The Shezihdao peninsula, located where the Keelung River and the Tamsui River converge, used to be associated with flooded streets during typhoon seasons. After its embankment was built, the peninsula has gradually rid itself of its flooding problem, and it is now becoming a popular leisure destination. Today, Shezihdao is almost unrecognizable.
Although Shezihdao Daotou Park is only one hectare in size, there is much more to do here than you might think. The tip of this peninsula is reclaimed land, using infill obtained when the Taipei City Government dredged the Keelung River. The bank is covered in a carpet of lush green. Stone and wooden walkways provide visitors with a comfortable path to the viewing pavilion built there. The pavilion is usually packed with anglers, and is itself a perfect spot to take in the panorama of the convergence of the Keelung River and the Tamsui River. Looking straight ahead from the pavilion affords you a spectacular 270-degree view of the river. Turning to the right, you can see Guandu Temple, which is always filled with worshipers, and the Guandu Bridge, with its blazing red color. Left of that, and in the distance, is the majestic Guanyin Mountain, the view now and then interrupted by little egrets swooping down, giving an effect reminiscent of a beautiful landscape painting. To the left of the pavilion is the dense Hongshulin mangrove swamp, echoing the Guandu Nature Park wetland across the river. If you’re fortunate, after the tide recedes, you might even see fiddler crabs surfacing in the wetland, contributing to a veritable symphony of mangrove ecological life.
Perhaps the best means of transportation into the park is by bicycle. There is a bike path on the top of the embankment surrounding the peninsula, which, if compared with other bike paths in Taipei, is raised, making it almost feel like you are biking along a mountain ridge. The view is spectacular, with distinctly different views on both sides of the embankment. The left-hand side gives you a panoramic view of the river, while the right-hand side offers you the village view of the peninsula. Biking there is a breeze.
Photo: Wang Neng-you, Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government
Photo: Wang Neng-you, Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government
Source: Wang Yi-yen, Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government, originally in the Taipei Pictorial, edition 501.
(Translated by Ethan Zhan, Taipei Times)
位於基隆河與淡水河交會處的社子島,早年總是給人每逢颱風季必淹水的印象,但是近年來隨著堤防工程完工,社子島不但已逐漸擺脫水患之苦,還蛻變成一處休閒勝地,今日的社子島已不可同日而語!
Photo: Wang Neng-you, Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government
照片:王能佑,臺北市政府觀光傳播局《台北畫刊》第501期
社子島島頭公園面積雖僅一公頃,但是大有看頭。此島頭乃是臺北市政府利用基隆河疏濬的土方所填出來的灘地,灘地上綠草如茵,並闢建出石板路與木棧道,方便民眾親近觀景平台。觀景平台總是擠滿了垂釣客,這裡也是觀賞基隆河與淡水河交會及入海的絕佳地點,放眼望去,是270度的壯闊河景,朝右望去有香火鼎盛的關渡宮、氣勢如紅的關渡大橋,往左看遠方有巍峨雍容的觀音山,其間不時有小白鷺飛掠點綴,好一幅寫意的山水畫!平台左手邊是茂密的紅樹林濕地,與對岸的關渡自然公園濕地相呼應,退潮後的濕地還可看到探出頭的招潮蟹,共譜一曲紅樹林生態交響曲。
到社子島島頭公園最好的交通工具是騎自行車。社子島利用堤頂建設環岸自行車道,與臺北市其他自行車道相較,這裡的車道高於地面的車道,像是騎在稜線上,擁有寬闊的視野,堤岸兩邊景色迥異,左岸是寬廣的河景,右岸則是社子的村莊聚落,騎來格外怡然自得。
文/王宜燕,臺北市政府觀光傳播局《台北畫刊》第501期(台北時報記者詹豐造英譯)
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