Jinguashi Gold Ecological Museum
It was more than a year since my last visit to Jinguashi (金瓜石) so I went back again today to have another look around. It was bright and sunny when I left Taipei, but not long after arriving in Jinguashi there was a shower of rain. Luckily it didn't last long and the sun breaking through the clouds made the atmosphere and scenery all the more beautiful.
I spent some time checking out the various parts of the Gold Ecological Museum (黃金博物園區). The museum seeks to preserve the history of the mining industry in the area. It also contains some beautifully restored Japanese wooden houses. The highlight being the Crown Prince Chalet.
The wooden police station is very impressive.
As well as two museums which explain the history and environment of Jinguashi there is also the Benshan Fifth Tunnel. Here the public can go in one of the old mine tunnels. Unfortunately it was closed by the time I got to this part.
I also visited the Kinkaseki POW Memorial. The Memorial is dedicated to the 1,000 Allied soldiers who were prisoners of war of the Japanese during WWII. You can read more about this part of Taiwanese history at www.powtaiwan.org.
There is a lot of interesting history to learn about in Jinguashi. The scenery with the spectacular mountains and remnants of the old mines by the sea really is amazing.
*more photos in the Jinguashi set at flickr.
Trip to Jinguashi
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Posted: May 9th, 2008 under Taipei County, Taiwan, Travel.
Comments
Comment from David Reid
Time 10 May 2008 at 6:05 pm
Joe, I went there by a combination of bus and train. You can get there by bus from Taipei or Keelung or take a train to Ruifang and then a bus from there. Jinguashi is only a few kilometres from Jiufen and the buses to Jiufen continue on to Jinguashi.
Comment from yachi
Time 11 May 2008 at 3:24 am
Yes, it is not so far from Taipei.
Hi David,
I started to put ‘Taiwan Picture of the day’ on my blog from this February. I would like to thank you for taking lots of photos for us. It is helpful for overseas students actually. ^^
Comment from cfimages
Time 11 May 2008 at 9:58 am
Nice report. Is the photo of the tea room from the Crown Prince Chalet, and if so, are you allowed to go inside now? When I was last there, about 3 years ago, you could only go into the grounds.
Comment from David Reid
Time 11 May 2008 at 10:04 am
cfimages, the photo of the tea room was taken in the “Living Art Experience Workshop” which is the restored Japanese style wooden house near the entrance. You can go in this house and visit the different rooms. You can’t go inside the Crown Prince Chalet.
Comment from Kenneth
Time 11 May 2008 at 11:59 pm
I tried to find the place on Google Maps… Do you have a link for that?
Kenneth
Comment from nostalgiphile
Time 12 May 2008 at 2:40 am
British POWs in Taiwan: it’s interesting that you and Patrick Cowsill wrote about this topic at more or less the same time, David.
Another intriguing place I need to visit one weekend.
Comment from David Reid
Time 12 May 2008 at 8:45 am
Kenneth, here is the link to Jinguashi at Google Maps. It even has a photo I took when I visited there last year.
nostalgiphile, it was an interesting coincidence. I definitely recommend a visit to Jinguashi. A lot of people go to Jiufen, but never venture the extra couple of kilometres.
Comment from Andrea
Time 12 May 2008 at 10:45 am
Hello David,
Nice to find your blog. I will pay a visit to Jingguashi soon, I didn’t know about this place and I am always looking for new interesting spots in Taiwan.
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Time 19 May 2008 at 11:34 pm
[...] from Taiwan Guide visited the museum on several trips, taking these pictures and these. He was my inspiration to go, so we left. Unfortunately, we were delayed quite a lot by [...]
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Time 19 May 2008 at 11:43 pm
[...] from Taiwan Guide visited the museum on several trips, taking these pictures and these. He was my inspiration to go, so we left. Unfortunately, we were delayed quite a lot by [...]
Comment from Cheng-Hong Hwang
Time 15 September 2008 at 7:33 pm
Dear David: All these beautiful pictures called back my childhood memory. Things changed yet fore ever unchanged in mind. The POW camp still stood there every morning when we watched out from our dinning room window just across the creek more than half a century ago. Thank you very dearly for the memory
Comment from Patrick Cowsill
Time 20 November 2008 at 2:37 am
Cheng-Hong Hwang, where are you located these days? It would be interesting to have a chat or two with someone with your kind of perspective.
Patrick Cowsill
Comment from Joe Gray
Time 10 May 2008 at 4:51 pm
David, this looks like an interesting place to visit with a lot of history. I see from your last post that this is around Jiu-Fen. I wonder how you get around to all these different places – bus? car? Motorcycle? Thanks for the article.