Taiwan 🇹🇼 Day 4: Xindian Old Street, Wulai Atayal Aboriginal Village & Hotsprings, Bitan Scenic Area, Our Times Film Location, Gongguan Night Market, & Shi Da Night Market

The highlight for the day is Wulai Atayal Aboriginal Village in Wulai District. Wulai, like Beitou is home to natural hotsprings and the closest aboriginal village to Taipei.

Xindian Old Street

From Dingxi, we went to the end of the green line, Xindian Station NTD24. Just outside the station is Xindian tourist information center and across the street on one side is Xindian Old Street and Bitan Scenic Area on the other.

There isn't really anything special in Xindian Old Street - maybe except this hugeee wintermelon outside one of the pawnshops. The street is mostly lined with pawnshops and restaurants. No food stalls like other old streets.

Lunch at Family Mart NTD79. I couldn't finish my lunch buuut it was so good!!! AHHH BRING THIS TO PHILIPPINES PLIZ!

We went back to Xindian Station after to board Bus 849 to Wulai Atayal NTD15.

Wulai is the last stop of the bus so you definitely won't get lost going there!

Across the first bridge is Wulai Old Street. We thought it would be hard to find food here or the food would be expensive as it is an "aboriginal village". Boy were we wrong! The village as well as the top part of Wulai is lined with restaurants.

 Wild boar sausage NTD35

🔆 What to eat: Aboriginal dishes such as wild mountain boar, bamboo tube rice, wild mountain yams, pickled pork, Reeve's muntjac and bird's nest fern

Muaji aka sticky rice NTD30 - I could eat this for merienda anytime!

🔆 What to buy: Millet wine & traditional woven cloth (I wanted to buy one badly but as usual, stuff like this is expensive)

They even have a 711 here! Chatime at NTD30

This is the kind of piggyback ride I want 😂

To the left is the Wulai Log Cart and to the right is the hotsprings river bank

NTD50 each way to the waterfalls but you can also hike it if you want. There are a lot of hiking trails in Wulai!

There a lot of shops on top too! In some shops, you can buy Wulai handmade goods like the woven cloths and aboriginal dolls

❗️Beware: Not all handmade looking stuff they sell are handmade in Wulai. You have to know your goods because my friend was nearly talked into buying something made in Bali as Wulai-made if I haven't intervened.

While we were browsing stuff on one of the shops, we received an alert (similar to that of NDRRMC). Of course, we couldn't understand what it was alerting us about. Luckily, one of the tourists browsing the shop with us were from Hong Kong and could speak English. Apparently they have this one day a year in Taiwan where everybody was not allowed to go out of their house/shop for an hour because the police will be making a nationwide drill.

Atop the falls is a resort which you can visit for NTD220 return gondola ride.

Before leaving Wulai, we soaked in their free foot hotsprings just outside their tourist information center. We were supposed to soak on the hotsprings river but there was construction going on so the river is closed. Beitou has a free foot hotsprings too!

Back at Xindian Station, we went to Bitan Scenic Area. It's a riverfront area where there are a lot of chill activities. You can ride boats or rent bicycles or just stroll along the riverside while looking at the calm surroundings. There are also a few hiking trails and temples near the area.

After Bitan, we visited one of the film locations of 我的少女时代 Our Times near Xindian District Office Station NTD16. The place was a cafe called 小歇泡沫紅茶 which is just around the block from the main station. Unfortunately, when we went, it was already closed for good and in renovation for another business 😭


Karen and I were such a big fan of the movie. I was so excited to the point where I coordinated my outfit for this visit to look like Zhenxin (you will see it in my Day 5 post). We were so disappointed... but on our 6th day, we were able to pass by another film location. Buuut out of all the film locations in Taipei, this cafe was the most similar to the movie 😔

Xiao long bao NTD15 & Cranberry Juice NTD40

We made our way to Gongguan Station NTD20 after that to eat at Gongguan Night Market which is pretty much just a block of building but surrounding areas have a lot of  restaurants and shoe stores. It's also just outside National Taiwan University - the top university in Taiwan.

To be honest, one of the reasons why I went to Taiwan was to check out the living expenses and NTU enrolment because I was thinking about where to study after my bachelor's degree - either Taiwan or China. At first, I was so set on NTU but eventually got swayed over to Tsinghua University in China. But who knows where fate will take me lol.

師大39文Eat市集 NTD120+50, 阿諾可麗餅 Arnor Crepes NTD120, 50Tea NTD45

One station away from Gongguan is Tai Power Station NTD16 which houses the chic shopping district of Shi Da Night Market.

Near Shi Da is NTU (this uni is THAT wide). It's definitely the place to shop for millenials. It's mostly food and fashion stores targeted for university students and also owned by upstart entrepreneurs. AND I LOVED EVERYTHING!!! If had money, I would buy a lot of clothes, bags and shoes here!

📍Pink - Places we've been to

For the love of old buildings and culture: Escolta x Binondo

That thing called "looking for Tadhana"

My BFF Aira aka fake cousin (I pretended to be her cousin when I stayed with her at Dumaguete) is spending her semestral break at Luzon. Besides going to the same high school, loving the same books, sharing the same star signs, we both love history! 

