The Hintons take on Taiwan Part II: Jiufen.

On the recommendation of the land lord we decided to spend a night in Jiufen which is located in the hills in northeast Taiwan. Mom made a last minute booking at a B&B/Hostel the night before and we headed out on Saturday morning. As we were waiting for the bus a taxi driver approached us with good english and a deal that would get us to Jiufen much quicker and only slightly more expensive than the bus would. 

It was a cold and rainy day as we headed for the hills and by the time we reached Jiufen village, which is nestled on a mountain facing the sea, we were well and truelly in a cloud and could barely see more than 5m in front of us. Thank God we had a local driver who could speak Mandarin and English or we might never have found our accommodation! The streets in the little village are narrow and windy and it would be easy to get lost in them when the fog is as thick as it was. 

Our accomodation didnt look like much from the outside, but once you walked inside it was beautiful. The waiting are on ground level was covered from floor to ceiling in a type of marble with beautiful carved wood detailing. (Unfortunately I only have this one photo of it. Mom, Dad? Help me out?)

 I do have a few photos of the little kitchen which was opposite our rooms on the 1st floor. 

This is the extent of the view that we had out of the window on Saturday. The rain and the cold kept us indoors for most of the day. Mom and I lay down to read and both had a little nap, but once we had run out of dried swordfish and tuna rations it was time to brave the cold and wet in search of a hot meal.  

The view from the restaurant where we had dinner. The fog cleared long enough for us to enjoy a view down the mountain and out to sea. 

 When we woke up the next morning the view from our Hostel was a bit clearer, so we had something to look at while we enjoyed our first traditional chinese breakfast. All the food was made by the owner's wife and most of it has been grown by her as well.

There was Chinese omelette (pretty much an egg pancake with spring onion), some cabbage, some seaweed, some bamboo, some tofu, some mushroom, and a sprinkle of shredded meat.. stuff. All this was served with a soup of rice and sweet potato.      

After a hearty breakfast we set out down the road to see the sights of Jiufen. 

A Short History: 

In 1890, someone struck gold near Jiufen and the poor village with only nine families soon attracted 4,000 prospectors and their families. It became the centre for gold mining in Taiwan and the village on the hill became known as little Shanghai or little Hong Kong. Jiufen began to fade with the decline of gold mining activities until an iconic Taiwanese director, Hou Hsaio-hsien used the village as the backdrop for his film Sad City, which won first prize in the Venice Film Festival. 

The town was also used by Hayao Miyazaki as the a model for the magical mountain village in his Oscar-winning anime film Spirited Away. (TED!) 

The first stop was a temple that was visible just below our kitchen window. 

Mixing the old with the new. 

And then, this was THIS shop! A completely random assortment of chinese costumes, decor, furniture, weaponry, and farming equipment  along with almost every toy every sold with a Happy Meal. 

The Prince and the Pauper. 

 

 Mom serving tea in her shop, and counting her money.

 Dad discovering a Taiwanese delicacy, "Gayke". And no I'm not kidding, that's it's name.

 It may have been a cold and wet day, but the Old Street of Jiufen was bustling! The whole place was alive with colour and aromas that came from every single stall and shop you passed. A really beautiful place to come for a weekend away!

Why yes! This little guy is wearing little doggy shoes and sporting an oh-so-in-season auburn tail puff.  

These next few pictures were taken in the Jiufen Tea House. It was a beautiful 2 storey building with an art gallery attached to it and the biggest collection of tea pots I have ever seen in one place. (apart from the ceramics display at the National Palace Museum, but that is for the next instalment)

Some of the Teapots on display were upwards of $1000 AUS. 

The Food Odyssey

Mom and I were feeling adventurous that afternoon. I mean if you are going to visit a country known for it's food, you might as well try as much of it as you can right?! 

 This is what we tackled first because the line was long and that can only mean it's popular. I don't know what you call them and I don't know how you make them. All I can tell you is that they are the consistency of goo. Goo that sticks to itself and not to you. It made me gag. The one on the right was the one I tried first and it had some sort of savoury filling in it which did little to make up for the bland taste of the goo. Don't ask me what the one on the left was because I just couldn't do it. 

* I'm sorry mom but I had to include at least one good photo of you, and this was the more flattering of the two, and you cannot deny that it totally captures the moment! 

 Next we came across a stall that was selling fresh barbequed snails and squid. The squid was something that I had been wanting to try for a while so I ordered one with chilli on :)
All the seafood that they use is incredibly fresh and they start cooking it only once you've placed your order.

So while I was waiting for my seafood to cook, mom ordered some giant barbequed mushroom from the stall directly opposite us. 

For dessert we had the most amazing crepes! 

These things were selling faster than they could be made. Even though it was a freezing cold day! 

