I’ve visited a few famous spots in Ruifang before but never been to a hiking trail there. Thanks to this trip, I know that there are actually many hiking trails in Ruifang. This time, we chose two popular ones, which are also next to each other, the “Bao-shi Mountain” and “Teapot Mountain”, and after that, we went to the Jiufen old street. This was a relaxing and leisure 1-day-trip. It turned out that it was a perfect plan as we finished visiting the 3 spots promptly at a relaxing pace in one day–less than a day, to be precise. Here’s our schedule:
📍 1 Day Schedule：
08:37 Taipei Main Station 🚂☛ 09:17 Ruifang Station
🚌 ☛ 10:08 Quenji Temple ☛ 10:16~10:56 Baoshi Mt. Trail ☛ 11:04~ 13:00 Teapot Mt. Trail
🚌☛ 13:32 Jiufen Old Street ☛ 14:51 Artist Teahouse ☛ 18:11 Old Street
🚌☛ 19:50 Taipei Beimen Station
About Planning the Trip
You can refer to our route, which is suitable for a family trip. My friend and I both do exercise and hike regularly so are good in physical strength. We could have saved 2 hours if we hadn’t spent too much time taking pictures LOL. But actually it was pretty tiring to finish two trails in a morning, you can adjust the schedule to your condition. If you have time, stay a night here will be a good idea as well, and then visit more spots the next day such as the Remains of the 13 Levels, Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology, Golden Waterfall, etc.
Below is the map of the attractions we visited that day. The red spots include- Baoshi Mt, Teapot Mt, Quanji Temple (the bus stop), and 2 food stops at the Jiufen Old Street, and Artist Tea House.
VLOG
Before reading the article, check out the VLOG of this One Day Trip in Ruifeng!
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Transportation
Here’s the transportation from Taipei to Baoshi Mt. Jiufen old street is on the way to Baoshi Mountain. If you are taking public transportation to the two trails, you have to get off at “Jinguashi Quanji Temple”.
- Bus（NT$90）
- From MRT Zhong-xiao Fuxing St：1062 to Jinguashi Quanji Temple.
- From MRT Ximen or Beimen St: 965 to Ruifeng station or Jiufen, then transfer for 1062.
- Train（NT$60~）：To Ruifeng station, then transfer for 1062 bus.
- Drive：Please ask Google Map 🙂 (Reminder: It will be hard to find parking during holidays)
Boa Shi Mt. Trail
📍 Distance: 166m/ One way｜⏰ Time: 20min｜🧨 Level: Easy
🚗 Best Season：Autumn will be most popular since it’s the season of Miscanthus. While it’s a good place to visit throughout the year. Just keep in mind that the weather in the mountain changes anytime during the rainy season.
After getting off at the Quanji Temple St, walk up along the sign to “Quanjitang Parking” and you will see the entrance of Baoshi Mt. This trail is a really easy one since it’s all stairway, and its short distance and low altitude (only 260 m) make it safe and suitable for family trips. It’s so short that I think it can’t be called a trail, more like “a road to an observation deck”. But though it’s short, the view is awesome. You can enjoy a 360-degree view from the deck at the top. It is surrounded by mountains and the ocean, including Keelung Mountain, Teapot Mountain, Jinshui Highway, etc., also the clear view of Yin Yang Sea–and btw the view is even better from Teapot Mt.
It’s called Bao-shi, meaning time report in Mandarin, because during the Period of Japanese Occupation, there were sirens on the mountain every hour. The mountains here are covered with greens, exposed rocks were rarely seen.
We were very lucky. The weather forecast said it might rain; however, not only did it not rain, it was a beautiful day! Although it was cloudy, the sky was still blue, which was perfect for photos. A bit hot but cool with the breeze, as if there was a natural air-con along the trails.
