Pingxi Old Street Introduction
Pingxi Old Street has an old-fashioned charm, with ancient houses built alongside the sloping hills and railways. It is also the iconic scene where the main characters in the popular Taiwanese film "You Are the Apple of My Eye" release sky lanterns to make wishes. Most of the nearby businesses are traditional grocery stores, hardware shops, and snack shops, showcasing the simple daily life of the local residents. The classic mountain town railway tour features the unique sound of the train rumbling over the tall railway bridge above the old street, which is a distinct environmental sound of Pingxi Old Street. This century-old coal mining town still retains traditional elongated street houses and shops in the style of the Japanese colonial era, giving the street a subtle Japanese aesthetic. The Eight Immortals Cave at Guanyin Rock and the air raid shelters left from the late Japanese colonial period, along with the Peace Bell, are also great spots for exploration. Pingxi Old Street offers many popular local Taiwanese snacks, so don't forget to buy some to taste, ensuring a feeling of great value. The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month is said to have been invented by Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period, initially used to convey military messages. In the early years, the Pingxi area often saw bandit activity, and sky lanterns served as signals to communicate safety. In the 1990s, the Pingxi area chose sky lanterns as a unique local folk activity, providing a new avenue for tourism in Pingxi, which was experiencing population decline. Today, the New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival has become an important celebration during the Lantern Festival in Taiwan, known as "North Sky Lanterns, South Fireworks," and has frequently appeared in international media, becoming the most representative festival event in New Taipei City.
