'Close, Cheap, Delicious'... The Country Captured by Korean Tourists Enchanted by the Night View

This Year, 410,000 Koreans Visited Taiwan
With More Guests, Korean Added to Menu and Product Descriptions

Amid the trend of traveling to Taiwan centered around the MZ generation, Taiwan's state broadcaster CTS conducted an in-depth report on the reasons why Korean tourists visiting Jiufen have increased.

According to a recent CTS report, Jiufen was once "the most favorite place for Japanese people," but in recent years, the number of Korean tourists has been on the rise.

Amid the trend of traveling to Taiwan centered around the MZ generation, Taiwan's national broadcaster conducted an in-depth report on the reasons for the increase in Korean tourists visiting Jiufen.
[Photo source=Pixabay]

CTS noted that shop owners in Jiufen are fluent not only in Japanese but also in Korean, and that Korean is heard more often than Japanese in the shopping streets.

In fact, according to statistics from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, about 410,000 Koreans visited Taiwan up to August this year, ranking third. Although the number of Japanese visitors was higher at about 490,000, the monthly number of visitors did not exceed 100,000. This shows a significant difference compared to before COVID-19, when the monthly visitors easily exceeded 100,000. According to the Taiwan Minxi Newspaper, this is about 50% of the pre-COVID level. The Minxi Newspaper also reported that Korea and Southeast Asian countries have recovered over 80%.

A shop owner in Jiufen said, "Since half a year ago, Korean customers have increased, so we added Korean language notations to menus and product descriptions," adding, "They mostly come at night."

CTS cited various foods, close distance, relatively affordable prices, and a familiar atmosphere as reasons why Korean tourists frequently visit Taiwan and Jiufen.

Jiufen, located one hour from downtown Taiwan, was a prosperous city in the 1920s and 1930s due to gold mining. However, after the mine was closed, it fell into a quiet rural village. It gained fame as the filming location of the 1989 movie A City of Sadness and has since revived its vitality through the tourism industry.

In South Korea, it became famous as the filming location for the dramas On Air and Grandpa Over Flowers. Later, it gained even more fame as the setting for the Japanese animation Spirited Away. However, Hayao Miyazaki officially denied this.
[Photo by Pixabay]

In Korea, Jiufen became famous as the filming location of the dramas On Air and Grandpas Over Flowers. Later, it became even more famous as the setting of the Japanese animation Spirited Away. However, Hayao Miyazaki officially denied this.

Jiufen's popularity comes from its night view illuminated by Chinese-style red lanterns. This originates from the shopping streets and red-light district used by gold mine managers and miners during the Japanese colonial period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.