Old School Onsen Town

The township of Jiaoxi in Yilan County (宜蘭礁溪) reminded me of those old-school onsen town in rural Japan, like Kusatsu or Arima or Dogo. The moment we stepped out of the train station, all we saw was a big sign with the list of hotels and B&Bs located in the neighborhood, and along the street were all the restaurants and souvenir shops, all geared towards tourists and visitors in this town better known for the hotspring facilities. 

Wellspring by Silks 晶泉丰旅, our accommodation for the night, is just down the street from the train station, so we decided to drop our luggage to the van which meant to pick us up and made a little walk over (and snacked along the way). The property is the first in the group that is focused on hot spring experience, and all rooms and suites have their own private hotspring facility in the balcony – guests can also make use of the communal hot-spring jacuzzi on the rooftop, or the indoor hot-spring in the sister property (Just Sleep Jiaoxi) next door. There’s also a nice lounge (with food and drinks served during happy hour) and a large rooftop infinity swimming pool. 

“Art in Residence” was another feature of the hotel, with local artists invited to take temporary residence at the hotel and hosted a series of exhibitions and workshop. During our stay it’s Danny Tsai who specializes in contemporary ink painting, and after the workshop, each of us came home with a nice art piece created by ourselves done under his supervision. 

Mihan Jiaoxi 三燔礁溪 was the only restaurant inside the hotel, specializes in Japanese hotpot served semi-buffet style. There’s a decent selection of dishes spread across the long table and counter in the center of the restaurant for a satisfying meal. Same for breakfast too, also served buffet style including some nice vegetarian options. 

The town is compact so we felt like everything is reachable on foot. After dinner we all walked down to explore the local food scene, and there’s plenty to explore, from fried chicken to egg rolls, to shaved ice and the little food truck selling everything duck, one of the more famous food ingredients from the region. And before we left the next morning, we also stopped by another street stall famous for the scallion pancakes made using local Sanxing Scallion (三星蔥) known for its rich and clean flavor.

We also spent some time with more outdoor activities the next morning. Wufengqi Waterfall 五峰旗瀑布 is one of the more popular sightseeing spots, only an easy 10-minute walk from the drop-off point. Of course we wouldn’t miss the opportunity for more snapshots of such picturesque scenery. 

Wellspring by Silks 晶泉丰旅: https://www.silksspring.com/en/index