Taking to the road in Taiwan

On the drive northeast from Taipei early one morning, mountains fill the horizon all the way to the coast like an endless pod of moss-covered whale backs. The road twists higher into the Ruifang hills — the green spine of Taiwan — en route to Jiufen, a former gold-mining enclave whose whimsical teahouses and sweeping views of the East China Sea have long drawn shoals of day-trippers from Taipei.

Reminders of Japan’s 1895 to 1945 colonial rule of Taiwan are everywhere in Jiufen. The hillside teahouses and atmospheric alleys were mostly built by Japanese gold-seekers in the late 19th century. Prior to the pandemic, the majority of visitors here were still Japanese, though they largely came because Jiufen is believed to have inspired the setting of Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece of animation.

Taiwan has been close to