An Outing to Jiu Fen Old Street in Taiwan

We did a mini team outing this afternoon, driving about an hour outside of Taipei towards Keelung, where up in the mountains lie a cute little village called Jiu Fen. It was packed with tourists, primarily from Japan, presumably because some famous anime (and movie?) was based on this place. It reminded me a bit of Gulangyu Island in Xiamen with its tiny little passageways and shops, but was much, much more narrow and hilly.



Our local team suggested a number of snacks, such as these pancake things filled with what seemed like peanut brittle shavings plus two scoops of ice cream. Another thing that we stopped for were some little green mochi-like things, but filled with salted vegetables. And eventually we went to some kind of a shaved ice shop at the top where you got a nice view of the ocean while slurping down some chewy rice ball things and beans on top.



No, I didn't eat those tea eggs above, but it was just interesting to see given how much bigger it was than the ones that you see at convenience stores around here. Eventually we made it back down to the Amei Tea House, which was featured prominently in that aforementioned anime. They served a set that was basically like kung-fu tea, but the leaves weren't that flavorful. Well, all of this was just a huge tourist trap anyway. It made for an interesting visit, but I don't need to go back.