TIME FOR TAIWAN -Pingxi Coal Mines
All episodes of the brand new 2015 “Time for Taiwan” English travel show were shot on location so that you can fully experience the beauty of Taiwan.
In each episode, our host Michella will introduce fun, interesting and fascinating places in Taiwan with a different cultural perspective and point of view.
Catch us on Formosa News channel 53 every Friday at 11:57 p.m.
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民視Youtube戲劇: 【翁郁容 Michella Jade Weng ミシェラ・オング 粉絲團】
Jingtong to Pingxi - Taiwan rail adventure
Riding the Pingxi Branch Line in Taiwan. This used to transport coal miners before the mines closed for good in the 1970s.
Heels 2 Wheels: Taiwan - JingTong Railroad Station and Pingxi Old Street in New Taipei City (Ep27)
One of Taiwan's many old train stations that have turned into tourist attractions, Jingtong was originally a coal mining town as you might be able to see from the remnants that were left behind depicting the history of the area and the coal mining industry. Today, it is a popular tourist attraction, fronted by the train station (one of Taiwan's four remaining wooden stations) and Jingtong Old Street.
We then ventured up to Pingxi Train Station to explore the aged narrow street with well preserved, historic buildings stretching along each side evoking feelings of nostalgia. Most of the shops here are traditional grocery stores that still retain their original character from the 1950s.
Finally, this is also the place where many send sky lanterns floating up into the sky bearing prayers and wishes, and is also the perfect place for photo-taking and film-making, as evident in the highly popular Taiwanese film, Apple of My Eye.
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台灣煤礦博物館 Taiwan Coal Mine Museum
台北縣平溪鄉。
Coal miners museum
This place has great potential, sadly, not well funded.
Shi fen Taiwan
Craig's Asian Rail Tours - Taiwan's Houtong Coal Mine
Houtong Village in the Pingxi Valley region of New Taipei is known locally as the 'Cat Village' but there's more to Houtong than our feline friends. Whilst some spend time across the river, we take a ride in renovated skips into the remains of the Japanese built Houtong Coal Mine.
Highlights of my Taiwan Narrow Gauge Railway tour is a visit to the spectacular Alishan Forest Railway which climbs from sea level to 2.200m in just 75 kilometers and on special occasions, still operates a Shay geared locomotive!
Check out OzSteam.com for more information as well as departure tour dates.
Jingtong Old Street 菁桐老街
Jingtong Old Street is the heart of the historic mining town of Jingtong, in Pingxi District of New Taipei City. It has a long street with delicious food and souvenirs, sky lanterns,, and many historical buildings nearby. As the last stop on the Pingxi Railway, you should definitely get off the train and check it out.
Background:
Jingtong Train Station was completed in 1929 as the last station on the Pingxi Railway Line.
The surrounding town and Jingtong Old Street were created soon after.
The town relied on local coal mines for its economy, but by the 1980s coal mining in Pingxi District had all but stopped due to safety issues and low worldwide coal prices.
There are a number of historical buildings in the area, including the Coal Life Museum, multiple coal mines, and the station itself, as well as numerous residences.
Currently there is an average of about 1,000 visitors per day to the station (making it the second busiest station on the railway) and the area has become a popular tourist destination.
Hours:
24/7
Price:
Free
How to get there:
By Train: Take the TRA to Ruifang Station, and then switch to the Pingxi Railway line. Get off at Jingtong Station, the last station on the line, and you're there!
By Car/Scooter: Take provincial highway 2 east toward Pinglin, then get off the main highway once you reach Shifen. Then turn right and go west on county road 106 until you reach the Jingtong Station. After that, you can park across the river or somewhere further away where parking is available.
