The team behind the guide
About The Jiufen Guide
One town. Covered properly.
Why a whole site about one town?
The Jiufen Guide is an independent travel guide to one place: Jiufen, the old gold-mining town above the sea in New Taipei City, Taiwan. We do not try to cover the whole country. We cover this one hillside town in real depth, so a first-time visitor can plan a trip that actually works.
Jiufen is small, but a good visit has a lot of moving parts: which bus or train to take, when to arrive, how to dodge the tour-coach crowds, where the famous teahouse view actually is, and whether to pair it with Shifen and Yehliu. Most general Taiwan guides give it a paragraph. We give it the room it needs, and we keep the practical details current.
One town, in depth
We cover only Jiufen, so nothing gets glossed over.
Visited in every season
In sun and in the heavy rain the ridge is known for.
Kept current
Bus routes, hours and prices, checked and updated.
No sponsored fluff
When something is overrated, we say so.
How we work
Everything here comes from visiting Jiufen in person, at different times of day and across the seasons. We check bus routes and fares ourselves, note opening hours and prices in New Taiwan dollars, and update our guides as things change.
Some pages link to tours and tickets through travel partners, and we may earn a commission if you book through them. It never changes what we recommend or what you pay. The details are in our affiliate disclaimer.
The team
Nathan Pell
Northern Taiwan day-trip writer. Moved from Colorado to Taipei in 2015 and has run the trip to Jiufen in every season since. He maps the buses, trains and timings so you do not have to.
Joanne Liao
Editor, teahouse and heritage writer. Grew up between California and Keelung, with family near Jiufen. She covers the town’s teahouses, history and film legacy, and edits the guide.
Daniel Reeves
Food and travel photographer. A Bristol native based in Taiwan for a decade. He shoots the street food and the blue-hour lanes, and writes about what to eat and when the light is best.