Lost Landscapes of the Pingxi Line:

The Pingxi Line is humid and rainy even in summer. We take a Taiwan Railway DR1000 air-conditioned diesel car, intentionally skipping the heavily touristed Shifen train station and going directly to Pingxi.

“The industrial landscape around Pingxi in various eras can be described as blue, black, and multicolored.” Local historian Kuo Tsung-neng points to three paintings in his workshop and explains: Blue refers to the indigo industry which flourished in the era of Qing-Dynasty rule; black refers to the mining industry under Japanese rule; and multicolored refers to the tourist industry—and especially sky lantern culture—of today.

Two centuries of place names and industry

The history of Pingxi, seen by following the twists and turns of the rail line, is astonishing.

As evidence, Kuo Tsung-neng pulls out a book about Heikei Village (Pingxi Village) of Kīrun County (Keelung County) published in 1936 under Japanese rule. It shows that the development of Pingxi can be traced back to the Qing era.

The primeval forest here was once a common hunting ground for the Pingpu and Atayal indigenous peoples. But after Han Chinese moved in to develop the area, they occupied indigenous hunting grounds, causing numerous conflicts between them and the Aborigines.

Our forebears pioneered development of the forest. The leaf sheaths of shell ginger (yuetao) plants were used to make nets and ropes for fishing boats, and the area where they were harvested was known as Yuetao Village. The bark of the phoenix tree (jingtong) was a very resilient material, and the locality where it grew was known as Jingtong. Dyeing fishing nets with the juice of shulang yams made the nets stronger, so the place the yams came from was called Shulang Village. Kuo Tsung-neng says that these early place names and landscapes have been preserved here for 200 years, with some of the early industries even surviving to this day.

Pingxi Old Street is different from the historic main street in heavily touristed Shifen and has a style all its own.

Three paintings on the wall of Kuo Tsung-neng’s workshop tell the story, through colors, of Pingxi’s industrial landscape in different eras.

Sky lanterns

According to Kuo, Pingxi’s sky lantern culture is related to conflicts between indigenous and Han Chinese peoples.

Two centuries ago, sky lanterns were used as signals. It is said that when “bandits” (indigenous peoples) attacked Pingxi, fires would be lit on beacon towers, and people would ring bells and pound drums, embedding bells and drums into Pingxi’s culture. When the danger had passed, sky lanterns were released to tell everyone that they could safely return.

The problem with sky lanterns is that they produce environmental pollution. Makers have adopted preventive measures such as using improved inks and making eco-friendly sky lanterns. Meanwhile, Kuo’s Pingxi Lantern Garden advocates ecotourism—for example, asking hikers to pick up fallen lanterns as they hike to Shifen Waterfall. Recycled lantern paper can be used to produce handmade paper or be reused in sky lanterns.

The gradual changes in shade between light and dark blue in indigo-dyed cloth give the fabric a mellow, smooth feel.

The once-great indigo industry

During the Qing era, large quantities of Assam indigo (Strobilanthes cusia) were grown in Pingxi to produce the raw material for making indigo dye. Paste made from the plant was transported on the Tamsui‡Kavalan Trails via Xizhi to Tamsui, and then shipped to China. 

Indigo became a major export product for Taiwan in the 19th century. Moreover, indigo root is used as an ingredient in the NRICM101 treatment for Covid-19 made using Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The Pingxi Line runs amongst old streets and private residences.

The Wangyou Trail

Kuo Tsung-neng recommends to us the Wangyou Trail, which is rarely mentioned in tourist guidebooks. It starts at Pingjing Bridge in the Baishi Ward of Pingxi District and heads uphill in a series of switchbacks, from which one can see remains of the stone-walled terraced fields where people once cultivated indigo.

The terraced fields were made with stone retaining walls about one meter tall. Kuo says: “At one point there were as many as ten areas of terraced fields.” But the indigo industry eventually declined, in part because of the invention of chemical dyes in Germany and in part because of the rise of the mining industry.

On a Pingxi ecotour, visitors can clean up fallen sky lanterns as they hike. Recycled sky lantern paper can be made into handmade notepaper or reused in other sky lanterns.

History on a handmade trail

Huang Zhaofu, a son-in-law of the major landowner and indigo producer Lin Cuo, returned to Pingxi after retiring. He was saddened that the old indigo trail had become overgrown with vegetation, and a decade or so ago he began to restore the path by hand, creating today’s Wangyou Trail.

It is remarkable how Huang, now aged 84, has used simple tools and levers to move heavy stones and complete several stretches of stone steps. Kuo Tsung-neng says that from the top of the trail one can gaze out over Jingtong and the three peaks of Pingxi, and from there walk down to Jingtong Old Street.

