Shifen Old Street is the biggest village along the Pingxi Railway. Prospered by coal mining on Japanese era. Shifen is also known for sky lantern flying which is famous for tourists.

How did I get there?

Across my hostel in Jiufen is a bus stop that took me to Ruifang Train Station. From the train station, I used my EasyCard again to take me to Shifen Train Station.

In less than 2 hours, I reached Shifen. Literally, the Old Street is just on the railway. Streets are flooded with stalls of food, souvenirs of different items and colorful lanterns.

Where are the places I travelled?

Jingan Suspension Bridge

Just some steps outside the Shifen Train Station is the Jingan Suspension Bridge. This is the longest suspension bridge in Pingxi District. It stretched to 128 meters long.

While crossing the bridge, the wind swung it. It made me a bit nervous, nevertheless it seems the bridge is still strong and can stand still.

Shifen Old Street

Near Jingan bridge is Shifen Old Street, I also had my lunch and bought souvenir items here. You can never be hungry in Shifen as there are many food tasting stalls!

On the rails, are the stores selling different sky lanterns. Sky lanterns colors represented different meanings. I bought a Red lantern for Health and Peace.

Most of the tourists who are flying lanterns are families, group of friends and others seems to be like members of organizations. Probably, with the same aim to fulfill their wishes too.

I thought I cannot fly a lantern as I am travelling alone. The store owners where I bought my lantern is very accommodating. They have me photographed and video while flying the lantern.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmDgTIIlhYE/?taken-by=heartofjess

It was a joy to let go of the lantern. I wish, hope and pray that all my wishes are heard from up above. 🙂

Shifen Waterfall

Near the Shifen Old Street is the Shifen Waterfall. It is called as the little Niagara Falls of Taiwan. From the Old Street, it took me 30 minutes to reach the entrance of Shifen Waterfall Park. You can hire a cab from the Old Street to Shifen Waterfall for about 10 minutes. But since I was alone and hiring a cab is not an option for me when travelling, I walked then. The sun was scorching, good thing I bought an umbrella in Taipei! 🙂

Shifen Waterfall Park is open to public for free. From the entrance of park, another 30 minutes of walk again. It seems walking was never ending. Haha.

But when I reached the waterfall, it took my breath away. It was like a work of art. The waterfall is very fascinating and inviting.

Where are these waters coming from? I want to jump there and swim! Haha. It was like the heat and the water in the fall is a perfect combination.

To see the waterfalls closer, there are many view decks that you can take. Taking the stairs lower and lower made me fall in love more in this waterfall. Indeed, it was refresher from the skyscrapers of the city.

It took me more than an hour to see the entire park. It was also fascinating to see a train running inside the park.

Thought it was just a day visit in Shifen, it was relaxing. I headed back to my hostel in Jiufen to end my last leg of travel in Taiwan.

Indeed, I survived another DIY travel in Taiwan. 😊

To have an idea of how much you can spend in Shifen, here was my expenses in New Taiwan Dollar,

Transportation
	Bus Hostel – Riufang Train Station	EasyCard
	Train Ruifang – Shifen	EasyCard
Food
	Breakfast	90
	Lunch	220
	Dinner	90
Attractions
	Shifen Waterfall Park	0
Others
	Lantern	150
	Pasalubong	340
Total		890