Travel Log: Treats and Teatime on a mountain in Jiufen, Taiwan

I wanted to share a last post from my Taiwanese holiday to give you a peek at a cute little town with some interesting sites – a tea house in the mountains, a wacky sausage lady, and sweet and savory snacks.

Jiufen is a quiet town less than an hour away from Taipei in the North of Taiwan.  It was known as a gold mining town at the run of the century until the 1950s.  It is still a popular getaway due to its majestic mountain views and peeks at the Pacific.

Take a walk through one of its main roads – Jishan Street or Shuchi Street (it’s a lovely walk and loved that lanterns adorned the way).

There were lots of treats along the streets…
…mmm mochi

…brightly colored sweets. This is for Honey my Heart!

Adorable ceramic flutes for $3 (great for kids, we got one for each niece!) 

Then of course the wig wearing sausage lady who insisted on drawing on our faces with face paint.  She did had some great wasabi sausage too so it was great food and entertainment!

Finally the tea house.
 It’s nice to do one “fancy” activity during vacation that also really represents the history of the place; the price for tea and snacks was also about $20/person with snacks so it was actually well priced.  This traditional Chinese tea house is at the site of Jiufen’s historic mining operations center and retains many of the original Chinese cypress doors and Japanese style wooden frames.

The tea was wonderful and fragrant.  I learned that quality tea can be like selecting quality wine – a bouquet or aroma really differentiates each tea.  Our waitress educated us on the correct way to serve tea (steep fresh leaves in the hot water for a few minutes, pour out an initial cup that won’t be as flavorful, and serve the tea thereafter.)

The artist/owner had cute paintings and sculptures everywhere. 

Tea kettles and cups like this gorgeous glass ones were also sold. 

So if you’re ever in Taiwan, I definitely recommend this day trip!    Sausages, candy, tea – what more could you want?

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