is that it had heavy clouds that day, so at least the sun wasn’t burning, but be forewarned, it was still veeeery hot! My friend did this hike again just a month or so ago, and it the temperature was much more manageable.. they were wearing long sleeves even!