Sun, Oct 17, 2004 page2

• History alive and well on Taipei rivers

  REVIVAL Cruise-related activities have found new life on the so-called `Blue Highway' river, a leisure initiative launched by the Taipei City Government

  • By Wang Hsiao-wen / STAFF REPORTER
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  Just a block away from the hustle and bustle of the Taipei streets, the passenger vessel, the Blue Sky sat silently moored at the Da Dao Cheng Wharf (大稻埕碼頭) by the Tamsui River (淡水河).

  Traffic noise was faint at the other side of the riverbank. The ticket stand stood unused. Only residents living nearby come to the much-neglected wharf for a walk at sunset. The Blue Sky had no passengers, no crew, no captain.

  

  A private yacht sails along the Tamsui river yesterday. The number of private and passenger boats on Taiwan's waterways are increasing as a result of changing leisure and tourism demands.

  PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

  On Friday, however, the bulky, white vessel revved up its engine and scythed its way through the calm water. Lin Tse-ying, (林志盈), commissioner of Taipei City Government's department of transportation, stood by the Blue Sky and welcomed the first group of passengers.

  

  Well known artist Lee Ping-hui yesterday sings a song on board the Blue Sky on its maiden voyage from the Da Dao Cheng Wharf to Tamsui Fishermen's Wharf after the Tamsui `Blue Highway' officially opened yesterday.

  PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

  "The Blue Sky will begin her maiden voyage from the Da Dao Cheng Wharf to the Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf," Lin said, while reporters roamed around the area.

  Because of Fisherman's Wharf's recent rise in popularity, the route between these two wharfs is the busiest section of the so-called Taipei Blue Highway, a local tourism project the Taipei City Government launched on the Tamsui River to promote "river culture" in the Taipei basin.

  The Blue Highway was meant to blaze new roads for Taipei's leisure industry. Among the tourism projects proposed by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) when he sought re-election two years ago, the Taipei Blue Highway is the only one to be realized.

  After city government opened up the Keelung River (基隆河) and Tamsui River waterways last year, the docks became packed with citizens eager for a leisurely cruise on the weekends. But the wave of popularity soon faded. This summer, the route between the Keelung River's Dajia Riverside Park (大佳河濱公園) to Tamsui River's Guandu Wharf (關渡碼頭) attracted only a few dozen visitors.

  The costly maintenance of the Blue Highway also dims the its future prospects. Some Taipei City counselors doubted how the government could afford to maintain waterway while the city's coffers were running empty. The Taipei City Government allotted nearly NT$300 million to repair riverbanks damaged by Typhoon Nari last month, and also to clean garbage floating in the river.

  During a meeting in Taipei City Council last month, DPP Counselor Chou Wei-yu (周威佑) called the Blue Highway project a budget black hole. Another DPP counselor, Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) echoed Chou's criticism, saying that the Blue Highway project will cost the city at least NT$8 million a year.

  Snaking its way through Taipei basin, the Blue Highway passes many historical sites that tell the story of Taipei. History abounds on the Blue Highway, particularly at the Da Dao Cheng and Tamsui wharfs.

  During the Qing Dynasty, the Da Dao Cheng Wharf was a busy international port used for exporting tea and importing opium. Today's Dihua Street is a microcosm of the port's prosperity. During the 1920s, as the Keelung Port overtook Tamsui Port in terms of popularity, the amount of trade shrunk drastically. The wharf was finally abandoned.

  Today, evidence of the good old days remain in Tamsui's old town, ten minutes' drive from the Fisherman's Wharf. Sitting on the mouth of the Tamsui River, the old town was once the source of much of northern Taiwan's commercial prosperity. At its golden age in the late 18 century, the Tamsui port could take in boats weighing as much as 2,000 tonnes.

  A darker side of the old town's history came with the occupations of foreign powers, particularly the Spanish, the Dutch, and the Japanese. The old town is shaped by centuries of conflict between Eastern and Western nations, such as the Dutch occupation before it was expelled by the Ming Loyalist, Koxinga (國姓爺鄭成功).

  Now, the open area along the waterfront is crammed with food vendors for which the town has become famous.

  The Blue Sky edged steadily away from the Da Dao Cheng Wharf headed for Tamsui.

  "This is fun," a passenger said, listening to blind singer Lee Bing-hui (李炳輝) singing the singing the popular song, "Wandering to Tamsui," in his husky old voice.
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