Magical Shifen Old Street, Its Sky Lanterns, & Its Waterfall

Visiting Shifen Old Street makes a perfect day trip from Taipei for its captivating blend of tradition and beauty. Experience the train that runs through it very narrow main street, which is lined with shops and cafes, make a wish by releasing a sky lantern, try a variety of Taiwanese foods, shop for souvenirs, and see impressive Shifen waterfall tumbling over a rocky cliff. This post covers Shifen Old Street, its train, its magical wishing lanterns, and its waterfall, as well as how to get here and what to expect.

Shifen Old Street

The town of Shifen was built around the rail line here over a hundred years ago, which is why it is the central feature of town. The trains actually runs right through the center of town. There’s not even a street, just the railroad tracks between two sidewalks lined with shops and cafes.

It was built mainly to transport coal during Japanese colonial rule. After the decline of the coal industry, the railway line was modified to move tourists to and from the city.

The track is often filled with tourists taking selfies or releasing lanterns. But when a train is scheduled to roll through, ushers move everyone off the tracks for safety.

Release A Sky Lantern

If you’ve ever wanted to release a sky lantern, Shifen is the perfect place to do this. In fact, it’s extremely popular here. You write your hopes and wishes on a colorful lantern and someone helps you to send it up in the sky. It’s like sending your wishes up to heaven.

The different colors of the lantern symbolize different wishes. For example, the red lanterns symbolize health and peace, yellow symbolizes wealth, green health, blue career, orange love, pink joy, and more.

You can buy a solid color lantern or a multicolored one for wishes in multiple facets of your life. The multicolored lanterns are (of course), more expensive. Most multicolored lanterns come in 4 colors, but you can also get a lantern in 8 colors.

I purchased a 4 color lantern for 250 NT$, which was about $7.70 in November 2024, so it’s very reasonable. This included the lantern, the use of markers or brushes and paint, guidance lighting and releasing your lantern, and photos and a video on your phone. Note that this is cash only.

Once you choose your lantern, they will hang it in a rack for you, so you can write or draw your wishes to release. Once you complete your lantern, they light it for you and help you to release it on the tracks.

This is so popular in Shifen, you’ll see people standing all along the railroad tracks doing this. In fact, even though it drizzled all day the day I was here, the tracks were still lined with people releasing lanterns. On a sunny day it is probably very crowded. For this reason, it’s best to get here early in the day!

Try Some Taiwanese Food

After you’ve released your lantern, walk along the tracks and through narrow streets to explore the various food shops. I fell in love with the xialongbao, or soup dumplings in Taiwan, and found a shop here that hand made them.

These dumplings get their name as they have soup inside the dumplings, as well as meats and seasonings. You dip them in a mix of soy sauce and vinegar to add the perfect zing before the outstanding of flavors and experiences in your mouth.

You’ll find loads of other Taiwanese food here too though, like taro balls, scallion pancakes, braised pork rice, popcorn chicken, bubble tea, and a variety of sweets.

This is a great place to try a variety of foods. I even found a lady selling fresh starfuit juice, which was really good.

Visit Shifen Waterfall

Shifen waterfall, which is known as the “Niagara of Taiwan”, is very close to Shifen Old Town. Like Niagara Falls, it is also a ledge and curtain waterfall, although Shifen is much smaller and more intimate.

I visited a few days after a typhoon, so the volume of the waterfall volume was pretty impressive. If you visit during a dry spell, it may be a little sparse.

There are several viewpoints of Shifen Waterfall, some directly across from it and some beside it, so make sure to explore them all. The Shifen Waterfall Visitor Center is also beside the waterfall, which has several food stalls, and information about the area.

Just outside the exit of this visitor center you’ll see a lovely little shrine with a gold statue surrounded by hand-tied red ribbons. For a small fee you can hang your own red ribbon on the shrine.

Entry to the Shifen waterfall is free. It is open from 9 AM to 6 PM in summer. It closes at 5 PM the rest of the year.

Getting Between Shifen Old Street & The Waterfall

Shifen Old Street and Shifen Waterfall are not far apart. It’s about a 15-20 minute walk between the two, part of which involves crossing the scenic pedestrian bridge below. All you need to do is follow the crowd.

How To Get To Shifen

Train

There is not a direct train to Shifen, so you will need to make a transfer. From Taipei, take the early train to Ruifang, which takes about 45 minutes. From there, transfer to the Pingxi Train Line for Shifen. This train takes about 30 minutes.

Bus

There’s also a direct bus from Taipei to Shifen. It’s Bus 795. To catch it, take the MRT to Muzha Station on the Brown Line. Exit the station (there is only one exit) and walk towards the street. Cross the street and look for the sign for Bus 795.

The bus runs from 5 AM to 7 PM and takes about an hour and 20 minutes each way. More during rush hour. Here is a link for details on the route from Taipei to Shifen. You can either exit near Shifen Old Street or near the Shifen Visitor Center to walk to the waterfall.

Taxi

If you don’t want to wait for the bus or the train, take a taxi. This is the quickest way to get to Shifen, taking about 40 minutes (longer in rush hour). Uber from Shifen to Taipei will cost around $26 each way.

Want More Of Taiwan?

I’ve wanted to visit Taiwan for a while now and glad I’ve finally made it there. It may be small, but it’s packed with fascinating history, incredible food, a lot of nature to explore, and the nicest people I think I’ve ever met traveling.

I will be writing more on Taiwan soon, but one of its can’t-miss destinations is Jiufen Old Street in northeastern Taiwan. It’s only about an hour or so from Taipei and easy to visit as a day trip to see its historic old streets built on a sloping hill with amazing coastal views. There’s tons of charm here with its brilliant red lanterns, lots of food stalls to try tempting Taiwanese food, and many traditional teahouses overlooking the coast.

If you like hiking, I recommend hiking Teapot Mountain. The views from the summit are spectacular. It’s not far from Jiufen, so perfect to do as part of a trip there, or, it can also be done as a day trip from Taipei.

If you’re looking for a more relaxing escape, visit Jiaoxi Hot Springs Park. You can have a relaxing onsen-style bathing experience in the woods, or just soak you feet in the foot baths.

Safe Travels!

Julie