[Natural Hidden Gem] A Four-Person Adventure at Jinshan Baian Wild Creek Hot Spring

In the mountains of Jinshan District on the North Coast, north of Taiwan Island, hides a hot spring hidden gem, “Baian Wild Creek Hot Spring.” This story records the experience of the four of us Mizuc travelers driving off in the dead of night to soak in the hot spring.

Thinking back on that night now, it was originally just about inviting some friends over to drink, and I don’t know why it ended up turning into something super healthy.

None of us were really the heavy-drinking type; we chatted and even forgot to drink! Drinking was never the point anyway, and drinking too much harms the body — an occasional drink is fine! I think our drinking should more accurately be described with the word “tasting.”

Amid the lively and boisterous atmosphere of the group, time unknowingly reached four in the morning. I forget who brought it up first, but we tidied up a bit and the whole group drove off.

The place we wanted to go was a wild creek hot spring in Jinshan District, New Taipei City, Taiwan Province, Republic of China, named Baian, commonly known as 5K Hot Spring.

As for why it’s called 5K, you’ll know the reason once you get there in person. I’ll keep you in suspense here so that everyone can be driven by their own curiosity to go there in person (laughs).

Lying in the hot spring pool, you can enjoy the beautiful natural scenery of the wild. But of course, when we soaked in the hot spring at around five o’clock, it was so dark that we couldn’t take photos at all, so we could only take a few after soaking when it was light.

Baian Wild Creek Hot Spring is a great place, primitive enough, perfectly blended with nature. If you have only soaked in the commercial hot springs of the Beitou hot spring area, you will absolutely fall in love with this hot spring resort, and it is even more charming than some wild hot springs in Japan.

When the few of us arrived, there were already about five or six people soaking, all of grandpa and grandma age. By around six o’clock, more and more fellow bathers arrived, but there was still not a single one around our age!

If we really want to nitpick, only one couple counted as young. You could tell at a glance that they were veterans of soaking in the hot springs there, but they also seemed to be nearly 30.

On the way from the entrance to the hot spring, we still walked in the dark, and the whole journey took nearly half an hour.

The dark road at night is actually not easy to walk, so our group walked relatively slowly. At the time we only brought one flashlight. Fortunately, during a previous class trip to Xitou in the two-year technical college, I had experience leading people along a dark road with a single flashlight — as long as you sacrifice yourself, you can illuminate the world (?).

1. Original article: North Coast Jinshan: Four-Person Mizuc at Baian Wild Creek Hot Spring (20040109)