EXPERIENCE THE CHINESE LANTERN AT PINGXI TAIWAN

PINGXI 

During Chinese New Year it is especially encouraged for tourists to visit Pingxi and release a Chinese lantern into the sky!

Both Pingxi and Shifen  are both towns rich in culture and history and provide a nice glimpse at Taiwan's beautiful natural scenery. Events such as the Sky Lantern Festival draw visitors year round to create a Chinese Lantern  with a wish written on it to set into the sky, all for a modestNT$100-200.

Shifen Waterfall 

Pingxi Old Street 

Enjoyed the taste of the ice cream At Pingxi Old Street 

Shifen is well known for the Shifen Waterfall  a 20 meter tall waterfall that creates a rainbow as it splashes into the lake, widely regarded as the most scenic in all of Taiwan. The train station, originally built for transporting coal, was built right alongside the Shifen Old Streets and today stands as a reminder of Taiwan's history and culture. With the marketplace surrounding the train station and the openness in which people can freely cross the tracks running straight through the centre of town, the marketplace area of Shifen is definitely an interesting place for visitors to check out.

Pingxi is special for its unique architecture and design, as its market area, Pingxi Old Street is built into a hill with a train track going overhead right through the middle with shops around selling local food and gifts. Visitors are able to check out shops built during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as wooden houses built during the Japanese occupation era.

Historical place and one of the wooden houses built during the Japanese occupation era.

@Pingxi Bridge

Both towns are located along the Pingxi Line  of the train system (accessible from Ruifang), and is a great day trip.

A nice route to follow is first disembark at Shifen Station to visit the old streets town area andwaterfall. Continue on the train towards the terminal station, Jingtong , to visit the town and its historical attractions. Finally, walk back along the tracks to Pingxi (around 20 mins) to enjoy a nice snack and set a lantern into the sky. Hopefully by then it will be dark enough for you to light your lantern and watch it fly over the horizon. Don't forget to stand on the train tracks as you let your lantern go!

In 2017, the Lantern Festival ( Yuanxiaojie) will be held on 11 February.

Pingxi at night time is a very different experience than that during the day. Many visitors choose tostay overnight in Jiufen prior to visiting due to its closer proximity, or Keelung for its amazing night market.

How to Get There? 

From Taipei Main Station, take anorthbound train (except Keelung-bound trains) towards Ruifang Station. Transfer to the Pingxi Line  and purchase a One Day Ticket for the Pingxi Line, NT$52.

Trains depart from Ruifang daily at the following times(as of 01 Dec, 2015, schedule link)
05:19, 06:27, 07:23, 08:08, 09:10, 10:03, 11:08, 12:05, 13:05, 14:05, 15:05, 16:08, 17:05, 18:30, 19:22, 20:55, 22:55

MRT￫Bus

From MRT Muzha Station (Brown Line1), take bus 1076 towards Pingxi.