【Pingxi Sky Lantern Experience & Old Street Walk】(平溪天燈體驗、老街漫步半日遊 )
Departure Time: Depart at 07:30~08:00 AM every day!
Tour duration: 5 hours
Meeting Point: Hotel Hall
Tour Stops: Pingxi Sky Lantern Experience(平溪天燈體驗)→Shifen Old Street(十分老街)→Shifen Railway Station(十分車站)→Shifen Waterfall(十分瀑布)
▲Pingxi Sky Lantern Experience(平溪天燈體驗)
Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is one of the three most popular and well - known celebration event during the Lantern Festival. Since 1999, the Taipei County Government has devoted substantial resources to promote this festival, in a bid to promote it to become an international and multi - ethnic culture exchange activity. Through this festival, presenting the Sky Lantern tradition and the natural beauty of Pingxi to the public and prayers to the heavenly God and wishing for prosperity and peace for the nation and its citizens.
Pingxi District was an important coal mining town in the early 20th century leading Pingxi into prosperity. Nowadays, even though it has gradually gotten declined,「pit, old street, ancient residence」there still remained and featured as well. It has the largest train station of Pingxi railway line, and it is developed as a must-see attraction in Taiwan. Strolling along the street, travelers may savor the nostalgic ambience and reminiscent atmosphere in Pingxi Old Street. Pingxi District is world renowned for their sky lanterns. The annual celebration of the Lantern Festival releases the flying lanterns to attract many tourists every February. The other custom compared to Sky Lantern Festival is the Yanshui Beehive Firecrackers Festival in Tainan, all increasingly recognized globally as a key international folklore event.
▲Shifen Railway Station(十分車站)
The Pingxi Branch Rail Line extends 12.9 kilometers through Keelung River Valley from Sandiaoling to Jingtong stations. The line was built in 1918 to transport coal; and in 1992 it was repurposed as a tourism route. Shifen is one of the stops along the line. The station is located in a scenic area that greets visitors with beautiful waterfalls and streams. Shifenliao is home to a broad river terrace and is also traversed by the Pingxi Line. Homes hug closely to the tracks, adding to a nostalgic ambiance that has made the area a popular site for filming ads. Jing'an Suspension Bridge, a 128-meter-long span connecting the villages of Shifen and Nanshan, is one of only a few well-preserved pedestrian suspension bridges in Taiwan. The romantic beauty of the landscape has made this area a popular visitor attraction.
▲Shifen Waterfall(十分瀑布)
Situated in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, Shifen, located between Dahua and Shifen train station, is well known for the Shifen Waterfall, a 40 metre tall waterfall that creates a rainbow as it splashes into the lake, widely regarded as the most scenic in all of Taiwan. The steam above waterfall is reflected through sun light forming a shimmering landscape. The train station located down the river from the waterfall area, originally built for transporting coal, was built right alongside the Shifen Old Streets, and today stands as a reminder of Taiwan's history and culture. It also forms a horseshoe and has been nicknamed the Little Niagara owing to its spectacular shape.
