Dutiful Son Mountain

The Pingxi Branch Line winds through some very nice hiking areas. Despite fog and a bit of rain, we attempted Dutiful Son Mountain, which is not hugely high but contains a lot of stone steps.

Those are the kind of stone steps I'm talking about.

Jenna looks at the foggy scenery.

Joseph on a rock trail. Note the ropes being held by metal poles. They are fortunately strong.

The path to the summit.

And the foggy view from the summit.

Pingxi

We spent last Sunday in Pingxi, a town in Taipei County famous for three things:

1) It is on the Pingxi Branch Line, a picturesque old railway line.
2) It is located in what was once the center of coal mining in Northern Taiwan. There's even a Coal Mining Museum in town.
3) Every year, during the Lantern Festival, people light and release hundreds of sky lanterns. I've never been to Pingxi on the Lantern Festival, but I saw a couple of sky lanterns get launched. Maybe it's what people do on weekends when tourists come to town.

Last year we traveled to Jingtong, a village within Pingxi Township. Pingxi proper is just a few kilometers distant.