Over the weekend, I went to Jiufen it’s a 2 hours bus ride, there’s no direct train service to Jiufen. It’s a mountainous town, very charming and touristic. These summer days have been very warm, humid with no breeze in Taipei but once I arrived in Jiufen it was great with a nice breeze.
Jiufen has a little Japanese influence and there were many Japanese tourists; Taiwanese like and respect the Japanese a lot although the Japanese occupied Taiwan for 50 years but I hear a lot of good comments from Taiwanese about Japanese. Although Taiwanese are originally from China but they’ve been influenced by the Japanese and it shows in their behavior. They are very respectful towards others and foreigners and extremely polite. I haven’t seen any graffiti since I arrived in Taiwan. I’ve never seen anyone littering in the streets although very few public recycle bins.
I went to a tea house in Jiufen and I chatted with the owner who spent some time in Texas while studying, he was telling me about the town. He treated me for some ice tea. I also listened to his advice by staying in Jiufen until the evening to experience the nice view which was spectacular just like during the day.
I then went up hiking on Keelung Mountain, 588 meters high. I was sweaty when I reached the top but not tired, it was a spiritual moment to see this magnificent beauty of nature. I was thinking about the time when I was a kid and how my dad used to take us to discover new places and that’s probably part of what made me curious on discovering new places. I also thought about how fortunate and grateful to be able to make this trip. I remember the friends I left behind and the people I met throughout life and during this trip. I am grateful to have met many good people in my life. It made me who I am today and to show gratitude to my family, friends and strangers who contributed to my life. It’s really a great experience to be in a new place with new culture, I am very happy to have made the decision on starting this journey. It gives me a lot of pleasure to share this experience with many people, although sometimes it’s really hard to put the experience in words and pictures. I hope it will help you just like it’s helping me to open you heart and your mind.
I also went to Jiufen when I first arrived here. It is a wonderful place and I took a lot of good pictures. Wish I had stayed at night though and been able to hike up the mountain like you did! Good job Da Ming 🙂