Jiufen - Spirited Away

This weekend was the first weekend we didn't had any obligations or things to arrange, so Jennifer and I both felt like doing somethings nice. We decided to go to Jiufen, a small village up North known for its foodmarket and especially for the many tea houses with a great view over the Pacific Ocean. The first time I walked through the narrow streets and the stairways marked by red lanterns, I had to think about an anime movie I saw years ago: Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. It had the same atmosphere. As I found out later, not by chance. Miyazaki was inspired by Jiufen and used it as a model for the city in his movie. I must say he did a great job, since he caught the feel of the village quite well!

I just loved walking around there, getting some nice food, walking through beautiful streets and relax a little in one of the many, many tea houses. To give you a glimpse of the atmosphere I added some pictures me and Jennifer made this evening. I would recommend anyone visiting Taiwan to go there! Make sure to go there somewhere between four and eight so you can grab some nice bites and catch the atmosphere in the evening. After eight most of the shops are closing though...

I look forward to all the other "hidden" places of Taiwan! There is still a lot to discover.