Specifically she said, "BRING ME TO OLD BUILDINGS AND BRING ME TO A GOOD LEGIT CHINESE PANSIT PLACE. MY BUDGET IS 500". So here are my attempts of fulfilling her request:

From my university, we rode a jeepney to Plaza Miranda in Quiapo (Php6) where you can also see Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or more commonly known as Quiapo church. 

Plaza Lacson (former Plaza Goiti)

I lead Aira and Sam (Aira's cousin) to Plaza Lacson by way of FR Hidalgo St. and Palanca St. I pretty much know Quiapo and Escolta (one of my go to places definitely!) like the back of my hand by now since I've been constantly going to Escolta for about 2-3 years now to support local community artists.

From Plaza Lacson, you can see to your left the Neoclassical architecture of Don Roman Santos Building which housed the first savings bank in the country, Monte de Piedad Savings Bank.

Cornering Don Roman Santos is the entrance to Calle de la Escolta, one of the oldest streets in Manila. Escolta served as Manila's primary commercial district until its decline in the 1960s. The street used to have the city's tallest buildings, fashion district, tranvia (electric tram line), as well as the Manila Stock Exchange!

First United Building

Escolta will greet you with two adjacent buildings designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro, renowned painter Juan Luna's son. Regina building (left) formerly known as Roxas Building is a combination of neoclassicism and beux-arts while First United Building (right) formerly known as Perez-Samanillo Building is a combined project by Juan F. Nakpil is in Art Deco style. 

Fan fact (haha): 

First United Building was the tallest building in Manila in 1928.

On the first floor of First United Building, you will see what used to be 98B COLLABoratory's weekend market - an initiative to generate renewed interest in the street. The bazaar - Saturday x Future Market - used to run only every first saturday of the month. I'm so glad that they have decided to make it permanent under a new name: Hub: Make Lab though I have yet to visit (they're closed on Mondays. We visited on a Monday 😭)

Sy Lian Teng museum

On the second floor is the First United Community Museum. The museum shows the history of Escolta through one of the most prominent businessmen during its "Manila's Queen of Streets" glory, Sy Lian Teng. (He looks like my guakong 😂)

Natividad Building

On the next street, is Burke Building (the one with the Ministop) which had the first elevator in Manila.  After Burke is beaux-arts architecture designed Natividad Building by architect Fernando de la Cantera Blondeau.

Escolta Ice Cream & Snacks

The famous ice cream shop in the vicinity. I find it quite pricy and I also didn't like the tase - P72 for a pint! We got a pistachio-flavored pint.

Calvo Building

Calvo Building is of beaux-arts architecture and designed by Fernando Ocampo. It was the home of radio station DZBB-AM and the birthplace of Kapuso Network GMA. It has a museum (P20 for students, P50 for regular) of any old thing Manila + has one of those classic-style Otis elevators!

Capitol Theater

Across is national artist Juan Nakpil's art deco theater, Capitol.



On Yuchengco St., to your left you will find this UFO-shaped building which houses BPI and to your right is the homey hopia store, Polland.

They indeed serve their hopia hot. Comparing to other hopias, theirs is chewy and softer. I thought it was because it was served hot but I ate my leftover hours later and it still has the same texture.

Largest Chinatown Arch in the world

On Quintin Paredes St., you will see Jones Bridge which connects Binondo with Manila's center, Ermita. To celebrate the 444th founding anniversary of Manila and the 40th diplomatic ties between Philippines and China, this peace arch was inaugurated in 2015.

El Hogar Filipino Building

A wedding present of Antonio Melian y Pavia, 3rd Count of Peracamps to Margarita Zobel de Ayala in 1914 and one of Manila's earliest skyscraper designed by Ramon Irureta-Goyena and Francisco Perez-Muñoz remains standing at the corner of Juan Luna St. and Muelle dela Industria. One of the two remaining American-era structures in the area, this neoclassical and renaissance styled building is unused today.

Infront of El Hogar is the Juan Luna building.

In San Vicente St. corner Quintin Paredes St. is art nouveau Uy Chaco Building built in the 1920s.

Filipino-Chinese Frienship Arch infront of Uy Chaco Building

Another old building in Dasmariñas St. corner Quintin Paredes St.

Binondo Church

A long walk from Dasmariñas St. to Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz is Binondo Church or Minor Basilica of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz which was originally founded to serve Chinese converts to Christianity. Masses are helf in Filipino, Mandarin, Hokkien and English.

I'll be reserving the food review for another post. For this trip, we ate at Polland, New Po Heng, Holland, Wai Ying, Shanghai Fried siopao, Diao Eng Chay and Sincerity.

Ongpin St.

Last stop for the day was baroque Sta. Cruz Church and Carriedo Fountain as National Museum was closed that day.

We spent less than P500 for the day.

//Will probably update the pictures next time when I finally take a photo of Quiapo church and Plaza Miranda