Taiwan Day 5 - Gold Ecological Park & JiuFen Lao Jie (九份老街)

Today I shall look for some gold on my own! Muahahahha.... Ah well, one could dream. At least, that is my dream as the bus wound its way around the narrow roads to Jiu Fen to the Gold Ecological Park (黄金博物园). We thought that the park would be small attraction where we could finish in an hour or so. However when we looked at the guide map, it was not a place you can do in an hour if you want to savour the breeze and the shady trees.

Again, it must have been the touristy getup or there is some giant arrow that points to us, screaming, LOST TOURIST! 

We met an elderly woman who was asked if we wanted to go for the local Jinguashih (金瓜石) tour. They had mininbuses which picked up interested tourists from the main gates of the park and returned them here within the hour. We went back to the Park's visitor centre to ask about the tour just to make sure it wasn't some scam. The guides assured us that the minibus service is run by the Park and the guides on the busses are retirees who volunteer their time. Since the Crown Prince Chalet was packed with people and we couldn't enter, we decided to take scenic tour of Jingguashih for a fee of NTD100

BEWARE OF HORRIBLE MOTION SICKNESS INDUCING ROADS! 
Note: Take a anti motion-sickness pill before embarking. 

Jingguashih is a mining town so lots of photos of mining facilities coming up.

First stop, Beautiful Golden Waterfall (黃金瀑布). I was expecting something spectacular, roaring water, pounding as it hits the rock. What I got was a trickle. The guide explained that it was the dry season so the water doesn't cascade down in all its glory when we were staring at it. The waterfall got its name because the the ores from Jingguashih and JiuFen washed down this river giving its yellow hue. It is also known a place where people would take wedding photographs. I haven't figured out why wedding photos with oxidize pyrite and arsenic water is the "in" thing to do.

Not too far from the Golden Waterfall, there is a spot where you can see the Yin Yang Sea (陰陽海). The sea got its name from the contrasting blue and yellow surface where yellow-brownish water by the bay (iron hydroxide run off from the iron pyrite stones around the bay) mixes with the normal blue of the seawater. The interesting thing about this occurrence is that the iron laden water floats on the surface before getting mixed up in the seawaves. Again, it's probably the Malaysian in me. The first thought was "Hey, wouldn't it be great if the Klang River looked like that?"

As we headed to our next destination we saw lots of pipe looking thingies heading down the mountain. On closer examination, we realised that they were stone pipes and all heading towards the same direction.

Our tour guide explained that those pipes or mine tunnels were used to transport metal ores and precious metals down the mountains to the 13 Level Smelter (十三遗层). According to him, 13 levels represented the different layers of filteration needed to differentiate between normal rocks and precious metals. Of course not all metals needed 13 layers of washing but 13 levels sort of accommodated most metals found here.

13 Level Smelter

The Smelter looks creepy like ruins remained after a war that time forgot. Surrounding Jingguashih and the Smelter, there were quite many homes, built into the steep hill. The guide explained that the houses, which still have a pretty decent population, were dormitories for workers in the past. In the heyday, many people flocked to the gold town and there was a lively crowd where bars and pubs were set up for miners to spend their money. When the gold dried up, some miners decided to stay put.

That was pretty much the end of the short tour. The bus dropped us back in front of the Museum and we continued our exploration. We decided not to go into the Crown Prince Chalet since it was STILL crowded after 1 hour! While walking around the park, we noticed that they were big in conservation and preservation. Old buildings were recycled and there were many displays on items used during the mining days.

Display on gold measuring tools

The view around Gold Ecological Park

The Gold Ecological Museum used to be a cluster of homes for high-ranking Japanese officers

Within the Gold Ecological Park, there is a Shinto shrine built by the Japanese Mining Co. and it housed the Kaneyako deity. However it is quite a hike up stairs, so we abandoned the idea. Hiking up a mountain in a cute dress? Total image killer.Time was not on our side either. *its' probably due to all the camwhoring*

Instead, we focused our energy on the Gold Ecological Park Museum and Benshan Fifth Tunnel (本山五坑). The Museum, as with any other museum, traces Jingguashi lineage all the way back when people first found gold. We started explored the Museum before heading in the Benshan Fifth Pit. In the Museum, there is a short introduction about the gold mining industry, the mines and also an exhibition on World War II camp for Allied prisoners. The prisoners were used to work as miners during the war to find gold and the Japanese would use it to fund the war. The recommended discovery route will lead you to the second floor where you will see a large 999 gold ingot weighing 220kg on display! I wonder if this ingot is real as the weren't any security around.

220 kg worth of gold. Is this real? O_o

 After taking tacky photos of us feeling up that precious piece, we moved on to the Benshan Fifth Tunnel. This tunnel is one of the few places where entrance is charged (NTD50) and the only underground section open to public. Visitors are handed a sanitized paper cap and a hard hat to keep on at all times when in the mine. The usual disclaimers are required to be signed prior entering. With the hard hats and disclaimers, we were wondering about the conditions of the mines. The park officials will place people in groups and dispatch in batches.When we entered, we felt that everything was sanitized, with the clean walls, the mannequins strategically placed to depict life in the mines and well paved walkways. The floor was wet in placed due to it being underground. Maybe the hard hats and disclaimers are for cases where one slipped and fell.

