The jaw-dropping scenery of Yehliu Geopark in Taipei County’s Wanli Township is famous at home and abroad. Most people know about the Queen’s Head Rock — a national treasure — but they may not know that Yehliu also has a Leopard Rock. This unusual piece of scenery, eroded by the sea, is only accessible on 18 days each year, when the tides allow it. Only then is it possible to catch a rare glimpse of the noble leopard, head held high, chest thrown out, its mouth slightly open, crouching on the ground as if ready to pounce.
The Geopark’s deputy general manager Tang Chin-hui explained that, because of factors like the tides, access path and viewing angle, optimal viewing times for the Leopard Rock are restricted to just 18 days a year. It can only be viewed in the third to fifth months of the Lunar Calendar, at low tide when there are spring tides, which occur on the first to third and 15th to 17th days of the lunar month.
According to Hsiao Shih-chi of the park’s site management office, if you want to get to the area near the Leopard Rock, you have to climb sideways around the steep cliffs of Yehliu, at the risk of being thrown onto submerged rocks by a rogue wave or strong gust of wind. Then you have to cross “bean curd rocks” (also known as “chessboard rocks”) covered with sea lettuce and hair moss. For this reason, the area is not open for tourists to visit, and the animal and plant ecology of this part of the coast remains in pristine condition.
Tang told us about a group of park workers who went on an inspection tour of the natural ecology of this restricted area four years ago. Stopping for a rest, they surveyed the “bean curd rocks” at the sea’s edge, which have been carved by differential erosion and weathering. That was when they spotted the Leopard Rock, which they now think of as Yehliu’s guardian rock.
Chou Shu-wen, the park’s business manager, pointed out that a single section of eroded landscape can be interpreted in different ways in different people’s imaginations, and depending on the angle from which it is viewed. Observing the Leopard Rock from the reverse side, she thought it looked rather like a poodle or shar-pei dog, but from the front the leopard’s head looks as it is being worn as a symbol of power atop the head of a tribal chief.(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG)
台北縣萬里鄉野柳地質公園以景觀特殊聞名海內外，多數人都知道國寶級的「女王頭」，卻不知道野柳也有「金錢豹」！這處造形獨特的海蝕地景受潮汐影響，每年只有十八天能目睹它「昂首、挺頸、微微開口、趴坐地面」蓄勢待發的英姿。
地質公園副總經理湯錦惠說，受到潮汐、通道、觀賞角度等因素影響，「金錢豹」最佳觀賞時機每年只有十八天，農曆三至五月的初一至初三、十五至十七「大潮日的乾潮時段」，才有機會目睹。
場務部經理蕭式棋說，要到金錢豹這一區，須側身攀爬野柳岬懸崖，冒著被瘋狗浪及強風捲落海中暗礁的危險，再走過布滿石蓴、髮菜的豆腐岩（又稱棋盤岩）才能抵達，所以未開放遊客參觀，也讓該區的海岸地景、動植物生態維持原始風貌。
湯錦惠說，四年前員工踏勘管制區的自然生態，半途休息之際，巡望臨海的豆腐岩上受到差異侵蝕、風化的岩石，意外發現「金錢�?A將此視為野柳的守護石。
企劃部經理周淑文強調，同一海蝕地景，在民眾發揮想像力下，加上觀察角度不同，可能就有不一樣的解讀，她從金錢豹的反面來觀賞，有點像貴賓狗或沙皮狗，正面看豹頭又宛如披在土著酋長頭頂的獸首，相當威武。（自由時報記者陳璟民）
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