Shuqi Road Viewpoint

The famous stepped lane with Pacific coast views, lanterns, and teahouses on both sides

Shuqi Road (竎崎路) is the stone-stepped lane that has become Jiufen's most iconic image: lanterns on both sides, teahouses with red and wooden façades, and at the bottom a view of the Pacific coast. The steps connect the bus stop at Jiufen Old Road with the heart of the old street. They are always busy but never impassable; the best photographs are taken in the golden hour before dusk, when the light comes from the west and the lanterns are just beginning to illuminate.

At the top of the stairs — the Jiufen tea district — several teahouses have open terraces facing the sea. The view from any of these, looking south across the curved coastline toward Keelung, is one of the better views in northern Taiwan. On clear evenings the coast is visible for 30 kilometres; in mist, which is common, the effect is closer to something from a Chinese ink painting.

things to do sight
A story
The stone steps of Shuqi Road appear in countless photographs of Jiufen — steep, narrow, and descending through lantern-hung teahouses toward the glimpsed sea. The steps were originally built to give miners and residents access to the hillside town before roads arrived. They remain the primary pedestrian route connecting the bus stop at the top of Jiufen with the old street below.