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Jiufen Village

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Pingxi and Jiufen Day Trip from Taipei with Sky Lantern Experience

Xinyi District, Taiwan
  • 8 hours (approx.)
  • Pickup offered
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English
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Overview

Travel from Taipei to Jinguashi, Jiufen, and Pingxi. These charming, old-world destinations are great for romantic outings, nostalgic walks, and dining in traditional restaurants and teahouses. Take in amazing views of the ocean and surrounding landscapes while getting taught about the area's history. Wander the narrow cobbled streets of Jiufen, a town famous for having been an inspiration for the Miyazaki classic 'Spirited Away.' Make sky lanterns by yourself and release them to send your wishes to the heaven in Pingxi, known for its annual Sky Lantern Festival. Hotel pickup and drop-off included.
  • Day trip from Taipei to Jinguashi, Jiufen, and Pingxi
  • Includes round-trip hotel transport by luxury vehicle
  • Make your very own sky lanterns to send your wishes to the heavens, an experience not to be missed
  • Explore a former gold mine with a local guide
  • Explore the town of Jiufen, walk through narrow streets, and enjoy the amazing coastal views

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Ideal for visitors on a time budget, this tour combines visits to Jinguashi, Pingxi, and Jiufen—a short trip from Taipei—in just one day.

What's Included

  • Professional guide
  • Lesson in sky lantern creation (1 lantern per 2 people)
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

09:00 AM

Pickup details

The exact pick-up time and tour guide’s contact number will be advised two days before tour departure.

What To Expect

Start your day trip to Jiufen and Pingxi with hotel pickup in Taipei, and settle into luxurious comfort aboard your vehicle. Driving along Taiwan’s northern coast, your guide makes a scenic stop for postcard views of the two-toned Yin-Yang Sea. Visit the Golden Waterfall, where the water's yellowish hue is formed from copper and iron deposits from old mines. Take in amazing views of the ocean and surrounding landscapes while getting taught about the area’s history from a local man who worked in Jinguashi’s mining industry for over 60 years.   

On arrival in historical Jiufen, stroll the narrow, cobbled streets and learn about the town's inspiration for films such as the Oscar-winning animation 'Spirited Away.' Bring your own lunch or purchase a meal at a local eatery, followed by a relaxing stop at a teahouse (own expense).

In Pingxi District, follow your guide on foot down Shifen Old Street, lined with shops selling miniature sky lanterns. Whether or not you arrive for the Sky Lantern Festival, when up to 200,000 luminous lanterns are released into the sky, you’ll have the opportunity to make your own rice paper lantern and write wishes on it (one lantern per 4 participants), light a candle at its base and watch it take flight.

After the decline of the mining industry, the area these three towns are located in was revived as a popular tourist attraction and a center of history and culture. Just a stone’s throw away from bustling Taipei, this tour will allow you to bask in the old-town atmosphere, take in beautiful scenery, and learn a thing or two about the area’s cultural heritage and you’ll transfer to your vehicle for the return drive to your hotel.

Jinguashi 13 Ruins

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Yin Yang Sea

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Shifen Old Street

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Gold Waterfall

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Chiufen (Jiufen Old Street)

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Visiting Jiufen's old street includes walking up and down several flights of stairs. Please take this into consideration before booking this tour.
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Infant seats available
  • No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
  • A minimum of 2 passengers is required to operate. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements.
  • Exact pick-up time and tour guide’s contact number will advised two days before tour departure
  • We will do our best to accommodate individual travelers by placing them on tours with other guests. In the event an individual traveler cannot be so accommodated, guests will be offered an alternative tour of equal value or full refund.
  • There will be a 100% charge for no-shows that is defined as arriving 15 minutes late.
  • In the event of inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances, MyTaiwanTour reserves the right to alter tour itinerary.
  • Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
  • This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

about cancellations.

Traveler Photos

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Traveler Tips

This trip is a must if you are planning on traveling to Taiwan.
Had a wonderful trip and my only complaint is watch out for pricing.
The lantern experience and seeing some area outside of the area were a must!