The first layer was shaved peanut brittle, then two scoops of lemon gelato, topped of with fresh coriander. I'll admit the last ingredient is a bit weird but when it was all put together you could not question it! So good! 

 This stall had a huge collection of yummy delights. There were all kinds of different nut brittles, wasabi peas, dried fruits, teas etc. Mom and Dad also tried Almond Tea. Dad said it tasted like Marzipan and reminded him of his Gran's christmas cake. 

Mom, shopping up a storm while sporting the latest in Taiwanese Tourist Fashions. Knee high plastic socks to keep the rain off your feet. So after hot pots, vienna coffee's, tiramisu, chinese breakfasts, countless teas, temples, dress ups, trying nearly everything we could see and buying way too many souvenirs it was time to head back to Taipei. 

By the time we got into our taxi to take us back to the city there was nothing left to do but Rest & Digest. 

 

The Hintons take on Taiwan Part I

I was very lucky to have my Mom, Dad and youngest brother Damian visit me for two weeks during December. We packed in a huge amount of sightseeing, and lets face it folks, food! So their trip will be separated into a few different blog posts. Enjoy!

In true Hinton fashion my parents and Damian arrived on a Monday afternoon for a two week visit with absolutely no accomodation booked. But not to worry! Give Pauline a laptop, wifi, and a cup of tea and she is sure to find something in a great location, reasonably priced and just slightly out of the ordinary.
For the first week they lived in a spacious 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. Sounded great! But like most things in Taiwan, you are never entirely sure what you are in for until you arrive. And it just so happens that their apartment was located smack bang above a day/night market. The Tonghua Night Market on Linjiang street to be precise. In fact, you needed to squeeze between stalls to get to the elevator up to their front door.
During the day the market sold anything from fruit and vegetables, tea, freshly caught seafood, freshly killed livestock, pigs heads, ducks beaks, chicken hearts,  and not quite the kitchen sink but any kind of kitchen utensil you might ever need. At night time it becomes a vibrant and noisy night market!

At first I did not know how my parents would handle this. But they threw themselves into Taiwanese life with a great deal of enthusiasm! Trying whatever tasty treats were being sold in the markets. Including but not limited to these....

the first is dried swordfish with a bit of coating of sesame and something sweet (of course), and the second is tried tuna, also a bit sweet but not sickeningly so.


Mom also took a fancy to the toffee coated baby tomatoes and these pancakes that are filled with either a sweet red bean paste or a type of custard filling. Only $1! 

The weather during their first week was not great. Quite cold with plenty of rain. So dad made the most of it with plenty of trips to a technology fair that was happening not too far from where they were staying. Perfect!

On the first full day that I got to spend with them though, the sun shone! So we took the chance to go up Taipei 101.
The Taipei 101 building was the tallest building in the world from 2004 until 2010. It also has the worlds fastest elevator! Taking you from the 6th floor to the observation deck on the 89th floor in 39seconds. (My ears popped on the way up and the way down)

Once we had come back down to ground level it was time to try the Michelen star winning dumplings at Ding Tai Fung! There was a 40minute waiting time which gave us a chance to browse the Taiwanese delicacies that were being sold a short distance from the restaurant. Of course Damian and I had to try as many of the free samples as we could without completely ruining our appetite for dumplings. So we had some pineapple cake, some kumquat cake, some green tea nougat, some red wine nougat, some sweet beef jerky, some cookies, some chewy stuff, some sesame stuff, some peanut stuff, some Oolong tea, some green tea, some apple tea..... You can see where I'm going with this. 

The wait for a table was worth every minute! Collectively we tried the chicken, mushroom, shrimp, pork, and vegetable dumplings. (With some steamed spinach on the side Deirdre) AMAZING ! 

Din Tai Fung has restaurants in Hong Kong, the US and Sydney. If you are ever in the area it is well worth a visit.

After a feast of dumplings we headed to Longshan Temple. 

 Mom, Dad and Damian outside Longshan Temple.
I was doing some research on the history of the Temple and found this great article on CNN's website which has a short history but also talks about the energy and significance of the temple today. The temple is still an important place of worship. We were fortunate enough to visit the temple on a day when large numbers of people were gathering in the temple to sing, pray, and give offerings to the Gods.

"On the first and 15th night of each lunar month, Buddhists, Taoists and worshipers of the ancient goddess of the sea, Matsu, gather here to pray, bring food and flowers and share the wonders of their faiths. It has been the same here twice a month, almost every month, for 274 years." 

And because we weren't quite done, we picked up a selection of nougat and nutty treats on our way home. To keep us going, you know, till dinner.

Dinner was at a Teppinyaki place in the night market. 

"First I chop and toss the cabbage."

"And then I step back so the delighted tourist can take a photo."