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| Shifen Old Street (十分老街) |
Shifen Old Street is actually a collection of lanes and alleys which surround the Shifen railway station area. It's located in the Pingxi area and was originally built for the transportation of coal during the Japanese era.
Shifen Old Street runs along the railway track, with shops on both side of the trace. Almost all the shops sell either sky lanterns or lantern related souvenirs such as key chains, miniature sky lanterns, postcards and decorations.
One of the must do items is to release a sky lantern, and that was what we did. On the way to Shifen, our guide told us that there was a NT$20 discount off if we wanted to release a sky lantern which was an optional activity. The prices generally range from NT$150-200, depending on the number of colors chosen. So thanks to Klook we did manage to save a bit.
[Klook Review: Jiufen Shuttle Bus from Ximen (Jiufen, Shifen Old Street, and Shifen Waterfall)]
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| The color chart |
Red for good fortune
Pink for romance
Peach-Red for decisions and opportunities
Orange for money
Yellow for success
White for health
Green for growth
Blue for hope
Purple for idealism
When we arrived at Shifen Old Street, it was very crowded: there were visitors walking freely on both sides of the railway track and others busily releasing brightly colored lanterns into the sky. We were quickly ushered into one of the shops offering the sky lanterns and were brought to the back of the shop where our colorful sky lanterns were line up on boards waiting for us. Using the calligraphy brushed and black ink, we scribbled our wishes and when we were done, the vendor unfurled the flattened lantern and brought us out to the railroad track for photo taking.
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| At every corner / shop, you can see sky lanterns being released and people writing down their wishes |
The vendor was an old hand at it taking the photos of us and the four sides of our lanterns. Once the photos were taken, the vendor lighted up the lantern and asked us to hold it above our head for one last photo. And just like a hot air balloon, the flame heated up the air inside the lantern, causing it to gradually rise into the sky.
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| Releasing sky lanterns |
It was definitely an unique experience writing the wishes and releasing the sky lantern. That said, if you are not much into crowds and the hype, you might be a little under/overwhelmed as there can be so many people that it seems chaotic. For eveything else, there is always food to make your day better. There were countless of stores selling yummy looking food.
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| Shifen Old Street (十分老街) street food |
<< Shifen Waterfall (十分瀑布)
[Klook Review: Jiufen Shuttle Bus from Ximen (Jiufen, Shifen Old Street, and Shifen Waterfall)]
[Klook Review: Jiufen Shuttle Bus from Ximen (Jiufen, Shifen Old Street, and Shifen Waterfall)]
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