Kuo notes that there is still work to be done on the trail. He hopes that in the future it will be connected to the Tamsui‡Kavalan Trails. This old route, surrounded by nature, could become an important path in telling local stories and positioning this remote area for tourism.

The remains of terraced indigo fields generally have retaining walls about a meter high, though some go as tall as 1.6 meters.

Huang Zhaofu has spent years restoring the Wangyou Trail by hand.

One can find remnants of indigo cultivation along the Wangyou Trail.

The eco-tunnel

We next board another train, going from Pingxi to Mudan. Mudan Station is located on an incline with a gradient of 1 in 62.5. The tracks and platform have a curvature of 120 degrees, enabling passengers in the front cars to wave to those in the rear cars, and making it possible for trains to safely ascend the slope.

The approach to the Old Sandiaoling Tunnel and the Sanguazi Tunnel, which were both abandoned for 37 years, is impressive. The New Taipei City Government revitalized these century-old tunnels and turned them into eco-tunnels for cyclists and pedestrians.

Designer Wu Chung-hsun and an international design team used eco-friendly methods to both preserve the remains of railroad culture, and conserve a bat habitat inside the tunnels. Four bat species, including the endemic Formosan leaf-nosed bat, can easily enter and leave the cracks deliberately left in the tunnel walls by the designers and even find water to drink.

The tunnels, totaling 3.19 kilometers in length, connect Mudan with Sandiaoling. They are cool in summer and warm in winter. Ines Tsai, docent with an outdoor activities company in Sandiaoling, explains that the tunnels pass through three different geological strata. Their walls form a unique stalactite scenery, and contain fossils of animal life. The result is a unique aesthetic formed by time.

At one end of the Sandiaoling Eco-Tunnel there is a pool that reflects the surrounding greenery and sky. This is a real highlight of the itinerary, and visitors can creatively use the reflected images to take astonishing dream-like photos.

The Jingtong terminus of the Pingxi Line has a very nostalgic feel.

Along the Pingxi Line one can still see old structures such as tracks and suspension bridges that linked the mines with the railroad.

The terminus of the winding Pingxi Line is at Jingtong Station.

Train maintenance depot

When we arrive in Sandiaoling, we first visit Liao Aizhu, founder of a culture and history workshop focusing on the community. She tells us that when coal mining was halted in 1984, virtually all of the 2,000-plus people living in six villages in the local mountains moved away, and Sandiaoling quickly fell into decline.

“My uncle often says that I was born at the wrong time,” says Liao, who after retiring from Ruifang Elementary School began in 2011 to help Banqiao Community College to carry out a cultural and historical survey of her hometown. “At the time there was virtually no information about Sandiaoling, either online or in libraries.” When the anthropologist Cheng Chih-yin began exploring the culture and history of San­diaoling, he started with Liao’s family.

As an example of the work being done to reclaim the past, there was once a steam locomotive maintenance depot and refueling station in Sandiaoling, which was one of the symbols of the prosperity of this settlement on the Pingxi Line. All the remains, which were in disrepair, were eventually razed. In order to bring back memories of the old maintenance depot, former employees and residents formed a group to collect information, which can be found on the online historical database built by the Academia Sinica.

The reflecting pool in Sandiaoling Eco-Tunnel gives visitors the opportunity to take astonishing dream-like photos.

Shuoren Elementary School

Liao Aizhu is a graduate of Shuoren Elementary School, which closed when the mines shut and residents left. She says that many people get confused between Sandiaoling and Sandiaojiao, a cape on Taiwan’s Northeast Coast. But as soon as you mention Shuoren Elementary, they know that it was in San­diaoling.

In order to revitalize the former school, in April of 2025 Ines Tsai rented the campus, which had been disused for 40 years, from the New Taipei City Education Department. In the future she plans to turn it into an environmental education venue with cultivation of herbs, edible landscaping, and overnight stays on the second floor of the classroom building.

Ines Tsai (right) introduces the special features of the Sandiaoling Eco-Tunnel to travelers. At present the tours are given by online reservation only.

A station beyond roads

During our visit, trains periodically chug past on the Pingxi Line. Tsai’s husband, Charlie Yang, director of the Sandiaoling Tourism Development Association, points out that Sandiaoling is the only train station in Taiwan that cannot be reached by road. But it handles a lot of traffic. It is at the intersection of the main round-the-island rail network and the Pingxi Line, and every day there are 22 trains arriving from Taipei and 22 more from Yilan. With so many options, trains are a very convenient way of getting around.

