Jiufen Attractions
8 Must-See Spots in Taiwan's Lantern Village

The beating heart of Jiufen — a narrow mountain lane lined with hundreds of red lanterns, souvenir shops, snack stalls, and sea-view cafes. At the far end you'll find Shichi Stone Steps (豎崎路), the most-photographed staircase in Taiwan. The golden hour between 15:00 and 20:00 is when the lanterns flicker on and the hillside turns amber. Ah Gan Yi (阿柑姨) taro ball stall at the top is the most famous in all of Taiwan.

The most photographed teahouse in Taiwan — a multi-storey timber building festooned with amber lanterns and red-orange balconies, gazing out over the bay and the valley below. Countless visitors compare it to the spirit bathhouse from Miyazaki's Spirited Away. Order a Taiwanese tea set with local sweets (NT$300–500 per person) and settle in as dusk transforms the scene into something cinematic.

Taiwan's oldest operating cinema, built in 1934 during Japanese rule as entertainment for the gold miners after their shifts. Today it has been sensitively restored as a small museum chronicling Jiufen's golden era. The upper floor retains the original movie-house atmosphere, complete with vintage projector equipment. An essential stop for anyone interested in history — and beautifully lit for photography at night.

Jiufen sits over 200 metres above sea level, and from several points along the main street you get sweeping views of Yilan Bay bathed in gold. On clear days, the volcanic islet of Huaping (花瓶嶼) floats on the horizon. The best vantage points are the terrace near A-Mei Tea House and the balconies of seafront teahouses. At dusk the sky shifts from pink to deep orange, perfectly contrasting the red lanterns below — the single most beautiful minute in all of Jiufen.

A former gold and copper mining settlement just 5 km from Jiufen, with a completely different character — quieter, rawer, and more atmospheric. Walk further up the slope and you find ruins of Japanese administrative buildings and the old mine ventilation shafts, backdrops for several Taiwanese films. Wandering the area is free and ideal for industrial-history enthusiasts.

The undisputed highlight is a solid gold bar weighing 220.3 kg (worth roughly NT$500 million) that visitors can attempt to lift one-handed through a glass-panel slot. Beyond the gold bar, the museum traces the full arc of Jiufen's gold rush through exhibits on colonial-era mining, Japanese-period architecture, and a genuine mine tunnel you can walk inside. Allow 2–3 hours to do it justice.

A meticulously preserved Japanese timber mansion built in 1922 in anticipation of a royal visit from Crown Prince Hirohito (later Emperor Showa) — though he never actually came. The building stands as one of the finest surviving examples of high-quality Japanese colonial architecture in Taiwan, surrounded by a Japanese garden that is still carefully maintained. One of Jinguashi's hidden gems that few visitors discover.

A tiny station on the Pingxi Line that has become Taiwan's most famous cat village — hundreds of friendly, well-fed cats drape themselves over market stalls, fence posts, and the train platform itself. They are remarkably tame and comfortable with gentle handling. There is a cat bridge across the river, cat-themed shops, and a handful of restaurants. It pairs perfectly with a Jiufen-Shifen-Houtong day on the same route.