Chiufen Village and Keelung Night Market, Taiwan 3/30/24

 Chiufen Village and Keelung Night Market Taiwan

Our first stop was at an overlook, and we were able to see our ship in the background.

We had an afternoon excursion planned to Chiufen Village, also known as Jiufen, to go to a teahouse and walk around this unique village. On the way to Chiufen Village, we traveled along the Northeast Coast which features the Nanya Rocks. The “Nanya Rocks” have a very special stratum structure. The entire coastline is a veritable sculpture garden that illustrates the incomparable artistry of weathering and wave action.  Weathered by the northeastern monsoon and gigantic sea waves over the years, they became unique landscapes on “Provincial Highway 2”. Our guide made sure that we got some pictures of the rocks along the shore before going into Chiufen. Our guide also told us that some of the rock was from lava spewed into the ocean by a volcano which is now inactive. It really is amazing to see what waves continuously splashing rock can artfully sculpture over the years.  There is also a temple founded in 1738 by immigrants from Fujian.  It is in remarkably good condition, and I was fascinated by the temple and its decorations.

On to Chiufen, which is an old gold mining village and retains its historical identity.  There are five temples within the village from the lowest level all the way to the top.to the top.  What we didn’t realize was there are 200 steps that have to be climbed to get to Chiufen Village and our teahouse.  And that was only halfway up...The teahouse was not the one we were hoping to go to but rather a smaller one that didn’t have the view or ambiance of the famous one you see in all the Chiufen pictures. The teahouse experience was rather underwhelming, considering all the steps (and huffing and puffing) it took to get there. After our tea and snacks- also pretty weak - we decided to visit the Hsiahai Chenghuang Temple, which was on the same street so no more steps!  As we wended our way to the temple, we enjoyed stopping in the local shops and just slowly exploring this charming village.  The walk to the temple was so worth it - the pictures don't do it justice, but I have tried to give you a sample of the artistry in my collages. The outside, especially the roof was so impressive.  Infatuated with all these temples!  Would have loved to see the other 4, but time did not allow.  

This was where we had our tea....

This is where we thought we were going. (it is the teahouse featured in all the ads) ..it was only 50 more steps...

This temple was amazing....

The inside of the temple

And last but not least, we got back to our ship at about 5:30 pm, and then walked to the night market which was a bustling and busy spot.  The only light the lanterns on Saturday nights, and we happened to be in town that day.  Lucky us...Mickey could have spent hours here - it is primarily a food bazaar with some souvenir shopping on side streets, but the food is definitely the main attraction.  Hard to choose what food stall, they all looked great.  We finally chose one - Mickey of course was adventurous, I stayed with chicken.  Bogth of us were quite happy with our choices.  We wandered for about 1.5 hours, and then I gave up and we headed back to the ship to watch the folkloric dance show.  Ane extremely long day, but we got as much in as we possibly could.