Pingxi 平溪 - Taipei 16-24 Aug Part 5

I love this place!  I was so glad that we went there before typhoon came.  The typhoon caused us to cancel 2 other sightseeing venues (Beitou 北投 & Maokong Plantation 猫空茶园), & grounded us in the shopping malls.  :(

We took a train (TRA) from Taipei Rail Station to Rueifang Rail Station (瑞芳火车站). The journey is about 20mins.  After that you would need to change to Pingxi line at the same station. The frequency of the train (Pingxi line) is 40-50mins interval, so do check the timing of train back to Taipei so that you can plan your trip more efficiently.  There are a few stations you may alight along Pingxi line to shop or do sightseeing.  Each station is about 40-60mins walk apart.  The rural train ride is scenic & enjoyable if it is not crowded.   

These are the places of interest you may visit when you reached Shifen (十分) station.  We did not walk to the waterfall though we heard that it was spectacular as it was too hot & my legs were not well enough to walk too much.

This place was once a village but has been transformed into a tourist spot.  Over here, you'll see rows & rows of shops selling snacks, souvenirs, etc on the 2 sides of the railway track.  Once every few minutes, you may witness trains passing by, a sight that will captivate the little ones for sure.  

The boy said the fried fermented beancurd was too smelly :D 

Jing An Qiao (静安桥) is near the Shifen station.  Once you crossover, you land yourself in the quietness of this village. 

Forbidden food in Singapore & the Bible

We did not try this, but it looks interesting

When you are in Pingxi, 1 thing that almost all tourists would do is to light up the sky lanterns (天灯).  We did, of course.

The colours of the paper represent different thing. Purple represents studies, which I think most students would opt for.  The boy wrote the wishes in traditional Chinese while I wrote in simplified Chinese. 

We posed for photo taking while the flame underneath the lantern was buring.  Yes, it was hot.  When the lantern is fully inflated, we then let it go.  It rose up like a hot air balloon. 

We saw this nice Bed & Breakfast (B&B) at Shifen & decided to go in for lunch.  A very nice place to rest & chat over drinks or meal. www.louachu.com.tw

The B&B has very interesting deco & display.  If you happened to be there, do check this place out.

This concludes my blog posts on our Taipei trip.  It could have been more if not for the typhoon.  We thank God that we did not have to postpone our flight back home but the turbulence on the way home was unbearable for AJ.  He puked at least 4-5 times, I think. Poor boy.

Read other parts of my Taipei trip here:
(1) The Stay in iTaipei Service Apartment
(2) The Bronze Winner
(3) Baby Boss

(4) Eslite Bookstore