The mine was a mere 10 minute slow walk long and it was over as suddenly as it started. It was an interesting experience but not something that I would pay again to enter.

Benshan Fifth Tunnel

Near the entrance of the Museum, you can catch a sight of a local landmark - Teapot Mountain (茶壺山). Maybe I'll hike up one day :) 

With tunnel tour completed, we headed back to Jiufen Lao Jie (九份老街)  for lunch!
Armed with CH's booklet of good eats, we tackled the streets of this old village. There were tonnes of tourists coming off tour buses. Compared to the peaceful night before, I felt really pinched in. Jostling and weaving around old ladies who would suddenly stop and strike up conversations with their tour group in the middle of the street, giggling college kids who have the family money to travel this far out and the occasional LV toting females from a particular country which used to have an uneasy political ties with Taiwan.

Our lunch started with Uncle Fishball (魚丸伯仔). This is actually the first must-eat item on the list after the bus drops you off at the 7-11 in Jiufen that every blog writes about. You can't miss it. This restaurant emphasies on the simplicity of the Fuzhou dish of fishballs, fried tofu with minced meat stuffing and glass noodles. The fishballs here are very similiar to the ones you can find in the Fuzhou places in KL although not as bouncy. The entire menu is written on boards in Chinese. I stared blankly at it while CH ordered on behalf of the group. Each dish cost approximately NTD25.

Here are some useful Mandarin phrases (English/Chinese) for ordering at Uncle Fishball:

Fishball - Yuu Wan [Wan is pronounced like "one"] "魚丸"
Fishball Soup - Yuu Wan Tang [Tang pronounced like "tongue"] "魚丸湯"
Dry Vermicelli/Glass Noodles - Gan Tong Fen
[Gan pronounced like "can't" but with silent "t"] [Fen pronounced like "fern"] "乾冬粉"
Vermicelli/Glass Noodles - Tong Fen
Tofu -  Do Fu "豆腐"

More food -Fried squid balls and freshly grilled sea snails. Yums

We came across something really interesting - popiah skin roll with ice cream, malt sugar, peanut shavings and celery leaf. No, celery leaf is not a typo even though I'm dead tired. Sorry, I don't have a picture of the popiah wrapping. We were too busy munching away. Awesome food.

L-Peanut block that is used for shavings; R-Red Wine Meat Ball with Glutinous Rice Skin (九份紅糟肉圓)

 We saw a queue just as we turned the corner and realized that it was the famed Ah Lan Herbal Glutinous Rice Cake ( 阿蘭草仔粿). The rice cakes are quite similar to ang ku kuih with its oily and chewy outlook. However it is softer with a wide variety of filings to choose from. I went with the safest - red bean filling. After biting into it, I regretted not buying more. The queue deterred me from seeking a second piece.

Our final dessert before heading back to Sun Room was taro balls. It's similar to Snowflake in Malaysia where you can get taro, green tea and sweet potato balls. We went to a well known taro ball place along the main Jiufen Lao Jie - Grandma Lai’s Yuyuan (賴阿婆芋圓). Yuyuan means taro balls. The taro balls are made fresh at the front of the stall so you know that they aren't giving some dough that they just pulled our from the chiller. There is a choice between taking it hot or cold. Either way, I found the "tang shui" or syrup too sweet for my liking although I did like the chewiness of the taro balls. If you ask which tastes better, Snowflake or the ones in Jiufen, I would go with Snowflake. But that is just my opinion. If you are on a trip to somewhere new, it never hurts to try out the local delicacies.

Making taro balls

Ah Mei Teahouse during the day

Windy roads of Jiufen

After the taro balls, we picked up our luggages from Sun Room and headed back to Taipei via train. We all slept soundly on the train, only to wake up when we reached the Taipei Central Station. 

We rested a little while in our new room before heading for round up some grub. The girls went on to shop at Shida night market *no pictures from there except the corn picture as I wanted to focus on shopping* while the guys headed to Shilin for their dinner.

The uncle was roasting our teriyaki-sauced crystal corn for our dinner

Gold Ecological Park (黄金博物园)
Address: No. 8, Jinguang Rd., Ruifang District, New Taipei City 224, Taiwan (ROC)
Tel: +886-2-24962800
Website: http://www.gep-en.ntpc.gov.tw/econtent/about/about.asp
Opening Hours:  09:30-17:00 (Mon~Fri); 09:30-18:00 (Sat~Sun)
                         Closed on first Monday of every month and public holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free for entrance to Gold Ecological Park. NTD50 for Benshan Fifth Tunnel ticket

Uncle Fishball (魚丸伯仔)
Address: No. 17, Jishan St., Ruifang Dist., New Taipei City
Tel: + 886-2-24960896
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 19:00 (Mon - Fri); 10:00-22:00 (Sat - Sun)