Things to do
4-
Jiufen Old Street
Narrow stepped lanes thread the hillside where gold miners once lived, now lined with teahouses, taro ball shops and stalls selling braised pork and peanut ice rolls. Views run down over the sea from the balconies above Shuqi Road. The lanes are shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the day; before nine in the morning and after seven at night the town comes back to itself.
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Shifen Old Street
Shops here sit either side of a live railway track, and the Pingxi line trains pass close enough that stallholders clear the rails by hand before each one. Releasing painted sky lanterns from the sleepers is the ritual visitors come for. Trains run roughly every hour, litter from spent lanterns is a local complaint, and the street is calmest early.
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Shifen Waterfall
Water spills in a broad curtain into a green plunge pool on the Keelung River, reached by a paved walk and suspension bridges from Shifen station. Viewing platforms sit above and below the drop. Entry is free and coach groups arrive after eleven, while heavy rain turns the fall brown and leaves the walkways slick.
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Yehliu Geopark
Sandstone on this cape has weathered into mushroom rocks, honeycomb hollows and the slender Queen's Head, whose neck thins a little further every year and is fenced off from touch. A boardwalk loop takes under an hour. Sea spray and full sun make midday hard going, and the cape closes in typhoon weather.