Explore Juifen: Taiwan’s Most Enchanting Village
Juifen is Nestled in the mountains of northern Taiwan and makes the perfect day trip. With its narrow streets, beautiful lanterns, and scenic ocean views, it’s a must-visit for anyone looking to experience the countryside of Taiwan away from the big cities. Come along as we explore magical Juifen, from markets to tea houses, instruments, and ice cream!
Juifen is a famous town on the north coast of Taiwan. This destination is known for its idyllic mountainside view, traditional architecture, and local foods. Juifen is a simple day trip from Taipei and a beautiful place to visit if you have the chance.
Juifen and Spirited Away
Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away is one of the most famous movies the studio has produced, capturing the maximum amount of charm and peaceful countryside vibes imaginable. Why are we talking about Studio Ghibli? Well, Juifen is often said to be the inspiration for Spirited Away, specifically the A Mei Tea House is said to look very similar to the Onsen from the movie. This is not true of course, Juifen is on a different island in a different country with a different culture. However, it is true that this small town has a ton of charm and as we watched Spirited Away on the bus ride to Juifen, we felt the peaceful countryside vibes in full force.
Getting to Juifen
If you want to explore Juifen, getting there is surprisingly simple. We recommend you get the EasyCard, as it can be used for subways and most buses. In order to get to Juifen, we used our EasyCard and took the 1062 city bus from Zhongxiao Fuxing where the 1062 line starts. We happened to eat breakfast near there a few hours before so this was the best option for us. We considered taking the 965 bus, but this was closer. A full guide is available here by mstravelsolo.
Juifen viewpoint
The bus first drops you here, at the entrance to the village where there is a two-story tower to view the mountains over the ocean. You can also see Jiufen Qingyun temple in the distance, making this a nice point to view from as well as a good meeting spot.
Juifein Old Street
After about 50 minutes, our bus arrived at Juifen Old Street. It’s exactly what it sounds like, an old street running through Juifen. If you’re only here for a day trip, this is the main thing you’ll explore in Juifen. It is a cobbled street winding along the hillside and flanked by hundreds of shops selling souvenirs, food, clothes, snacks, instruments, and more. To walk the whole street to the last shop only takes 10 minutes, however, you’ll frequently be distracted by the smell of delicious food or a cute trinket.
It is worth walking to the end because you’ll be greeted by a beautiful view over the mountain landscape. Be aware that Juifen is literally built on a mountainside. Juifen Old Street doesn’t have severe elevation change, but it is bumpy and does have sharp corners, tight turns, and some ups and downs. Anything off of the main road requires a steep staircase to get to, so this is not an accessible town to anyone with substantial mobility issues. But, those staircases also make for some beautiful photo spots.
A Mei Tea House
This teahouse is probably the most famous building in Juifen. It is said to resemble the Onsen from Spirited Away as mentioned earlier. To be honest, I don’t think it does, but it is an incredibly beautiful building with a long history.
We got there at the opening because we’ve seen that they can have crowds. On the day we visited there weren’t many people thankfully. We chose to sit upstairs because there is an incredible view over the mountains. We got a set with tea and several snacks. The tea is refilled, and although we know nothing about tea we thought it was refreshing and delicious. We hadn’t had some of the side snacks before, they reminded us of mochi. The staff were also nice and helpful. With the view of the mountains and fog, I have never felt so much like I was living a dream.
A-Zhu Ice Cream
Before we visited we knew we wanted to try this ice cream. Taiwanese Ice cream is icy and has an almost chewy texture. This ice cream comes in a thin crepe-like roll with shaved peanuts, and If that wasn’t enough we also had the option to add cilantro. Peanut cilantro ice cream roll? Yes, please! It was actually super delicious. The cilantro isn’t necessary for the taste so get whatever you prefer.
Grandma Lai’s Taro Balls
These are little balls of taro, not much else to say about it. They are served in any ivy cold mixture which is great on a hot day. The actual balls themselves don’t have much taste but the chewy texture was certainly good. When you’re walking around you’ll see a lot of people enjoying this snack.
Taiwan Ocarina
If you didn’t know, I’ve been an ocarinist for over 10 years, so when we unexpectedly passed by an ocarina store we had to stop by. There were two locations nearby and they had hundreds of whistles in all varieties, from double chambers to pendants. I picked up two matching Japanese-style ocarinas for me and my twin. The shop owners were unbelievably nice and we learned they hand-painted all of their ocarinas, although I’m not sure that they formed the clay bodies. Either way, it was a great souvenir, and the oc is in tune which is surprising for a souvenir whistle.
Final Thoughts
Let’s be honest, this is essentially a tourist trap. Many of the shops here are reselling goods and are not handmade. There are plenty of handmade goods as well, but the general market is tourists. Still, the scenery around Juifen is incredible, the people in the town were very friendly, and it was a unique place to explore. Yes, it’s touristy, but what are we if not tourists? We really loved this area and if you have time, we recommend you make your way to Juifen.
