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Updated Thursday, August 7, 2008 0:00 am TWN, By Derick van Vuren, Special to The China Post

Ghosts and Gold - Hsinchu to Jioufen

There is an uncanny similarity between ghosts and gold. For starters, both are difficult to acquire, being untouchable elements that many people talk about, but few get the opportunity to witness. Because gold and ghosts are so elusive, many people try to grasp it, to touch it, to experience it, only to relinquish to the fact that it evades most of us. We decided to do a little bit of ghost and gold searching ourselves.

As far as ghost hunting and gold digging goes, the road from Hsinchu to Jioufen has both. In search of the always-elusive supernatural and super valuable, we decided to pack our bags and steer around the island’s northernmost tip.

The road to Jioufen (九份) is ever as exciting and rich as the destination itself, if not more so. Therefore, we decided upon a two-day trip. This would give us enough time to take in all the side shows and leave us well rested at our destination.

As for the first leg of the trip, the road from Hsinchu (新竹) to Danshui (淡水), has not much to offer, except construction. But leaving Danshui, on provincial highway no. 2, we were ready to hunt for haunts and dig for gold. This is a smooth road, wide and probably one of the best in Taiwan for traveling by bike.

The blue ocean is just meters away on the one side, while the green mountains of Yangmingshan (陽明山) tower on the other side. Nothing beats the smell of salty seawater and fresh mountain air as you are straddling your bike, zooming down the road. Along the way are numerous places to stop, to hike, to surf and to swim. But, we were on a ghost and gold mission, so those temptations had to wait.

Just past the northernmost point at Fuguei Cape (富貴角), our first stop was the mysterious ruins at San-Chi (三芝) [GPS coordinates: N 25°15'37.84", E121°28'40.11"]. According to the myth, this place was constructed as a weekend getaway for the affluent residents of Taipei. While still under construction, the highway passing this place got widened, and the dragon at the front gate got damaged. Since the dragon is the symbol of protection, many strange and fatal incidents occurred on the site after this was damaged.

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	In Jioufen, the narrow streets are always filled with a crowded mass of people. (By Derick van Vuren, Special to The China Post) Enlarge Photo


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