The Amazing Sky Lanterns and Foot Bridges of Shifen, Taiwan

After stopping at the Yehliu Geopark, our tour bus took us to the PingXi area to see the amazing sky lanterns at the Shifen Old Streets. The Shifen Stop is still part of the KKDay tour package that we got. I suggest that you get it because it’s super convenient and cool. Anyway, I am not exactly sure how far the two spots are because I dozed off immediately after the bus started moving. (However, I later did a quick research and found out that it was a 47-minute trip.) So, yeah, I only woke up when the bus had completely stopped at the parking area and Ian was giving me the elbow.

Before getting off the bus, the tour guide gave us some quick instructions and ordered all of us to be back in the same parking lot after an hour. Ready? Let’s go!

Here is our tour guide giving us last-minute instructions before we were allowed to roam around on our own.

Train Tracks in Shifen

As soon as we got off the bus, it began to rain cats and dogs. So, we had to stay in one of the cafes in the area to stay dry. Fortunately, just a few minutes later, the rain completely stopped and we were able to finally walk around.

Now, one of the most popular spots in Shifen is the train track that passes through the whole town. Previously, the railway was used to transport coal during the Japanese era. Today, the train now transports people to and from the area.

We got a quick selfie before the train arrives. Don’t worry. We weren’t the only ones!

Wooden Bridges of Shifen

Next, we checked out one of the wooden bridges in the area. This one is really long and beautiful and is situated very close to the platform.

Shifen Sky Lanterns

Afterward, it was time to check out the sky lantern shops in the area. Our tour guide took us to the shop that everyone wants to visit. It was the most popular in the area. As a matter of fact, it was one of the very first to sell sky lanterns.

And this nice lady right here is the owner of one of Shifen’s oldest lantern shops.

Lauching Sky Lanterns in Shifen

Finally, we were taken to the deck where we were given a sky lantern, two brushes, and some paint. Finally, it was time to write our ‘wishes’ on our lantern! In this photo, you can see Shifen tourists writing on their sky lanterns.

We wrote down some of our highly ‘attainable’ dreams. Haha!

We’re done. Next, we will launch our sky lantern! Thank you KKDayPH, AirAsia, and FlipFlop Hostel!

That’s not us in the photo. However, that’s how launching a sky lantern looks like.

Here’s a group of Koreans (based on what they’ve written) about to launch their sky lantern.

I told you we weren’t the only ones!

Finally, the tour guide told us that we should all start heading back to our tour bus. How about a quick snack take out? This one tasted so good!

Stay tuned. I will be uploading photos of our other stops in our KKDay Taiwan Tour in the coming days.

ESSENTIALS
Taiwan tour via KKDay here:
Book a flight to Taiwan via AirAsia here: https://goo.gl/SFnhZM

TOURS
Yehliu Geopark Tour HERE
SunMoon Lake Tour HERE
Jiufen (Spirited Away) Day Tour HERE
Shifen (Sky Lantern) Day Tour HERE
Ticket to the Taipei 101 Observatory HERE