Many tourists go to Taipei will visit the popular Jiufeng where a famous movie was filmed a long time ago. Tourists like to visit Jiufeng for unique scenery of concentration of small houses built on the hill with small alleys and stairs connecting each other. And it's a place for the gold-digging dream back in the glorious gold mining period. Not that many people know that Jinguashi was a even bigger mining site that left abandoned. Jinguashi literally means "golden gourd rock" in Chinese.  Local people named the area according to the pumpkin shape of the gold mines. Taiwanese call pumpkin "Jingua".

Now, you may complete the picture of the good old days of gold mining industry in Taiwan by visiting the Gold Museum in Ruifang district. Opened in November 2004, the Gold Museum is designed to be a Eco-Museum, retaining the historic and cultural assets, encouraging participation of the community, and showcase the history of precious metal mining industry.

The Gold Museum is not a confined space with walls and gates. It covers a large area on the hill side where the gold mining industry took place. You are free to visit the well-maintained Japanese houses which were once the dormitory of senior mining employees, get a taste of the miners' lunchbox, browse the exhibition halls, take a walk in the mining tunnel, learn all about the mining history and living of the miners, and touch a 220kg of 999 gold brick!

The entrance is free! You only have to pay for the experiment activities which are very affordable. It is a very good museum in a natural green environment, check it out next time you visit. Highly recommended.