Mudan Old Street 牡丹老街

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Mudan Old Street is a small old street in Mudan Neighborhood of Shuangxi District. The old street is almost totally a residential area. Now it is a quiet town with very little tourists, but with lots of nature sights, mountain roads, camp sites, and hiking trails nearby.

Background:
Mudan is named after the tree peonie flower. 
During the Qing Dynasty, Mudan was an important stop along the Danlan Old Trail (淡蘭古道 which means the road between Tamsui and Yilan), which was split into three paths, and Mudan was on the Northern Path. The Northern Path winded from Mengjia Old Street to Nuannuan, then to Ruifang, and onto Jiufen and Houtong. From Houtong, the road then went to Mudan and then Shuangxi, then went along the coast to Yilan. During this time, most of the things traded were tea leaves and agricultural goods. 
Historically Mudan and the areas nearby have been rural, and in the 1900s relied on coal, gold, and mercury mining to drive the economy. The mining industry died down in the late 1900s and is now defunct. 
Currently the neighborhood of Mudan has a population of only 1953 people, and is dropping every year. 
The Mudan Train Station was recently upgraded to a simple station, with a TRA employee stationed there to sell tickets. There are about 200 people coming and leaving the station every day. Only the shuttle train stops at the station. 
Now it is a quiet town with very little tourists, but with lots of nature sights, mountain roads, and hiking trails nearby.

Hours:
About 10 AM to 6 PM.

Price:
Free

How to get there:
By Train: Take the TRA to Mudan Station. Only the shuttle train stops at the station. 
By Car/Scooter: From Taipei, on provincial highway 5 until you reach Keelung, then take provincial highway 2B to Shuangxi. You then need to take county raod 102 to Mudan. The old street is only one lane, so you can get stuck if driving a car.

Map:
​Please see below:

Our Journey:

I have been to Mudan Old Street quite a few times and even went camping there (there are tons of camp sites just up the road). It it definitely not a touristy old street, so don't get your hopes up. 

I first came to Mudan on the way a trip to Sandiaoling, but I decided I needed to come back here. 

This is about as touristy as it gets at the entrance to the old street. There are some paintings of Taiwan Blue Magpie and some shops across the bridge and near this intersection.

Some sights nearby include Sandiao Sports Park (三貂運動公園), Mudan TRA Station (牡丹車站), Songzailing (松仔嶺), Sandiao Water Park (三貂親水公園), and Diaoshan Old Trail (貂山古道). 

View of the river upstream from Mudan. 

The old street extends to the old street, and there are one or two coffee shops on this street.

View of Mudan Train Station.

Map of Mudan village. 

A small park near the train station.

Basketball court near the train station.

An art shop and coffee shop near the train station.

Another view of the coffee shop, one of the few shops in town.

View looking down the Mudan River. 

Painted wall at the start of the other side of the river.

Old alleyway.

Traffic can get bad here. If you drive a car, do not stop here or else you will block traffic in both directions. 

The only convenience store in town, very traditional Taiwanese style. I bought some instant noodles and Supao here. 

Another view further down the street.

View of one of the houses. 

Old style wooden sliding doors.

Old style windows.

More old style wooden doors.

Looking further down the street.

An uncompleted house.

Qingyun Temple 慶雲宮

Qingyun Temple is the center of religious activity in Mudan and by far the largest temple. 

From what I could find, the temple is only about 60 years old. There are a few smaller temples nearby. 

Sandiao Water Park (三貂親水公園)

If the old street doesn't interest you, you can go swimming at Sandiao Water Park. There are also many camp grounds nearby. The water is nice and clear and there are a few small man made waterfalls.

Stairs down to the river.

Swing next to the river. 

There are also quote a few trails and mountains to climb nearby.

Map of the waterpark.

This is where we camped, called "十三層營地" meaning "Thirteen levels campground, named after the former copper processing plant in Jinguashi. 

The camp sites here all were under pomelo trees, so there were lots of free pomelos to eat.

View of the Waterpark from a nearby bridge.

Another view of a mountain nearby which you can drive up to, where you can find the Buyanting Pavilion. 

The Buyanting Pavilion has an awesome view of Keelung and New Taipei. 

If you keep going over the mountain, you will reach Jinguashi and Jiufen!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more of our blogs on Northern Taiwan to come. 

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