Jiufen Old Street

Jiufen Old Street is a labyrinthine hillside market town about an hour from central Taipei, draped over the steep slopes of northeastern Taiwan's mining country. It was a gold-rush boomtown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and after the mines closed it slowly transformed into one of Taiwan's most beloved heritage destinations. The narrow, rain-slicked stone staircases, red lanterns swinging in the mountain breeze, and teahouses perched over dramatic sea views have made it iconic — a place where the island's Japanese colonial past, indigenous Ketagalan heritage, and Taiwanese street food culture all collide in a single winding alley.

The main artery is Jishan Street, a covered lane packed with vendors selling taro balls, fish balls, peanut ice cream rolls, and stinky tofu. But the real magic is in the side stairs — particularly the famous A-Mei Tea House steps on Shuqi Road, which inspired (or at least closely resembles) the bathhouse in Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, though Miyazaki himself has been deliberately vague about the connection. Climb higher and the crowds thin, the views open up over the Pacific coast and the Keelung River valley, and you start to understand why this place has been drawing painters and photographers for decades. The old teahouses are genuine — order a pot of oolong, find a window seat, and you can watch the fog roll in off the ocean.

The Google-listed hours are a rough guide at best — most vendors open around 10am and the street is fully alive by noon, but some shops and teahouses stay open well past 8pm, especially on weekends. Weekday mornings are dramatically quieter than weekend afternoons, when tour buses from Taipei flood the main staircase. The village is genuinely hilly and the steps are steep and often wet, so footwear matters more than you'd expect.