Clever marketing turns Pingxi Branch Line into lifeblood of new international tourist destination
Pingxi in New Taipei CIty has become one of Taiwan''s top 10 tourist sites for independent travelers for the first time. It''s known for the Pingxi lantern festival, but more visitors mean trains serving the town are increasingly crowded. The Pingxi Branch Line has come a long way since 30 years ago when it was facing a shutdown. But thanks to some clever marketing by locals, the area has been reborn as an international tourist destination. Just how did they pull it off? Unlike any other train station in Taiwan, Shifen Station on the Pingxi Branch Line in New Taipei still uses antique signaling systems from the Japanese colonial era, rather than modern electronic train controls. The sight of humans dispatching trains at the station attracts plenty of railroad fans from at home and abroad.Liu Li-weiShifen Station Deputy StationmasterActually a lot of tour groups from Japan come to see our signaling block system and our semaphore signals because they are from the Japanese era. Lots of railroad fans will make a pilgrimage here just to see this system.These two Japanese travelers eagerly survey the scene, having come all the way to Pingxi to launch sky lanterns. Sky lantern sellers in the town offer all kinds of packages, with each color of lantern corresponding to a certain type of wish, whether for love, prosperity, or health. Just as these tourists are enjoying the charm of launching sky lanterns, their ears are greeted by a shrill whistle warning that a train is about to come. There’s about one departure per hour on the Pingxi Branch Line, which in many places forces trains to pass slowly between private houses and buildings close on both sides. Some get a real kick out of being able to stand right next to the passing trains.Risa NoichiJapanese TouristThere’s not many places in Japan where you can look at the train up close. I think it’s wonderful. It’s a totally new experience for me.Filipino TouristIt was actually new for me. I wasn’t this was ganna be on the railway. Actually when the train arrived, I was like “oh!”Though Pingxi District has the smallest population of any district in New Taipei, it has successfully managed to transform itself into an international tourist destination based on its famous sky lanterns and railroad. The whole length of Shifen Old Street bubbles with activity, as tourists write on their lanterns in English, Korean, and many other languages. It’s a stark contrast from 30 years ago, when the Pingxi Branch Line was so infrequently used that authorities were close to doing away with it.The final stop on the Pingxi Line is Jingtong Station, where the mottled wall of an old ore washing plant right next to the platform serves as a reminder of the mines that flourished here during the Japanese colonial period. By the 1980s, though, the coal industry was in terminal decline, and interest in the station dropped off.Li Wen-chuanJingtong Cultural HistorianIn the beginning, the Pingxi Line didn’t see any tourists, who only really went to Shifen Waterfall. Even on the weekends before there was any five-day work week, when the train arrived here on Sunday there would only be about three people onboard. As a cultural historian of Jingtong, Li Wen-chuan encouraged his fellow townspeople at that time to fight to preserve the Pingxi Line, which in the end was saved from demolition. But Li also realized that if the branch line were to maintain its lease on life, passenger loads would have to be increased significantly. So he decided to use the area’s history as a marketing tool.Li Wen-chuanJingtong Cultural HistorianBefore, there used to be a fruit ice shop on the left side of the tracks, and a young railroad worker inspecting the tracks used to peek over a wall at the pretty woman who worked in the shop. Later on, they became a couple!Li’s strategy seems to be working, given the many young couples who come to the area around Jingtong Station to write their wishes on bamboo tubes before hanging them on this wall. It’s become one of the most romantic sights along the Pingxi Line.It’s not just Shifen and Jingtong Stations that are driving tourism on the Pingxi Line. Each station on the line has its own unique qualities that together have made it the most profitable branch line in the whole Taiwan Railways network.Hsu Min-chiehTRA Transportation DepartmentThe Pingxi Line averages 1.59 million passengers per year, and brings in annual revenues of more than NT$40 million. Having been left behind by the decline of the coal industry, theseformerly silent mountain towns have been reborn as international tourist destinations, thanks to an effective marketing approach going back to the area’s history. The Pingxi Branch Line looks set to continue bringing tourists from far and wide to experience the region’s unique blend of nostalgia and slow living.
Riding in coal cart in Ping Xi
Visited the coal mine museum (coalmine.com.tw) at Shih Fen (十分） and part of the highlights was riding in the coal carts, just like the coal mine workers in the past... very shaky and cool :)
2015.5.30 新平溪煤礦博物園區 Taiwan Coal Mine Museum トロッコ Toroko 遊客台車 獨眼小僧
2015.5.30 新北市平溪區 新平溪煤礦博物館 新平溪煤礦博物園區 Taiwan Coal Mine Museum トロッコ Toroko 遊客台車 獨眼小僧
Looking around the bridge at the Houtong coal mine near Taipei, Taiwan
Ping Hsi Branch Railway Line, Taipei, Taiwan
People releasing lanterns at the railway track. Taken December 2013.
