Travel through the busy streets of Pingxi | 平溪

Pingxi 平溪 - the place where visitors flock to release sky lanterns in hopes of receiving good luck.

Located in New Taipei City 新北市, you can easily take the train from Taipei Main Station 台北車站, get off at Ruifang 瑞芳 and transfer over to the Pingxi line 平溪線. Even though there are several stops on the way, most people end up visiting the most popular stops: Pingxi 平溪 and Shifen 十分. 

Pingxi is rich in history and culture. Did you know that the Pingxi railroad was completed in 1921, while the Japanese were still in Taiwan? The Pingxi railroad was actually used to transport coal, as it used to be a place to mine coal. 

Nowadays, it's more of a tourist attraction, where you can walk around Pingxi Old Street平溪老街, grab yummy dishes to eat, and release sky lanterns. You can also walk into the Taiwan Coal Mine Museum 新平溪煤礦博物館 to learn more about Pingxi's coal history. 

Releasing sky lanterns is a must-do item when you are in Pingxi. There are a ton of shops selling colorful sky lanterns or those only in 1 color (usually red). We bought the one in red. Once you've purchased a lantern,  you get to write all your wishes, dreams, or anything you like really, to fill up the surface of the lantern. Once you're ready, you can take your lantern out onto the street, or onto the railroad and pose with it as you send it up to the sky! It really is beautiful, no doubt about that.  

Pingxi holds an annual lantern festival where a large number of people gather together on the train tracks of Pingxi to release sky lanterns together. 

It really is a spectacular sight to see all the lanterns surrounding the town. In a way, it makes you feel like you're being transported back in time...but then you see all these tourists with their smartphones and it reminds you that you're in 2021.

Don't forget to visit Shifen 十分 before ending your day trip. Shifen consists of the beautiful Shifen Waterfall  十分瀑布, which was completely crowded by tourists when I went there (sometime during Chinese New Year). Though when I finally got a chance to get a closer look at the waterfall, I was completely in awe. The water, which was gently cascading over the rocks, was so green in color. Though there is a short walk (10-15 minutes) to get from Shifen Station over to the waterfall. You will pass by an old street and even train tracks right in the middle of the road. Don't worry, there are signs leading tourists onto the waterfall. As long as you follow it, there's no way you'll get lost. 

I would definitely recommend visiting Pingxi and Shifen, though try to avoid weekends and National Holidays as these are popular sights in northern Taiwan and it tends to get crowded fast. 

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