Dark grey clouds fill up the sky. It has been showering since early morning. The temperature continues to drop as the strong wind from the sea keeps blowing. But all of this cannot stop tourists from exploring Jiufen, a lovely Taiwanese town with a Japanese atmosphere.
Narrow lanes lined with outlets have signs baring Japanese and Chinese characters. Red lanterns hang over the lanes, which are kept tidy. Decorative earthen dolls and cute potted plants add a lovely atmosphere to a town that is well known for its foggy weather conditions.
But some tourists find it quite romantic and such an atmosphere has attracted a number of artists, tea house operators and travellers.
An endless shower drives me to find somewhere to stay dry and a teahouse with a view is a nice place to sit. There are numerous teas to try in Jiufen, but a unique one is Hakka Ground Tea, or Lei Cha. Alex Liu, the owner of a small teahouse called Siid Cha, patiently grounds over 30 kinds of seed, such as black sesame, rice, pumpkin seeds and tea leaves before pouring hot water into the kettle. But when he pours the tea out, it is a dark green rich-body beverage.
Alex Liu serves his Hakka Ground Tea.
From the quiet glass room hanging over the cliff, I slowly sip the tea while looking at the sea's grey colour.
Jiufen on a rainy day is filled with a lonely atmosphere.
The name Jiufen comes from a legend of nine families that used to live there. Because of a lack of infrastructure and transportation, it was quite difficult to access a market that was far away. So, whenever one family got something from the market place, they divided it into nine parts for each family. Jiufen literally means "nine pieces" in Chinese.
It is no longer difficult to get around Jiufen, since the discovery of gold.
The discovery of gold in the 1890s turned the neglected village into a vibrant town when people came to make their fortunes. When the Japanese occupied Taiwan in 1895, the town became busier with development of gold mining.
A Japanese community was subsequently set up, along with a Japanese school. The houses of Japanese workers remain in a good shape. Gold mining made Jiufen a wealthy place where people could earn and spend their money easily. Jiufen at that time was called Little Hong Kong as shops offered good quality and expensive stuff, to meet demands of the rich workers.
Jiufen was a prosperous gold mining town until the 1950s, when town went through a sharp decline after gold became more difficult to find and mining was discontinued eventually. Fortunately, lovely shops, teahouses and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean saved it from becoming yet another ghost town.
When artists and those who travel to find romantic places find Jiufen, they fall in love with the small town quickly and easily.
A tourist walks through a tunnel in Jiufen's Gold Museum. The museum shows how miners worked in the gold rush era. Its highlight is a big gold bar weighing over 200kg.
Houses of Japanese miners have been well preserved.
