Sophie,
Angela, Stacey, Tsai and I had an excellent day in Jou Fen two weeks
ago. Jou Fen means 'nine knives' and was thus called as there were nine
families who lived there. So the story goes: if anyone went to town (a
long trek as the roads were almost non-existent) they would get nine of
everything, one for each family.
Later, when Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule, there was gold mining here and it became a bit of a boom town.
After the Mainland Chinese took over (1949-ish) Jou Fen became like a ghost town. It is beautifully situated on the coast and rent was cheap, so after a time artists started to move here. Later, the movie 'City of Sadness' was filmed here and Jou Fen became 'in' again!
Jou Fen is very touristy but lots of fun! We go about once a year to our favorite tea house for a day of eating, brewing and drinking green tea and playing games.
BTW: I *may* have a fact or two wrong here--if you think so please let me know in the comments section so I can correct it. Thanks!
First, we had to choose what to eat.
Our menu was written on leather. Cool, eh?
Jou Fen is built on the side of a mountain with stairs to go up and down. Phew, hard work getting to that tea house!
And stairs going down.
To get to our favorite tea house you have to walk through a narrow tunnel. Not so great if you are claustrophobic.
Sophie made it!
Inside the tea house you are greeted by all these pretty lanterns and charming staff.
Later, when Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule, there was gold mining here and it became a bit of a boom town.
After the Mainland Chinese took over (1949-ish) Jou Fen became like a ghost town. It is beautifully situated on the coast and rent was cheap, so after a time artists started to move here. Later, the movie 'City of Sadness' was filmed here and Jou Fen became 'in' again!
Jou Fen is very touristy but lots of fun! We go about once a year to our favorite tea house for a day of eating, brewing and drinking green tea and playing games.
BTW: I *may* have a fact or two wrong here--if you think so please let me know in the comments section so I can correct it. Thanks!
First, we had to choose what to eat.
Our menu was written on leather. Cool, eh?
Jou Fen is built on the side of a mountain with stairs to go up and down. Phew, hard work getting to that tea house!
And stairs going down.
To get to our favorite tea house you have to walk through a narrow tunnel. Not so great if you are claustrophobic.
Sophie made it!
Inside the tea house you are greeted by all these pretty lanterns and charming staff.
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