Culture.tw-Life in the Wonder City of Gold(Jiufen)Decades ago, Jiufen was a magnificent city abounds in gold ores and bathed in glory. Jiufen’s development history is wrought with stories of the gold-mining anecdotes; resulting gold rush hastened the village's development into a town. Yet its luster began to fade with the decline of gold mining activities. During its peak, goldminers were liberal with their easily gained money, and the town was the symbol of luxury and extravagance, replicating the bustle and boom of Shanghai, hence the name, the mini-Shanghai. Yet with the depletion of gold in the mid-1960’s, the population started to shrink, and the gold-mining business also faded into history.
As a result, many wandering artists looking for creative ideas came to Jiufen to explore new artistic possibilities. They frequented the retro-Chinese style teahouses to enjoy a cup of warm tea and reflect upon the old days, and Jiufen, a long-forgotten mountain town, began to move forward in the river of time.