Travelers who come here often walk the hiking trail next to Shuoren Elementary School that leads past the “three-tiered waterfalls.” Moreover, in spring one can admire the tung blossoms and fireflies, while in summer the trail is very cool.

Especially interesting for foreign visitors is the fact that because Northeastern Taiwan is covered with subtropical rainforest, one can see all kinds of ferns here. Ines Tsai says that thanks to the latitude where Taiwan is located, during the last ice age it served as a refuge for all kinds of flora and fauna.

Charlie Yang, who 40 years ago was a keen mountain runner, has discovered that Sandiaoling has a rich variety of landscapes, with mountains, rivers, and water­falls. With its large groves of flying spider-­monkey tree ferns and spiny tree ferns, both known as “living fossils,” it also has a primitive Jurassic feel to it.

Yang, who formerly worked in the logistics department of the German national railway, has lived and worked in Barcelona, Krakow, and London. At age 53 he decided to retire, and along with his dog he now lives a happy life surrounded by nature. With so many great cities to choose from, he opted for Sandiaoling.

To avoid disturbing the bats in their habitat, visitors walking through the eco-tunnel are requested to keep their voices down.

The Sandiaoling Eco-Tunnel has Taiwan’s one and only “rebar bicycle trail.” The surface of the path is made from concrete reinforcing bars, giving visitors a sense of connection with the tunnel’s history.

The Shuoren Xiao Shitang eatery prepares lunches featuring local ingredients for groups who have made a reservation in advance.

Sandiaoling is the only train station in Taiwan that cannot be reached by road. But one can easily get there by rail. The round-the-island rail network intersects with the Pingxi Line here.

Mining memories

Having lived in Sandiaoling for a decade, Yang relates: “Mining made this area shine, and then suddenly the power went out.” He says he has visited many places in the world where there used to be mining, but, he concludes: “What do these areas have now? Only memories.”

Yang notes that at the entrance to every mine in Taiwan there are invariably three “facilities.” One is a bathhouse. The second is a temple to the Earth God, where miners could pray before going underground. “I am putting my life in your hands, so when I come out of the pit, I will light another incense stick to thank the Earth God.” The third, already completely gone, is a “mine inspection office.”

Sandiaoling’s place in the history of the migration of Han Chinese people is also interesting. There used to be a saying about this place: “When walking through Sandiaoling, you dare not look back for your wife and children.” This refers to the fact that migrants passing through this area on their way to settle in Yilan faced a perilous and arduous journey, so once they crossed the mountains at ­Sandiaoling, they were completely separated from their old homes and their families.

During the heyday of the mining industry, the saying was changed to: “When you get to San­diaoling, you forget your wife and children.” Why? Because the life of worldly pleasures there made people want to stay.

It’s relaxing and fun to go “lazy river drifting” on the Sandiaoling section of the Keelung River. (courtesy of Ines Tsai)

The Hegu Waterfall has a drop of over 40 meters. The waterway is suitable for the extreme sport of canyoning.

Canyoning, lazy rivers, paddleboarding

After visiting the three-tiered waterfalls and feeling cool splashing water, there are other attractions, including potholes and canyoning. Even a summer visiting group from a US military academy had a great time here, says Yang.

Yang first recommends exploring potholes. The potholes in the Sandiaoling stretch of the Keelung River have been carved out by river water over long periods of time, and the hollowed out stone has become like “eggshells.” Adventurous people can go right into the potholes, and when the sun’s rays spill in, Buddhists will say it is a kind of “Buddha’s light,” while Christians believe it is Jesus’ light. “As for me, what I see is sunlight,” says Yang playfully.

When the Keelung River reaches Sandiaoling, the topography becomes flatter, so it is safe to play in the water. However, it is only in places where the water is dangerous that one can see oddly shaped potholes.

There are no fewer than 30 or 40 waterfalls around Sandiaoling, of which the three most famous are Hegu Waterfall, Motian Waterfall, and Pipa Cave Waterfall. The falls are 40 meters or more high, and the rivers are suitable for canyoning.

There is also “water yoga.” Just pick a day with suitable weather and you can use a standup paddleboard to do water yoga in the river valley. It’s very therapeutic. One can also enjoy dynamic paddle­boarding and lazy river drifting.

These are just some of the many charms to be found along the Pingxi Line. There are not only historic sites that bring back thoughts of the past, but therapeutic natural scenery. You will find not only the tranquility of small towns, but also the hope that comes from regional revitalization.

In addition to its beautiful landscapes, the Pingxi Line is rich in unique cultural and historical sites.