和興炭坑

Hexing Coal Mine

Useful Information

Location:	110臺北市信義區六合里16鄰信義路五段150巷108之5號. Road 471, Alley 150, Section 5, Xinyi Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei, 110 (25.0225966, 121.5808959)
Open:	All year daily 9-17. [2026]
Fee:	free. [2026]
Classification:	Coal Mine
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided, D=10 min.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Hexing Coal Mine, Tel: +886-2-2720-8889.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1904	begin of coal mining by the Japanese.
2000	last coal mine of northern Taiwan closed.

Geology

The coal seams are rather young, of Miocene age, embedded in sandstone, siltstone, shale and basaltic tuff. As often the coal seams are quite thin and due to the low age not of very high quality.

Description

和興炭坑 (He Xing Coal Mine, Hexing Coal Mine, Ho-xin Coal Mine) is located at the eastern outskirts of the capital Taipei. This is the northern end of the island and there are several coal seams, which were first explored and exploited by Japan, which needed oil and coal for the war against Russia in 1904. This tiny coal mining museum is in the entrance section of a former coal mine tunnel. The hill is called Elephant Hill, and there are numerous hiking trails, from this trail it’s a 10 minutes detour down a staircase. Alternatively you may drive there, a road leads to the various temples of Taipei Cihui Temple in the secluded valley. The tunnel is used as a museum and there are no guided tours. This is a tiny museum, but if you are interested in coal mining and underground tours you should visit on of the other two coal mines nearby.