Places of Interest

Forget the busy traffic, the 24 hour convenience stores, the noisy fast food restaurants, and the ever-present lines at the gas station. Pingsi Township, just an hour’s drive from Taipei, is a picture of serenity in stark contrast to the big city.

The railway in Pingsi was originally built for coal mining. There are six train stations on this line, which are Tahua, Shifen, Wanggu, Lingjiao, Pingsi, and Jingtong. Along its route are natural landscapes of mountains, rivers, iron bridges, dark tunnels, homes, and traditional roofs, reminding commuters and travelers of the bustling industrial development that flourished in Pingsi for nearly one hundred years, and continues to influence the life styles of local residents. The relics of coal mining and coal factories of the past; the newly-built Jingtong Museum of Coal Mining, and the Coal Mine Museum in Shihfen, are wonderful places for tourists to visit and recall an era of coal mining in Pingsi. The Japanese styled dormitory buildings, built for coal miners in the Baishih Village of Jingtong, reveal an atmosphere of reminiscence and old world charm, and thus, have become popular destinations for the media, providing ‘picture perfect’ scenes for MV, advertisements, and idol dramas.