Facing the Pacific Ocean and the Taiwan Strait to the northeast, Jinshan (金山) is a district of New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. With an area of around 50 km2 (19 mi2), Jinshan is a small recreational heaven surrounded on three sides by mountains.
Please watch the following video of the Jinshan District, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Not only does Jinshan offer unspoiled country scenery, but it is home to hot springs, sweet potatoes, traditional Taiwanese food, and lotus flowers. Moreover, with its close proximity to some other famous tourist destinations along the northeastern coast, such as Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園), Juming Museum (朱銘美術館), Fugui Cape Lighthouse (富貴角燈塔), etc., the area always attracts lots of visitors, in particular on weekends and holidays.
Jinshan’s hot springs
Jinshan is known for its hot springs with their natural purity and thermal properties. Boasting four types of springs — undersea hot springs (海底溫泉), sulfur springs (硫磺泉), carbonated springs (碳酸泉), and ferrous springs (鐵泉) — Jinshan makes Taiwan one of only 11 countries that has ocean hot springs in the world. As a result, hot spring hotels have sprung up in the district one after another in recent years.
The temperature of the hot springs is somewhere between 45°C and 86°C (113°C and 187°F). The pure and clean hot spring water not only can moisturize the skin and enhance blood circulation, but it is also good for drinking and bathing. What’s even better, visitors can take in the expansive ocean views while soaking in soothing hot spring water.
Jinshan’s lotus flowers
The Jinshan District has become famous for its beautiful lotus flowers in recent years. There is a 4-hectare peony lotus pond at Qingshui Wetland (清水濕地), and there are some small lotus ponds at different locations in the district. When the lotus blossoms from June to September, this is a great spot to appreciate the elegant lotus flowers, as well as healthy snacks made from popped lotus seeds.
The lotus flowers here have rapidly gained in popularity after a young white Siberian crane accidentally migrated to the Wetland in 2014. As it was the first time that the endangered species landed in this area, the lotus pond immediately drew a lot of attention.
Jinshan’s famous sweet potatoes
It is not without good reason this region has earned itself a nationwide reputation as the best place to grow particularly fine sweet potatoes. Situated at the river mouth with a lot of wind, the fertile volcanic sandy soil in the area is well-drained and rich in organic substances.
Its red heart sweet potatoes are especially sweet and chewy. If roasted, they are crispy and caramelized on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. When boiled with ginger, sweet potato ginger soup is a wonderful dessert, especially during cold weather.
With a history of about 300 years, Jinshan Old Street (金山老街), also known as Jinbaoli Old Street (金包里老街), is a 300-meter-long narrow street.
In addition to the famous baked sweet potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, ice-roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potato biscuits, and a wide variety of other traditional Taiwanese snacks, cakes and delicacies are also available here.
What is particularly unique about this old street is its restaurants’ intriguing self-service culture. There are no menus in some restaurants. Visitors pick out the dishes they like along the two sides of the narrow street and carry them to any of the townhouses that have empty tables in the dining area, and then dine on them inside. Once visitors are done eating, a waiter will come over and ask them to pay.
Among the most popular dishes at Jinshan Old Street are Jinshan duck meat (金山鴨肉), stir-fried noodles (炒油麵), duck oil braised bamboo (鴨油控筍), deep-fried Makassar fish fillets (紅糟魚), deep-fried shrimp rolls (炸蝦仁捲), braised bamboo shoots (滷桂竹筍), etc. In particular, plum juice (酸梅汁) is something that is not to be missed when dining here.
