Jiufen

It is said that a long time ago, there were only nine families in Jiufen. Before the roads on land were built, all materials were transported via ships. A habit was formed that nine pieces of the same object were purchased every time. Hence, the place was called Jiufen, "jiu" meaning "nine" in Chinese.

Jiufen used to be the center of gold mining. It is located within the hills in northeastern Taiwan. The village is next to the mountain and facing the sea.

In 1890, someone struck gold near Jiufen. The poor village with only nine families soon attracted prospectors of 4,000 families. The village once was Asia's gold city and called little Shanghai or little Hong Kong. However, with the decline of gold mining activities in northern Taiwan, Jiufen has faded away.

In recent years, several Taiwanese movies chose to shoot in Jiufen and some of them won international acknowledgement. For example, the film City of Sadness (directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien) has won first prize in the Venice Film Festival and helped awaken Taiwanese people's memory of Jiufen. It seems that the prosperous old streets, buildings, mines and the glamorous gold digging days are flashing before their eyes. The place is whispering its golden past.

Now, there are many unique teahouses in Jiufen. These teahouses are best stops for visitors to this mountain village. Also, there is the beautiful ocean view of Keelung City's outer sea.

The most prosperous shopping district in Jiufen is Jinshan Street, which goes through most of the village. Along the street there are shops vending various famous local dishes. Many residents also offer their private houses for visitors' accommodations.