Coal mining began in Pingsi 平溪 under a concession from the Japanese government in 1918 as a joint venture of Fujita Gumi 藤田組 (a Japanese company) and the Taiyang Mining Company 台陽礦業公司 (a Taiwanese company). Pingsi coal was extracted from the Shidi formation 石底層 under the Nankang formation 南港層 and above the Taliao formation 大寮層. In 1920, the Japanese company sold all its shares in the joint venture to Taiyang. Yan Yun-nian 顏雲年, the founder of Taiyang, invested in the construction of a single-track railway, the Pingsi Line 平溪線 to facilitate the transport of coal. The 12.9 km Pingsi line, running through Ruifang 瑞芳 and Pingsi and terminating in Jingtong 菁桐 was completed in July of 1921. The original block controller 閉塞器 is still visible in the Jingtong Station, built in 1929 of wood in the Japanese style.

Walking up stone stairs above the station leads to the Shidi Colliery, including what remains of the coal preparation plant 煤礦洗選樓 and the Shidi Slope Mine 石底大斜坑 90m from the station. Construction of the Shidi Inclined Pit began in 1937 and was completed in 1939. This pit once yielded Taiwan's highest coal output. The rich coal deposits in Jingtong and the Pingsi area together brought prosperity to Pingsi a formerly poor village. Jingtung was the most productive coal mine in the Pingsi area at the height of coal mining when tens of thousands of people worked in the Jingtung mine. The mine was closed in 1987. The rise of the coal mining industry brought concentrated development and human inhabitation to the area which ebbed with the dwindling of the industry.

What is now the Jingtong Historical Trail once connected the people of Sijhih 汐止 and those in Pingsi. This route included the Panshi Ridge 盤石嶺, high point of the current Sijhih-Pingsi Highway 汐平公路. Part of the section toward Pingsi was the Paojia route 保甲路 a cross-ridge route used during the Japanese era. Area peaks include Stone Bamboo Shoot Peak 石筍尖 at 520m, Shu Lang Peak 薯榔尖 at 622m, Row Baan Ridge 肉板峠 at 549m and Sankeng Hill 三坑山 at 476m.