Solo score 3 out of 5: Fine soloMultiple sources agree · checked 2026-10
Shifen Old Street & Sky Lanterns
十分老街・放天燈 · show this name to taxi drivers
A short old street where Pingxi Line trains run right between the shops, and the best-known place in Taiwan to send up a sky lantern. You can buy a lantern for yourself, paint your wishes on it and release it, as long as you stay off the tracks and use the legal release zone. Walking the street is free.
At a glance for one
Admission
Free
Walking the street is free. Lanterns are paid per lantern at each shop's posted price, and multicolor lanterns cost more than single-color ones.
Hours
10:00–17:00
The street itself is always open, but shops set their own hours. Most open by 09:00-10:00 and close between 17:00 and 19:00. Lantern release is not allowed from 22:00 to 06:00.
Time needed
About 1 hour, or 2-2.5 hours with Shifen Waterfall
Booking
Not needed
Crowds
Avoid busy times
Minimum
None
Details can change. Check on site before you rely on hours, prices or payment.
How to visit, step by step
- Get off at Shifen Station and tap your EasyCard out at the reader, which is easy to miss. Shops line both sides of the track
- Trains still run through the street. When one comes, step well back, and never stand on the rails for photos
- To send up a lantern, pick a shop and check its posted prices. Single-color lanterns are the cheapest, and four- or eight-color ones cost more. Brushes, ink and lighting are included
- Paint your wishes on each side. On your own, ask the staff to help hold the lantern while it fills with hot air and to take your photo
- Release it only off the tracks, in the official release zone marked by signs (from the Shifen Visitor Center area to Yikeng Bridge, and within 200 m of County Road 106 along the Keelung River), between 06:00 and 22:00. If anyone leads you onto the rails, say no
- Know the fines. Walking onto the tracks can bring a fine of NT$10,000-50,000 under the Railway Act, and releasing a lantern outside the zone or at night can bring a fine from NT$3,000
- Afterward, snack along the street or walk about 20-30 minutes to Shifen Waterfall
Don't miss: A single-color lantern is plenty for one person. Watching a train squeeze between the shops costs nothing.
Best time to go alone: A weekday morning, before tour groups arrive. Shops start closing from about 17:00, so don't come late.
Before you go
Four easy day trips into New Taipei by public transport, alone. Jiufen and Jinguashi, Shifen and the Pingxi Line, Tamsui and Bali, and the North Coast, with how to get there, what to eat on your own and when to head back.
Read: Day trips from Taipei on your own →Getting there
Getting there: Shifen Station on the Pingxi Line. From Taipei, take a train to Ruifang (about 45 min), then the Pingxi Line to Shifen (about 30 min). Or take bus 795 from MRT Taipei Zoo Station to the Shifen Old Street stop, about 1.5 hours. Check the timetable before you go back.
Shifen St., Pingxi Dist., New Taipei City (beside Shifen Station)
新北市平溪區十分街一帶（十分車站旁）
Open in Google Maps新北市平溪區十分街一帶（十分車站旁）
Phrase cards for this place
Tap one to show it full-screen to the staff.
Sources & checks
Multiple sources agree · 2026-10
- Official visitor information (web.law.ntpc.gov.tw)
- Official visitor information (wedid.ntpc.gov.tw)
- Official visitor information (taiwantrip.com.tw)
- United Daily News (udn.com)
No sponsorship disclosed in the sources we checked.
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