Info on episode 25: Jiufen and Jinguashi

Time for Taiwan 2015-2016, Episode 25: Jiufen and Jinguashi

2015-2016年「台灣好好玩」第二十五集： 九份金瓜石
歐洲探險家500-600年前到台灣的時候，看到原住民帶著金飾，把台灣稱作「東方的金銀島」。今天我們來到新北市的金瓜石。
我是米雪拉，在美國矽谷長大，回來台灣當了十年的新聞工作者，喜歡嘗試新東西，玩新玩具，用新的方式體驗旅行。台灣好好玩，到底有多好玩，讓我和你分享。
大家可以搭台灣好行巴士黃金福隆線到金瓜石，起點在瑞芳火車站，沿途會停靠很多東北角很棒的景點，票要到車上買。
金瓜石名字的由來就是這裏曾經有一顆石頭長得像金瓜，後來被發現裡面有金子，就被拿來殺了。這裏曾經是一座金礦，現在是黃金博物館。
這塊金磚重達220.3公斤，今天它值大約800萬美金。
當年歐洲探險家為什麼沒有留在這裡淘金呢？因為他們找不到金子在哪裏。
接近20世紀，這裏在鋪設鐵路的時候，鐵路工人吃完飯在河邊洗便當盒時發現水裡游金沙，他們往上游找，然後發現了金礦。
淘金熱吸引了很多很多人來到金瓜石，不過1980年代，金礦被挖光了，礦坑也關門了。
這裏是九份，就在金瓜石旁邊，這裏曾經也很多人來淘金，後來還成為很多電影的拍攝場景。我覺得這裏很浪漫，因為這些燈籠，這裏的風景，這裏的霧，不停的雨，看出去的海。。。喔，這裏還有很多好吃的小吃。
我在舊金山灣區長大，那裡也有很有名的淘金歷史，不過沒有像這樣的金礦博物館，充滿了互動式的展示，很令人印象深刻，也很有教育價值。這是我第二次來，我還是覺得很好玩。大家要來喔！"
Michella's notes 米雪拉的筆記：
真的是一個很有趣的地方，從展示到坑道到周圍，黃金博物館真的很值得去。附近還有以前主管住的日式宿舍，好像還有一些爬山步道。
金瓜石和九份離臺北市區很近很近，不過景色很不一樣，真的很推薦。如果要到九份，建議一早在商店開門前就去，不然會被人山人海的觀光客擠爆，不舒服。
Gold Museum 黃金博物館 http://superspace.moc.gov.tw/en/local_culture_page.asp?rid=3

Transcript 文字稿:

When European explorers came to Taiwan about 500-600 years ago and saw indigenous people here wearing gold jewelry, they called this the “Treasure Island of the East.” Today we’re in Jinguashi, New Taipei City.

I'm Michella. I grew up in the Silicon Valley and was a journalist in Taiwan for ten years. I like to try new things, play with new toys, and visit old places in a new way. I’m going to show you around the Taiwan that I know. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.

To get to Jinguashi, you can take the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Golden Fulong line, which starts in Ruifang and stops at several fantastic places near the northeastern coast of Taiwan. Tickets are sold on the bus.

“Jinguashi” means “pumpkin rock,” and there was a pumpkin shaped rock up there once upon a time until gold in it was found and the pumpkin was pretty literally carved up and taken apart. This is was an old gold mine, now the Gold Museum.

This solid chunk of gold is about 220.3 kg and it’s worth 8 million US dollars today.

So why didn’t European explorers stay and dig for gold so many hundreds of years ago? Because no one could find where it was buried.

Then sometime closer to the 20th century when railroad construction brought workers into the area, the workers would eat their lunch and wash their lunch boxes in the river. And they found specks of gold. Searching upstream, they found that there was gold in these mountains.

The gold rush brought a lot of people to this region of the island, but eventually the mines were exhausted and closed in the 1980’s.

This is Jiufen, the town next to Jinguashi. It was also a mining town, and later the inspiration of many, many movies. It’s a really romantic kind of place because of the lanterns, the view, the fog, the sea, the rain… There are lots of tasty snacks here, too.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, also known for the gold rush at one point, but there isn’t a museum as interactive, as memorable and as educational as this one. This is my second here and I still find it interesting. You should come!

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The gold museum is really an interesting place to visit, from the exhibits to the mine shafts and the surroundings - you can even visit the old Japanese dormitories where some of the workers lived. I think there are some hiking trails nearby as well.

Jinguashi and Jiufen are not far from Taipei, but a very nice change of scenery. I highly recommend it. If you go to Jiufen, I recommend going early in the morning, before the shops open, because any later, the places will be absolutely packed with tourists.

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Links 連結：

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Golden Fulong Line 台灣好行黃金福隆線 http://www.gold-fulong.com.tw/en/default.aspx