Changelog

Emergency numbers, the local police substation on the Old Street, and the district office, registration office and health clinic five kilometres down the hill in Ruifang — verified against each service's own listing.

A new tool scores the odds, for each of the next seven evenings, that Jiufen's red-lantern view over the Pacific will be clear at dusk — not lost to ridge fog or rain — and picks the evening with the best chance. It reads a weather model (Open-Meteo) for the 5–7pm window; it describes the odds, never promises a clear sky, and sends weather warnings to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration.

A hand-drawn banner of the lantern-lit stone staircase climbing between the old wooden teahouses, with the conical Keelung Mountain and the misty Pacific coast beyond.

The last direct 1062 bus back toward Taipei is 21:35, matching the verified timetable and the lantern-hour tool; the arrival guide had 21:30.

A colored-pencil drawing of the Shuqi Road teahouse staircase — red lanterns stepping down toward the misty Pacific, with Keelung Mountain behind — now sits beside the town name and on its share card.

The gold-mining heritage that Jiufen grew from sits a few minutes east at Jinguashi. The new guide has the museum's hours, ticket tiers and how the Benshan No.5 mine tunnel works, plus how to get there on the same buses.

How Jiufen's two lanes fit together — the level covered market street (Jishan) and the teahouse staircase (Shuqi) — the easiest way round (down the steps, not up), and a step-free route for anyone who can't manage stairs. Honest that the town is not wheelchair- or stroller-friendly.

The 588 m stone-step peak behind the town is the quiet alternative to the Old Street. The tool gives today's first light, sunrise, sunset and dusk, and works back what time to leave to climb Keelung Mountain for the view — with the trailhead, and honest notes on the exposed, unlit, slippery-when-wet steps.

Jiufen's magic is the lanterns at dusk, but it's easy to miss the last bus down the mountain. This shows today's sunset and the dusk window alongside the last buses to Taipei, Ruifang and Banqiao — so you can stay for the glow and still get home.

Three tools to start: when the town is quiet through the day, week and year; how to get here from Taipei and catch the last bus home; and a rain, fog and Road 102 outlook for the ridge.