Teapot Mountain Trail
📍Distance: 2 km/ One way｜⏰ Time: 75 min｜🧨 Level: Medium easy
🚗 Best Season：Autumn will be most popular since it’s the season of Miscanthus. While it’s a good place to visit throughout the year. Just keep in mind that the weather in the mountain changes greatly during the rainy season.
Teapot Mountain, also called Earless Teapot Mountain, is right next to the Baoshi Mountain. Walking up along the Quanji Temple parking, It is in the opposite direction from the Baoshi Mt. There’s a popular Instagram spot in the middle of the way, ”The Ruins”. If you want to take picture of it, take it first on outbound since there is another way out when walking down the mountain.
Compared with Baoshi Mt, the Teapot Mt. Trail is more like a hiking trail we usually see. It’s still easy, but more difficult compared to the former. It is basically a straight-up stone staircase, which is steeper in the first 2/3 way. There were two pavilions on the way. Take a rest here for a while and let the breeze take away your sweat and tiredness.
From the top, you can have a clear view of the entire coastline, and the scenery is better than that of the Baoshi Mt. Although it was cloudy today, the surface of the sea formed a color gradient of blue and white, which will take your breath away.
It took us an hour to finally reach the top of the mountain at 12 pm (spending half of the time taking pictures). You may be able to feel from the photos the good weather. Even though it was noon, the sun wasn’t burning hot, and neither would you feel stifling nor uncomfortable.
Starring very hard at the “Teapot” stone in front of me, I still couldn’t figure out how it looks like a teapot, but it was indeed a spectacular stone. There was a big sign in front of the stone saying “No Trespassing”, but most visitors ignored it and climbed all over the stone. My friend and I stayed safely outside the sign since the sea view was great enough to catch all our attention. I didn’t even remember to take a photo of the stone until we were about to leave.
Although it was still spring, the temperature has begun to rise and thus nature creatures started to arouse. We saw SO MANY lizards along all the way, but what was even more annoying were mosquitoes. I was bitten a lot that day.
It only took us 20 minutes to get down back to Quenji Temple without taking pictures.
Jiufen Old Street
Compared with many other old streets in Taiwan, the range of Jiufen Old Street is pretty large, with small lanes interweaved like a maze, no wonder it’s also called a “mountain city“. The most famous road here in the old street is “Shuqi Road”, which is also said to be one of the inspirations for the scene of Hayao Miyazaki’s animation “Spirited Away”, was on the way to the teahouse we were heading to.
Strongly suggest you come during weekdays so to take great pics on this road as long as you want! You can even capture the empty scene like the ones below. After sunset, when the red lanterns are lit up, the vibes will be completely different. That day, we spent almost more than an hour on this road which costs only two-minute to walk pass, just to take pictures.
Cuisine of the Old Street
Both because it was a weekday and of the pandemic, many shops were closed. So we didn’t manage to make plans about what to eat, nor did we even bother to go to the must-eat “Jiufen taro ball”.
The first food stop we visited was “Wudi Sausage”. We bought a “Sausage with Sticky Rice (NT$70)” and a “Flying Fish Egg Sausage (NT$ 35)”, which were quite disappointing—not awful, but neither will I say they were good.
Next, we saw a “Jiufen Xin Restaurant” and were attracted by the rice noodle on its signboard. We ordered a minced pork stew with rice noodle (NT$ 50) and a Taiwanese chicken soup (NT$ 80). Nothing special, definitely won’t recommend them.
This teahouse has been opened for quite a while in Jiufen. Both the owner and his wife are artists, and therefore, you can feel the elegance and delicacy of its environment. The architecture itself is a historic monument. Besides, since its location is not at the center of the old street, the view will not be hindered by other buildings, which means you can enjoy the whole sea view. The tea and snacks are delicious as well. It will be great to spend a relaxing afternoon here.
Summary
There are many fantastic hiking trails at Ruifeng, with beautiful views to see. The public transportation, overall, is convenient. A place worth visiting!
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- 1 Day in Ruifang: 2 Must-go Hiking Trails & Jiufen Old Street
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