Today I went more north to visit Ruifang, Pingxi, Jiufen, and Shifen which are cities accessible on the Pingxi railway line. Getting to the Pingxi railway line required taking a bus to Ruifang then purchasing a ticket which would allow us to get on and off the train without needing to pay each time. I went with one Singaporean that I met at the hostel and her friend that is from LA.
The first stop was a town called Jiufen which is famous for a street called Jishan Street. Jishan St is a maze of alleyways with shops spaced so close only leaving enough room for yet another alleyway. Getting lost here was fun because each shop was unique with different trinkets and snacks to try.
The next stop was Ping Xi which is a little town also with shops but the main attraction in Ping Xi is writing your wishes on a lantern and watching it float into the sky. I wrote down a few common phrases that I “somewhat” remembered how to write then I resorted to copying phrases that were posted on sample lanterns.
The final stop was Shi Fen which isn’t even worth mentioning since the main attraction there, a waterfall, was not even…well..I’m not sure what it was “not”. On? Working? Visible? Anyway, we didn’t see Shi Fen’s famous waterfall.
Writing my wishes on a lantern. I wrote something about peace, health, doing well, the usual stuff people write
There goes our lantern of wishes!
The bridge at Shi Fen leading us to the nonexistent waterfall