(日本語／にほんご) Pingxi Coal Mine
Memory of Black Gold
Day Trip to Ping Xi
Slideshow: A bunch of people from the HOP went on a day trip to Ping Xi. We caught the train from Taipei and spent the day exploring around this old mining town
2015.5.30 新平溪煤礦博物園區 Taiwan Coal Mine Museum トロッコ Toroko 遊客台車 獨眼小僧
2015.5.30 新北市平溪區 新平溪煤礦博物館 新平溪煤礦博物園區 Taiwan Coal Mine Museum トロッコ Toroko 遊客台車 獨眼小僧
Pingxi to Lingjiao - Taiwan rail adventure
Riding the Pingxi Branch Line in Taiwan. This used to transport coal miners before the mines closed for good in the 1970s.
Taiwan Railway Administration : Pingxi Line (Shifen)
台湾鉄路管理局 : 平渓線 (十分)
Movie camera : SONY Cyber-shot DSC-RX100M3
20110509台灣煤礦博物館-獨眼小僧台車搭乘紀實
這輛位於新平溪煤礦的電氣火車頭，可說是台灣最早 的電氣化小火車頭，車頂的集電弓及圓型車窗是最大特色 。其主要動力來源是仰賴220V的電壓，推動兩顆大馬達， 可產生13.5匹的馬力。一次拉動二、三十節的礦車都不成 問題。
最早的一部電氣小火車頭是向日本日立公司購買的， 另外三部存於博物館之火車頭則是仿照原廠車頭複製而成，目前原廠車頭已經報廢，現在僅存二部可用。因為其車頭造型可愛有趣，所以大家就暱稱為「獨眼小僧」。
台陽礦業於1939年從日本進口電氣化車頭，服務於台灣的煤礦場；在1997年新平溪煤礦停止開採後，業者於2001年將傾毀的礦場電車之四台車頭的零件組裝於另二部電車頭，重新修復行駛，現在這二部電車可是台灣僅存的二部礦業電車，具有超過半百歲數的獨眼小僧其珍貴無比，吸引許多鐵道迷不遠千里而來，更有日本的朋友搭機特地前來，台灣的國寶級電車，任誰搭乘都有種時光回溯的感覺，值得您來搭乘體驗。
資料來源:
Pingxi Train Line Trains (Taiwan)
The Pingxi Small Railway line is a thirteen kilometre, narrow-gauge railway, one of three remaining open from the Japanese era. The towns along the Pingxi Line were all once thriving mining towns, all feature “old streets” selling tourist paraphernalia and old Japanese buildings.
[Inokuma TOURIST] Cat Village & Trolly train - Houtong Sta.（のんびり癒やされる猫村とトロッコ列車-平渓線猴硐站）
This time is “Tourism (Sightseeing)”.
1 hour from Taipei. Also famous as a cat village will introduce the area around Houtong Sta.. Originally flourished as a town of coal mines. At that time, the number of cats kept by rats increased, and now they became famous as cat villages. Looking at the scenery while surrounded by a cat in the mountain village seems to cause the daily stress to disappear somewhere. There is a memorial museum using the site of the coal mine on the other side of the station, where you can ride a trolly train that was used by the coal mine. You can have a relaxing time while being shaken by a slow truck train than walking.
By The Inokuma Tourist YouTube movie, I will introduce you to profitable information, recommendation information, impressions, etc. so that it will be useful even for your journey.
So I divides the elements of travel into five categories, healing (accommodation facility), landscape (sightseeing spot), food (restaurant meal), natural (experience), journey (airplain, train and bus)”.
今回は、台北から1時間。猫村としても有名は平渓線猴硐站周辺を紹介します。元々は炭鉱の町として栄えていた猴硐。その当時、ネズミよけに飼っていた猫が増えて、今では猫村として有名になりました。山間の村で猫に囲まれながら景色を眺めると日頃のストレスもどこかに消えていくようです。また猴硐站の反対側には、炭鉱の跡地を利用した記念博物館がありそこでは炭鉱で使っていたトロッコ列車に乗ることができます。歩くより遅いトロッコ列車に揺られながら、のんびりとした時間を過ごすことができます。
猪熊ツーリストでは、旅行の要素を「癒（宿泊施設）・景（観光地）・食（レストラン食事）・然（体験）・旅（乗り物）」の5つに分け、ご覧頂いている皆さんのこれからの旅に少しでも役立つよう、お得情報やお勧め情報、また感想などを紹介します。