Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Bus 849 to Wulai (NT$15, 40 minutes, every 15 to 20 minutes) runs frequently from the
taxi stand area at Xindian MRT station in New Taipei City.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Pingxi Branch Rail Line
02
Despite Taiwan's heavily urbanised landscape, the north has retained much of its frontier
past where a slower pace of life prevails in makeshift-looking villages. Such are the set-
tlements that dot a wild, wooded gorge served by the Pingxi Branch Rail Line (Píngxī
Zhīxiàn). Along this picturesque valley, you'll find thrilling hikes, high waterfalls, river
pools, a cat town, and the remains of what was once a thriving coal industry. Pingxi town
itself is the site of the annual sky lantern release during the Lantern Festival, an event not
to be missed.
The line branches off the main east-coast trunk at Ruifang, and extends to Jingtong.
The most interesting stops are Houtong, Sandiaoling, Shifen, Pingxi and Jingtong. The
entire ride takes about 45 minutes.
At the
Shifen Scenic Administration Office
( 2495 8409; 8am-6pm)
, near Shifen
station, you can pick up English-lan guage brochures and consult the large maps on the
1st floor.
History
Once a sleepy farming community whose residents grew yams and tea and harvested
camphor, Pingxi was blasted into modern times with the discovery of 'black gold' in
1907: coal that is, not oil. By 1921, the Japanese Taiyang Mining Company had con-
structed the 13km Pingxi branch line from Sandiaoling to Jingtong and there was hardly
a moment's rest for the next 60 years. At the height of operations, 18 mines were open,
employing over 4000 miners. About 80% of the town's residents made their living direc-
tly from the mines.
Conditions were bad, even by the appalling standards of most coal mining. The mine
veins ran deep underground, and the narrow pits forced miners to work lying down, often
naked because of the oppressive heat and humidity. By the 1970s, cheaper foreign coal
was already slowing down operations and by the mid-'80s mining ceased altogether in
Pingxi. In 1992 the branch line was declared a scenic tourist line, thus saving it, and
nicely the local villages too, from decay and closure.
