JIUFEN （九 份）

After Shifen we took a train back to Rueifang （瑞 方）station and took a 15-minute bus ride, opposite the station, to go up to the mountain to Jiufen village.

It was believed that long time ago there was only 9 families in Jiufen, a small town located at the hill of Northeast Taiwan.  The families had the habit of buying nine pieces of the same object at any one time and that's name of the place came about.

From the bus you get a good view of the village.  The weather was cold and misty.

A stretch of shops selling food and souvenirs

There are cosy tea and coffee houses where you can rest your feet after all the walking

Quaint little shops along the street

Traditional art house

Traditional lodging overlooking the sea

We should have stayed a night in Jiufen instead.  It was hell taking a bus back to Taipei city as the queue waiting for buses was long and the buses came every 20 mins or later.  We stood in the freezing wind for nearly 2 hours before our turn to board the bus.