It’s the Dragon Boat Festival (端午節) long weekend, so my parents and I headed off to tourist hotspot Jiufen (九份), a mountain town on the northern shore of Taiwan, for a quick day trip.
Jiufen, famous for its steep paths lined with shops and red lanterns, is reputedly the inspiration for the town in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し). Probably because of this, there were at least a couple hundred of Japanese tourists on the day of our visit.
The drive there was only 35 minutes, but we made a shoreline pit stop:
And my dog Mookie took a good lil’ nap:
Once we got there, it was clear that Jiufen was a little grimier and messier than one would expect from a town known for its aesthetics. But I like to think it’s an amicable kind of clutter — which, coincidentally, pretty much sums up Taiwan.
Very proud of this shot of the superstar and his billboard:
The big lantern below literally says “make tea.” Can’t argue with that.
A fisheye shot of some stinky tofu (臭豆腐) that was disappointingly un-stinky:
Not sure what the law is on taking pictures of cute children without permission, but we can call it an accident:
I was particularly fond of the following lantern, which can translate into a number of things, but the characters are essentially: 戲 xi, a game or drama/theater; 夢 mong, dream (both the literal kind and fantasies or aspirations); 人生 ren shen, life (with the nuance of one’s lifetime).
Dirty or not, it’s still a pretty magical place!
Inklings 