Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Xinbeitou. Show all posts

Wandering into Beitou Hot Spring Museum, Taiwan

On the way to the thermal valley, we saw a queue in front of a house. Turned out it is the entrance to Beitou Hot Spring Museum.

This museum shows how the bathhouse looks like during the Japanese colonial era.

Inside the bathhouse, there is an old cinema too...showing Chinese movies played long long time ago. XD

Beitou Hot Spring Pool. So many people soaked themselves inside the hot spring pool in the olden days.

After soaking themselves in the hotspring pool, the olden days people lounge around in the terrace and have some chit chat...

...while enjoying the view. Hmm, okay, those buildings did not exist on those days.

XInbeitou View From Hot Spring Museum Terrace

The museum is quite fun and informative and most importantly, no admission charged! Woot! =)

Note: You need to take off your shoes/ sandals and change into the bathhouse sandals. You can put your shoes/sandals in the prepared lockers and make sure not to lose the locker keys while wandering inside the museum. =)

What to see in Xinbeitou? - Part 2

If you keep walking along the road, you will see a unique building like this.

Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch Taiwan

This building is Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch. And this is a Green Library. Why is this the case?

The sloping roof preserves humidity and moisture build-up and drains water to rainwater recycling troughs. Then, the recycled water is used to water plants and flush toilets in the facility. This arrangement result in reducing water and resource wastage. Another thing, the rooftop has photovoltaic cells which are in place to capture solar energy and in turn, generating 16 kilowatts of electricity. Awesome, right?

The hot spring water is flowing just next to the library.

Hot Spring Water Beitou Public Library Taiwan

If you want to have a taste of how the hot spring feels like for free, you can do what the locals do. Just find a place to sit and soak your feet inside the stream. The feeling must be very comfortable in winter days.

Oh one thing to note, do not go for hot spring activity a day after typhoon. Simply because the water will look like...chocolate milk. Took this picture exactly one day after Typhoon Soulik passed. Well, some people still went for it though. Haha.

At the end of the road, you will see a lot of people taking a cross following the direction to Beitou Thermal Valley.

The smell of the rotten eggs (i.e. sulfur) is on the air...

And finally, we have reached the Beitou Thermal Valley Sulfur Spring. If you put a raw egg inside, it will boil. And you can eat it. XD

It can get pretty hot and steamy here. If you can, do visit the spring in the colder days. =)

What to see in Xinbeitou? - Part 1

Once we checked our position in the map, we walked to the nearest spot, Beitou Park (北投公園/ Běi tóu gōngyuán). It's actually located just behind the map. XD

Taiwan has a lot of parks and I suppose this is a good thing for its residents. When the weather is good, they can simply pass the time by hanging around in the park, either playing with kids, walking the dogs or chit-chatting with the neighbours.

The park has..something that looks like a fountain. But it didn't work at that time.

Just across the park lies the Ketagalan Culture Center. Inside, you will know further about the various indigenous tribes of Taiwan including the northern Taiwan Ketagalan Tribe. I think the tribe is extinct now. But if you are curious to know more, you can pop by here. The center is closed on Mondays.

The next landmark to visit is called Plum Garden. This was once the summer getaway home for famed Chinese calligrapher, Yu You-ren. The house was built around 1930s and it has a spacious courtyard with a lot of trees, including plum. The house has Japanese-style wooden structure. Nowadays, it has become one of tourist attractions in Beitou area.

There are a lot of trees but the yellow hibiscus caught my eyes. So pretty. =)

Taiwan Travel: Where to go for a hot spring in Taipei?

To be honest, whenever people mention hot spring, my mind go straight to Japan and not its neighbouring country, Taiwan. Oh boy, how wrong I was. Taiwan also has its own hot spring (溫泉/ Wēnquán). And you don't have to go so far to reach the place, since it's still located within the MRT system. Simply take the MRT to Beitou Station and board this special train to reach Xinbeitou Station.

The train to Xinbeitou is quite different from the normal MRT. It has the hot spring theme.

There are some interactive program going on that monitor I think. If not, the kids won't be so curious looking at it.

The train's design is so cute and colorful. =)

If you see the statue of kids and sulfur rock, you are at the right MRT station.

You don't have to worry about getting lost because there's only one way out from the MRT station. Go straight and cross the road.

And you will see a very useful map. Just make sure you follow the main road and you will pass through a lot of key places to go in Xinbeitou.

And our adventure begin now! =)