Pingxi

Píngxī (平溪) occupies the rugged mountains east of Taipei and south of Keelung. Coal deposits discovered at the tail end of the 19th century led to the founding of the Taiyang Mining Company, which built the Pingxi Line railway in the 1920s to transport ore from mines scattered across the district. The Director’s Residence in Jingtong and the Taiwan Coal Mine Museum preserve remnants of this mining heritage. When cheaper imported fuels collapsed the industry in the 1970s, population declined sharply; today Pingxi is the least populated district in New Taipei and has Taiwan’s highest proportion of elderly residents at over 34%.

The district’s more recent fortunes derive from sky lanterns, a tradition with roots in the Qing dynasty era, when villagers fleeing bandits would release lanterns to signal it was safe to return. Locals revived the custom in 1988, and the annual Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival now draws international crowds despite condemnation from environmental groups.