Danshui, a smaller city north of Taipei.
On our last full day in Taiwan, the 3 of us took a train [red line] to Danshui, the place made famous by the highly-popular Taiwan drama series ‘Meteor Garden‘. It took us about an hour to travel from Xi Men Ding to said place.
“Somewhere in the distance, it is raining. It’s not just the sun rays!” informed Fernie to me.
We thought the place would be cold, colder than Taipei, as many online reviews advised on piling on more clothes for a Danshui trip, but… the place was surprisingly hot! It didn’t feel like winter at all.
Despite the heat, my stress level went several notches down. The place was charmingly quaint and relaxed, unlike the city. People were just sitting around everywhere, chilling with coffee and donuts, read the papers, sharing their food with their friends, feeding the birds… I felt less.. ill. Laughs.
We were a wee bit confused though. I was looking around for Fisherman’s Wharf and Lover’s Bridge, a quiet place where Shan Cai of Meteor Garden escaped to when she broke off with Dao Ming Si, but everywhere around us was bustling with action and energy. *puzzled*
The lure of bustling activity brought us to Danshui market which was crowded with people, especially at the front where delicious food were being sold. I spotted bubble milk tea, tofu, tower ice-cream [wanted to try it!], ironic eggs, fried squid, fried chicken and durian cakes.
One of the streets at Danshui.
Strong winds beckon.
We found out that to get to Fisherman’s Wharf, we have to take a ferry somewhere, it wasn’t at where we were. No locals we asked knew much about it though. Strange! We decided to forgo the trip there and just laze around, taking in the sights and sounds where we were. =(
For people who are interested, you can take a ferry ride to the town of Ba Li and Fisherman’s Wharf from Danshui Ferry Pier, 10 minutes away from the station by foot. Tickets run around NT$50 to Bali, and NT$100 to Fisherman’s Wharf.
If I am given another chance to visit Taiwan, I’ll go to Fisherman’s Wharf for sure!
Very cliche touristy stuff.
Some kinda summary of our trip to Taiwan. My SD card ran out of memory at the last bit.
A still-sick me.
We were walking along the streets when we heard this great voice in the midst of the hustle bustle. I thought it was someone playing a cd really loud but it turned out to be a busker singing live!
This is him.
His voice was so captivating, he managed to garner a sizeable audience. I captured this shot somewhere at the beginning of his performance.
A short clip of ‘Qing Fei De Yi’. I was seated to the side of him and his speakers, unfortunately, so I couldn’t get the best of his voice.
He was good at his live performance. Throughout his performance, many people went up to him and purchased his album [What do you call that? Those that one sends to recording companies for publicity and an opportunity to work with the companies? The word eludes me.]. Fernie and I both bought his album.
His album, HOWEVER, is horrible horrendous not as good as his live singing. *disappointed*
Minutes before the sunset, he finished with his performance and we settled by the sea, waiting.
Very F.r.i.e.n.d.s-like.
Gorgeous view, gorgeous place.
The glowing egg yolk.
Danshui at dusk. I think Fisherman’s Wharf is across the sea! Ahhh…. So near, yet so far.
Other Taiwan posts:
Welcome 2 Taiwan!
What A Load of Bull
Randomly Taiwan
The Biggest Bookstore in Taipei & Meeting Jay Chou
The Theme Park With Nobody
NSFW Nor Home Nor For Anywhere Actually
Fail: Yes, Please Throw The Dust
Fail: Hilarious Toilet Instructions
wow!Danshui will be in our itinerary for sure and to be there during dusk… woohoo ‘out of this world’(although sunset always give me the curtaincomesdown feeling).Is this the final(sunset) installment to Welcome 2 Taiwan!?*sobs* no lah…joking nia haha =P
From me,my wife and our 10yo Jasmine many thanks for sharing!We thoroughly enjoyed reading every word u’ve written:)
no closer pic of that ghuy????
there’s a radio interview wif live singing on his blog: http://singforfree.pixnet.net/blog
Thanks for writing, I really liked reading your most recent post. I think you should post more often, you obviously have natural ability for blogging!
@callaw – thank you! i’m glad your family enjoyed my writings!
how did you find my blog anyway?!
danshui is indeed a wonderful place. kinda touristy in some aspects but that’s what makes it charming i guess. too bad we didn’t spend more time there..
@fernie – what?! u found him online?!?!
@jp –
thank you! do drop by again!
I’m blessed to chance upon it
btw the album that u bought from that busker,I think it’s call ‘Demo’ =P
laughs. blessed is too strong a word, isn’t it?
but thank you!
YAH!! demo. ok, the word simply eluded me. haha..
if you want, i can pass you my itinerary. we didn’t follow it entirely.. and we didn’t plan any one day trip to different places like alishan and hualian, but hopefully the itinerary can be of help to your family
Yaa…yess! please show me so I can work on mine too
thank you
Nice shots of Danshui! I went there but unfortunately, it was very rush for me to take any shots. You captured it very well.
I’d like to invite you to join a contest “Win the World’s First Transparent Phone” @ Travelerfolio, in conjunction with LG. Pls drop by to find out more
you alright there, missy?
@callaw – sure! send you when i get home.
@travelefolio – hello! welcome here! mmmm, ok will drop by soon!
@winslow – yeah, why? ‘cos i went missing-in-action? laughs. was very sickish e past couple of days. need to recover.
You shld have e-mailed barffie for directions to that place before you wentto taiwan as we went to fisherman’s wharf by bus. Anyway nothing much to see there but the view thats all
hello ng! once in a while u delurk. lol.. i didnt hv e time to do anything.. laughs. too busy with work and all that to even do proper research on danshui..
and… by bus? O_o travelled across the lovers bridge?
Yeah the lover’s bridge is just one big bridge, dun even look romantic, that and it was freezing that time we were there did not help.
Anyway that place very touristy and not many shops, maybe a few cafes and thats about it. We took the ferry from there back to the town, which gave us a better view of teh place.
laughs. doesnt sound good. i guess it’s touristy cos of Meteor Garden?