kevincrumbs

One of the most popular ones is to the former mining town of Jiufen (九份), which is easily reachable by train from Taipei Station to Rueifang Station (瑞芳) and then a quick ten or fifteen minute bus ride to Jiufen itself. The town is quite scenic and is popular as it is a bit reminiscent of the olden days of Taiwan, although like any popular tourist area, there are tons of stores selling kitschy crap. There's a nice summary of the area over at Wikitravel and I know that the Rough Guide to Taiwan also has a nice write up about Jiufen.