Half Day Tour
JIUFEN GOLD MUSEUM HALF DAY TOUR
Nov. 20, 2019 13:00-21:10 | Itinerary |
13:00 Departure from Taipei Tech 14:00-15:50 Gold Museum Area (1) Gold Museum, (2) Four Joined Japanese-Style Residence, (3) Jinguashi Crown Prince Chalet, (4) Metal Art Building- Benshan No.5 Tunnel, (5) Gold Refining Building 16:00-18:00 Jiufen (6) Jiufen old street- Shuqi Rd- Shengping Theater. 18:10-19:10 Dinner 20:10-21:10 Arrival back in Taipei |
Gold Museum: It has rich historical, cultural and natural resources. The design of the museum logo features a hazy freehand ink-and-wash Teapot Mountain to symbolize that it is a great place to get close-to-nature and engage in leisure activities. The rhythmic "G" written in calligraphy has two meanings: one is "Gold", Gold Museum; and the second is "Green", representing the museum's integration of cultural resources and development into a museum with life that will go on.
- Four Joined Japanese-Style Residence. This is one of the few remaining Japanese buildings of this type in Taiwan. The existing space has been turned into a display and living art experience space. The building is an important witness to Jinguashih’s past. The building has a delicate wooden structure and layered wall boards adapted to suit the rainy conditions. The beauty of the Japanese architecture has made it a popular location for filming.
- Jinguashi Crown Prince Chalet. It is believed that it was built in 1922 and is one of the finest surviving wooden Japanese buildings in Taiwan. It was built by Takana Mining Co. to host the Crown Prince Hirohito (later Emperor Showa) during a planned visit to inspect the mining industry in Jinguashi area. The Crown Prince Chalet is a typical high-class Japanese building with Western design features, having the kind of mixed Japanese and western architectural style that was popular at that time.
Metal Art Building- Benshan No.5 Tunnel. The special tour for visitors involves walking into the tunnel to discover the mystery of gold mining. The Gold Museum specially renovated the old Benshan No.5 Tunnel to allow visitors to have a real experience of a mining tunnel and to understand the environment in which miners worked. Part of the tunnel is open to the public as tunnel experience area and plastic models are used to show how the miners worked in years gone by.
- Gold Refining Building. - This building is the renovated former offices of Taiwan Metal Mining Corp. The first floor has a gold discovery journey, a model of the Benshan tunnels, a display about the mining transport system in Jinguashi, mining equipment from the past. The second floor is gold-themed and has an introduction of the special features and application of gold, gold craftworks and Gold brick that visitors can touch. In addition, visitors also can have a gold panning experience on the third floor.
Jiufen - Founded during the Qing Dynasty, this small town was a relatively isolated village until the discovery of gold during the Japanese occupation in 1893, quickly developing the town due to a gold rush. Many buildings in the town remain unchanged to this day, reflecting the Japanese influence on both architecture and culture on the island. After the war, gold mining activities declined, and the town today exists mainly as a tourist destination remembering and celebrating Taiwanese history and culture. Also, there are many traditional Taiwanese snacks in Jiufen old street like Honey Braised Dishes, Taro Balls, Red Yeast Meatballs, Ah Lan Hakka Glutinous Rice Cake, Rice Cake, Red Sweet Potato Hand Make Egg Roll, Super Black Pork Sausage, Jiufen Old Needle Shop, Honeycomb Cakes. You can have a nice experience there.
- Shengping Theater. The earliest predecessor of the Shengping Theater was a two-story wooden theater building that had only limited space and was built next to Dongshan Hotel (No.106 Jishan Street) in 1914. After years of heavy use as the local population increased, and lacking necessary repairs, the wooden building finally collapsed in strong winds. It was rebuilt again in 1962. When it was rebuilt, great care was taken when selecting building materials and equipment; the roof had a high-quality wooden frame covered in asphalt felt which was then tarred. The original wooden second floor was replaced by a hollow brick wall that gave a sound-proofing and thermal insulating effect.