You'll find this on your right coming from the Rueifang train station.
You'll pass by Jiufen first.
Finally, I made it to the Gold Ecological Park! Yipee! And guess what? The park was still closed! Lol! I got there around 8:50 a.m., and the museums there opens at around 9:30 a.m. Even the Information Office was closed. I was hoping to join an English-guided tour later in the day.
There is a valid reason why I wanted to visit the park so much. A few days before coming to Taiwan, I read a blog post saying that the park was one of the shooting location for Da S and Show Luo's Corner with Love tv series. I loved that series! And for some reason, I really like Show Luo (I've watched 3 of his tv dramas and I kinda like some of his songs). I watched Corner with Love way back and I even memorized Show Luo's friendship song or whatever, the one he sings to Da S to cheer her up.
Apparently, Da S and Show Luo's Japanese inspired house, the one they're both claiming as owners, is the Four-Joined Houses restored to its former glory as a museum. And, Show Luo's grandmother's food stall is located somewhere near the area. So, yay!
All the museums are still closed and it won't open until 9:30 a.m., so, I just loitered in the park, following the sign posts everywhere. Just in front of the Four-Joined House is a stone stairs going down. The sign posts say that it'll take me to the shooting location of a City of Sadness. It was enough to make me go down the steps. I reached a level and saw a marker saying that the house with a gate is Mike Kikoniya's home. I went further down since the gate was closed; I don't think it is open to the public.
"During the Japanese Occupation, Japanese built high-class Japanses-style residential area, there are spaces allotted in both front- and backyard for floral plating. The residence of the last mining director, Mike Kikujirou, has an enormous courtyard and broad view, making it the largest residence in the area."
A little further down and I reached a fenced property, like a school. But there were only a couple of students around, it was a Saturday, and a lot of adults. So I thought the kids were helping out with the park's visitors. I walked towards a small viewing deck with amazing views of the mountains. I talked to a student and asked him what the place was, and he told me that it's a school. I wanted to know what lies further down the stairs and the kids called their teacher. He was very helpful, but his English is limited. Whenever I ask something, the first kid I talked with would translate what I said and the teacher would reply. After a couple minutes of conversation, I said to the kid, you can understand English well, how about talking to me directly? He was too shy to speak in English, perhaps that is why he called the teacher. I was like, kid, this is your chance to practice. Lol!
The school I accidentally entered. You can see the viewing deck on the lower left side of the photo.
I was profusely thankful to the kids and to their teacher, and I bade them goodbye. The kids were all so cute! I think they're in elementary, around the 5th or 6th grade. Or middle school in the 7th grade.
There was still a lot of time before the museums open so I set out on the main road and checked out the places I needed to see, like the Prince's Chalet, among others. I came back to the Information Center at 9:30 am and I was given a pamphlet and a map and I was encouraged to participate in the gold panning and in the tunnel tour which are the only two activities with admission fees. Everything else in the park is for free.
In my next post, I'll write about in detail the Four-Joined Houses I mentioned, as well as the Prince's Chalet and my gold panning experience.
In my next post, I'll write about in detail the Four-Joined Houses I mentioned, as well as the Prince's Chalet and my gold panning experience.