Reviews

5.0
232 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Showing 1-10 of 232 reviews
Definitely worthwhile day trip
Sherry_S, Mar 2023
This was a fun and interesting day trip. We were so lucky to have three guides, Gordon, Gary and Manuel. They shared their knowledge and good company. Nice way to see how the Taiwan people live now and understand how people lived here decades ago.
Very happy experience
CHRISTINE_S, Mar 2023
Will definitely recommend to friends for this tour. Very convenient pick up and drop off from hotel. Guide and driver are warm and friendly and give good recomendation information.
Awesome Tour
Djovan_R, Feb 2023
Awesome experience! Our tour guide, Kylie Hung, was the BEST!!! Thank you for sharing some historical facts of Taiwan🫶
Kylie best tour guide,...
Andrew_c, Feb 2023
Kylie best tour guide, great experience even though weather not nice. Just imagine how it would be on a nice day!!
Great experience, nice...
Sooky_C, Jan 2023
Great experience, nice tour guide. Thkxx Carol hope you enjoying YOU HOMETOWN TAINAN. Greatings Sooky
Great Sky Lantern experience!
Anh_D, Nov 2022
Had a great tour to Shifen making my own sky lantern for the first time and release it. My tour guide Jett Lai is kind, friendly and share with me many interesting stories. I learned a lot about Taiwan and Taiwanese people after talking to him. I was the only person taking the tour for that day and the tour operator could have just canceled it but they decided to honor it. This is a tour operator who actually cares about people experience rather than just maximize profit. I'd definitely do many more tours with them again when I come back to Taiwan.
Fantastic 3 Le'Gap
maxmee, Feb 2020
Excellent tour of these key places without the hassel. Fun n informative guide that made you feel at home. Make your own Sky lantern a must.
Great day
Anne_L, Feb 2020
My guides were were great . Went out of their way to assist me and make sure i had a wonderful day. Guides spoke excellent English and transport was very comfortable
This is a must go tour!
Abraham_H, Jan 2020
The tour was amazing! Got to see a lot of beautiful and scenic views, especially the hillside/water view from Amei teahouse. We had a great time building our own sky lantern and walking down Shifen Old Street. Our tour host Michael was very knowledgeable and reliable, all the tips he gave us and the food he recommended were great. Would highly recommend this tour!
Unforgettable
Melinda S, Nov 2019
One of my favorite days of my life. Having the time to get out of Taipei for a day was so fun!!! The lantern experience and seeing some area outside of the area were a must!
Fun Day
Robert_K, Nov 2019
The temple had great views (Kong Mountain), food court was tasty, making and flying lantern a treat!!
Fantastic experience!
BL_Y, Nov 2019
Pinxi and Jiufen is a must for Taiwan trip. We also have one of the very best English speaking tour guide , Claire , very helpful and ofcause knowledgeable. Will definitely recommend this guide to anyone that is visiting Taipei. Thumbs up!
Excellent service and pleasant time achieved
NguyenTrinh_P, Nov 2019
Thanks to our tour guide Vincent and the lovely driver, we did have a good time at the tour. Great photos, great tips and especially unique lantern making from scratch experience. Thanks a lot
Lovely trip
Safari51090544623, Nov 2019
Had a wonderful trip and my only complaint is watch out for pricing. Told a price online then found credit card overcharged,customer services are useless so would not recommend this company to anyone!
Pretty good.
Anh V, Oct 2019
Steven our guide was very knowledgeable. He even had an umbrella for when it rained. Excellent tour with plenty of places to go and plenty to see.
Relaxed, fun day.
David_G, Sep 2019
Amy, our guide, was fun and relaxed and knew heaps. The tour was also relaxed, full of interesting and beautiful views. Totally worth the price.
Day Trip
Linda_M, Sep 2019
Really enjoyable day out. Nicholas, our guide was extremely courteous, knowledgeable and spoke really good English. Would thoroughly recommend.
A great day out
Adam_R, Aug 2019
Our guide (Phoebe) was not just a tour guide - she was a window into the history of Taiwan and the background behind the attractions we visited. Plenty of time to do what we wanted. A fantastic experience and definitely to be recommended.
Lovely day, despite the heat!
sashamcl14, Aug 2019
