Before this program, I had visited Taiwan with my parents on business trips multiple times. While I was able to experience some surface-level culture here on those trips, I never fully got to immerse myself in the diverse culture. That is until I joined the American Councils TISLP program, which has allowed me to better experience and appreciate the culture in Taiwan through classes, excursions, and exploring Taiwan on my own time with friends.
On one of these explorations with my friends, we traveled to Jiufen! Jiufen is a famous, small town located in the north-east region of the island. It’s famous for its narrow alleyways (such as Jiufen Old Street), teahouses, food stalls, and local souvenir shops. Fun fact: the Studio Ghibli movie known as Spirited Away was inspired by the architecture of Jiufen!
While the island of Taiwan is relatively small, traveling to Jiufen from Tamsui was no small feat; however, the public transit system made the experience much easier. My friends and I travelled on the MRT to Taipei where we then transferred to a public bus headed towards Jiufen. On the bus ride, we were able to see the many sights of Taiwan, including Taipei 101 and the coastline near Jiufen.
Once we arrived, we immediately started to look out at the gorgeous coastline of Jiufen (and take pictures!). From where we were, we could see the East China Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and the Keelung Islet. For me, seeing the coastline made me feel more at home in Taiwan as I both grew up in a state with a coastline and have familial ties to an island nation.
After looking out to the ocean, my friends and I decided to walk around the many small alleyways of Jiufen. We stopped by many shops, talked to shopkeepers in Mandarin Chinese, and bought many souvenirs, including postcards, bookmarks, magnets, and other trinkets. Afterwards, one of my friends made the suggestion to visit a famous teahouse in Jiufen, so we went.
When we arrived at the teahouse, which is called A-Mei Teahouse, we immediately started taking pictures of the beautiful architecture of the teahouse and the surrounding area while waiting in line. Even though A-Mei Teahouse is known to be a very popular teahouse, the line itself was fairly short, and we were able to be sat down very quickly. We were very lucky as we got sat down on the balcony and could see the surrounding area of Jiufen and the sunset. At A-Mei Teahouse, we all drank iced oolong tea and ate a variety of tea snacks, including brown sugar mochi, which happened to be my favorite! After spending some time eating, drinking, chatting, and enjoying the scenery, we decided to walk around Jiufen a little more, buy more trinkets and souvenirs, and start heading back to Tamsui.
Going to Jiufen was both an enjoyable and magical experience. Seeing the famous sights, becoming more immersed with Taiwanese culture, and seeing a different way people in Taiwan live their lives compared to the bustling areas of Taipei and Tamsui made this daytrip very special. Becoming more immersed in the diverse culture and daily life in Taiwan is something I wanted to experience while in this program and I believe that traveling to and experience Jiufen was exactly what achieved my wants!