SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2016
Chinese New Year is coming to an end and Tracy and I both wanted to release sky lanterns. The place to do this is in Pingxi. It’s famous for sky lanterns and throughout the Chinese New Year holiday, there are 3 specific dates where hundreds of people go to release their lanterns, such that the sky is filled with them. We didn’t go on one of those special days, but we still had a blast.
How To Get There
We traveled from Taipei Main Station. Take the TRA (Taiwan Railway Station) to Ruifang. The train should head in a northeast direction. From Ruifang, transfer to the Pingxi line. The trains on the Pingxi line are a lot smaller and they only run once every hour, so if you can get on one. All of them are going to be full, so do your best to get on one. Once you are on the train, you can take the train to Shifen or Pingxi. We got off at Shifen first.
Shifen Waterfall
One of the reasons I wanted to stop in Shifen was the Shifen Waterfall. It’s about a 20 minute walk from Shifen Station. I absolutely loved it. It’s really pretty. They have a couple viewing platforms and each view is different. There’s no admission fee and there’s a souvenir shop. Shifen Waterfall is Taiwan’s broadest waterfall at 40 meters wide.
Jingan Suspension Bridge
There’s also a suspension bridge in Shifen that was originally used to transport coal. After the coal industry ended, it was renovated and turned into a pedestrian bridge. The bridge connects Shifen and the Nanshan villages.
Shifen Old Street
I really like the old streets in Taiwan. They are always filled with shops and food. Getting off at the train station, we walked five feet and came across a shop selling souvenir lanterns. They have a bunch! These lanterns are all different colors, patterns, and have different messages on them. A lot them have some sort of blessing on them. Some have LED lights. It’s a great souvenir. I think I bought two for myself. You can hang them in your car, in your home, etc. It was also nice that the shops are English friendly. They have English translations of all the different blessings and messages on the lanterns.
On the train tracks, you can also release sky lanterns into the sky. You don’t necessarily have to go to Pingxi, but I think you’ll find that more people release sky lanterns in Pingxi.
Aside from lanterns, there are shops and food stands that we didn’t get a chance to really explore. They have stores that have lots of postcards for sale and they have stamps and markers you can use to decorate the postcards and mail right there, We wanted to make it back home at a reasonable time and we still wanted to go to Pingxi. After exploring Shifen Waterfall, we tried to catch the train, but missed it.
How to Get to Pingxi
Pingxi is just two stops after Shifen. We asked the taxi stand to drive us to Pingxi, but he said he doesn’t drive that far. But, he pointed us in the direction of the bus stop that will take us to Pingxi. Our timing was good and we only had to wait 10 minutes for the bus. Cross the suspension bridge and the bus stop is a 3 minute walk from the bridge.
Pingxi Old Street – Food
Similar to Shifen Old Street. We choose to get dinner here. The food was so delicious!!! I know pig’s blood sounds not appetizing, but I find it absolutely yummy. The same lady was selling pork buns and I also indulged the 10 year old in me and bought cotton candy.
Sky Lanterns
We kept walking up and found the train tracks where there were several shops selling sky lanterns. I have to say, this was a really fun experience. They have different color lanterns to represent different blessings, depending if you want love, safety, academic blessing. Each color has a meaning. We chose red which is a general good fortune. They have lanterns that have all the colors on it or if you want just two colors. The lantern we bought was 150 NT.
They were super big, so Tracy and I shared one and we each decorated two sides of the lantern. The clipped the lantern to a clothing rack stand and there was brushes and ink on the sides. I think we did a pretty good job decorating it.
Once you’re done, they take you out to the train tracks and they have someone light it for you. That same person will take your phone and take pictures for you. She had us turn it all the way around so that we got pictures of each side and she records you releasing the lanterns into the sky. Unfortunately, she didn’t let the phone focus and a bunch of the pictures she took for us came out blurry.
The train station is a stone’s throw away from where we painted our sky lantern. Another cool experience in Pingxi and Shifen is standing next to tracks when a train goes by. You can get really close. Watch below as we send up our hopes and wishes for the new year.