I was a solo traveler and got put with a family who did not speak much English, but my guide Amy was really lovely to carry on a conversation with. She was also extremely informative and shared some interesting historical and more modern info. Juifen was very nice, but extremely busy and I found it was too hot to enjoy the shopping/food. I opted for an ice cream and then spent most of the free time somewhere air conditioned. Overall, a great trip and tour! Just might be better to book during a cooler season.
Perfect day trip
David B, Jul 2019
Guide was informative and willing to do whatever he needed to in order to make the trip great. The sights were a perfect thing to check out for the day.
Excellent!
Michelle_G, May 2019
Highly recommend this trip. Well organized, thoroughly covered the sites, and much easier than doing independently. Our tour guide Phoebe was very knowledgeable and energetic. A highlight was the Pingxi lantern making which I initially thought was silly and touristy but really glad I had the experience. Definitely suggest doing this tour.
Despite the crowd
Romulo_S, Mar 2019
Joy, our guide was very helpful and knowledgeable. She made the trip quite memorable with her insights on the history of the sights. Our trip happened to be a long weekend in the country making walking around a bit of a struggle.
Great day out despite the rain
Jayne_G, Feb 2019
Even the rain could not dampen the spirits of team Esther. Just a fantastic guide. Informative, jolly and really helpful information about my whole trip.
A most enjoyable day outing.
Graeme_B, Jan 2019
We didn’t know what to expect other than a desire to see the lanterns flying high. We were picked up from the hotel and discovered we were doing the tour in a very comfortable Lexus car with our tour guide Nicholas. A terrific chap who was thoroughly pleasant to be with. A very caring and knowledgeable guide. Booking was done through the internet without any problems. We did this trip off season and consequently did not have the tourist crowds to deal with. I can imagine in peak season it would take a lot of patience and time to see the same. but worth it! After this trip we booked another through Viator and enjoyed that as well. Well done Viator - thank you for some special moments. And thank you too Nicholas for your company and making it special for us.
Amazing Tour and Best Tour Guide
Stella O, Dec 2018
Our family recently took the guided tour of Pingxi and Jiufen during our trip to Taiwan. This trip is a must if you are planning on traveling to Taiwan. Our tour guide, Esther was the best! She was knowledgeable about the history and culture of the local area and made our trip very enjoyable. Her command of English was excellent! She also helped us with sampling the local street food in Jiufen and was extremely kind and amiable. The sky lantern making and launching was an amazing experience. I highly recommend Esther from My Taiwan Tours to guide you on this memorable experience!
It was pretty rainy in Jiufen and we...
Yevgeniy K, Nov 2018
It was pretty rainy in Jiufen and we had to walk in puddles, despite having umbrellas we got soaking wet. I hoped that organizers would have different activities depending on weather conditions. Sky Lantern making/launching in Pingxi was fun though - I certainly recommend this part.
Nicely planned out!
Selene_G, Oct 2018
This was a really good tour! The van is well maintained and comfortable! We were given plenty of time to explore a long stretch of a street market on our own! The latern release was very nice! I highly recommend this tour to everyone visiting Taipei!
This was amazing experience. My family...
Michael B, Sep 2018
This was amazing experience. My family had a wonderful time with the sky lantern and traveling around and seeing some sights. Well organized and well timed.
Great guide
MARIEFLOR_B, Aug 2018
Kelly was a great guide -- providing the background and history of the places we visited. She is very funny and friendly and ensured we were all comfortable during the tour. The highlight was of course the sky lantern experience. It is something that shouldn't be missed when in Taiwan
If you are ever near Taipei, you...
Tamara_M, Jul 2018
If you are ever near Taipei, you must book this tour...so much fun! Building your own sky lantern, writing messages on each side before launching into the air was the highlight of the day. Actually the entire day was a learning experience about the history of the area. Its a MUST experience!
...

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Product code: 6279TPEPINGXI

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