Chasing Golden Hours: Sizihwan’s Sunset Dreams & Keelung River’s Unexpected Glow!

• