Cooperation with Google means the Keelung City Government and the Council of Agriculture’s Fisheries Agency can now claim the city’s Badouzi Fishing Wharf (八斗子漁港) as the first in the nation that has 360° panoramic views available on Google Maps.
According to the city’s marine affairs division director Tsai Fu-ning (蔡馥嚀), Google used Master Pano software to put together the panorama, adding that users could click on certain stores and shop windows to see inside and that interior pictures are regularly updated.
Previous information on the wharf available via Google’s’ search engine was either of pictures prior to the renovation or lacked clear information on what the wharf offered in terms of amusements and tourist sites, Tsai said.
Information on the fishing wharf when it was known as Bisha Port (碧沙漁港) concerning conflicts over real-estate sales was also a factor that caused many to second-guess how the rennovations would actually turn out, Tsai said.
The Fisheries Agency has over the past six years renovated the entire port and its surrounding facilities at a cost of NT$460 million (US$14.58 million), Tsai said, adding that the center selling local goods was only completed in May.
The city government has also improved water drainage and effluence discharge systems, Tsai said.
“We hope our renovation of the port helps it to become not only a commercial and tourist hotspot, but also one that is now closer to nature,” Tsai said.
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