A Mountain Town Reborn：The Golden Romance of Jiufen
Why has Jiufen, formerly a prosperous gold-mining town that was later nearly abandoned, continued to attract so many tourists over recent decades? Is it the crowds of people brushing shoulders as they pass beneath the red lanterns that line its stepped streets? Or is it the poignant mood captured in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s film A City of Sadness? Or perhaps the sense of tranquility that comes from gazing at fishing-boat lights shimmering on the sea at night? The beauty of Jiufen is ever-changing, and if you ask a hundred people, you’ll hear a hundred answers.
