The Wandering Hart

While I was in Taipei one of the best experiences I had was taking a one-day trip outside the city along the Pingxi Line. The Pingxi Line is an 8-mile-long train line traveling from Ruifang to Jingtong. It’s an incredibly easy and rewarding short trip from Taipei. There are many stops worth checking out along the way including beautiful waterfalls and historic villages. Below is the itinerary I followed as well as some tips for this awesome day trip!

Getting to the Pingxi Line

There are plenty of options for getting to the Pingxi Line and for how to map out your trip. If you’d like to combine the trip with seeing Jiufen, then I’d recommend starting out in Jiufen and working your way out toward Jingtong along the train line. It’s fairly easy to get to Ruifang via public transit from Taipei. Jiufen, while not on the line, is only an 11-minute ride from the Ruifang Station. Buses run often from Ruifang to Jiufen, but I opted to just take a cab there and back. Once back from Jiufen it’s easy to ride the Pingxi Line as far out as you’d like making stops along the way. Then, for your return to Taipei, you can ride the train straight back to Ruifang and catch public transit or a cab back into Taipei from there.

Feeling Spirited Away in Jiufen

Jiufen is a small town built into the mountains that served as some of the inspiration for Miyazaki’s Spirited Away! Once there it’s easy to see how the area served as inspiration – its many stairs, narrow streets, and tea houses overlooking the mountainside provide an otherworldly setting. In addition to being a cool setting, Jiufen has amazing tea houses and street food. I particularly enjoyed getting some tea while taking in the mountainside view at A-Mei Tea House. This 100-year-old tea house is a popular tourist spot for both its views and the legend that it’s the primary inspiration for the tea house in Spirited Away. I could see why it may have been part of the film’s inspiration, but I mostly enjoyed it for the views and the delicious tea.

After tea, you can spend an hour or easily more getting lost wandering the narrow and steep paths around Jiufen. The streets are lined with plenty of options for souvenirs and some delicious street food. I definitely recommend picking up one or two different snacks as you shop! There are plenty of savory options, but I was particularly obsessed with the peanut and cilantro ice cream rolls, which are cilantro, chopped peanuts, and ice cream wrapped tightly in a spring roll wrapper.

Getting Catty in Houtong

Once back on the Pingxi Line, the cat village of Houtong is just one stop from Ruifang. This village is known for having dozens of cats wandering around. The residents of the village care for the cats and you can even purchase some food to give the cats while there. There are tons of statues and cafes themed around cats throughout the village as well! I thought it was a fun little stop, but once you see the cats there isn’t a ton more to do.

To kill time before the next train came, I crossed the tracks from the main part of the village and checked out the Houtong Coal Mine Ecological Park, which is a small museum with information about coal mining and the village’s history. It’s worth a stop if you similarly have some time to kill after watching the cats.

Launching Lanterns in Pingxi

My final stop along the line was Pingxi, which is one stop short of riding the full Pingxi Line but I felt it was worth sacrificing other stops to get more time here. Pingxi is a cute town known for launching lanterns. It’s supposedly particularly fun and beautiful if you manage to go during the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival, but you can launch a lantern yourself even if you go during a different time of year. Launching the lanterns was fun and started with writing and drawing decorations on all sides of the lantern. Once you’re done decorating, a shopkeeper will help you get set up over the train tracks and light the candle to send the lantern skyward! It’s worth noting that these lanterns are very large so it’s easier to one with 2-3 people, but I managed just fine on my own in the end.

In addition to the lanterns, Pingxi has a beautiful park area with some great trails. The Xiaozishan Trail (also known as the Pingxi Crags Trail) is a short walk from the train station and takes you up some steep crags to see beautiful views over the town. There are also smaller trails that are less crowded and feature some fun, precarious steps to climb that may be worth exploring if you have time before your train arrives.

Additional Stops Possible

I chose to spend more time at each stop and to add the side trip to Jiufen which meant I had to miss a lot of additional stops along the line! If you choose to take the Pingxi Line, here are the remaining popular stops you could choose to add to your adventure if you have time:

• Sandiaoling: Hike the Sandiaoling Waterfall Trail to 3 different waterfalls.
• Shifen: Hike to the Shifen Waterfall (known as the “Little Niagra of Taiwan”)
• Jingtong: Explore a small coal mining town at the end of the line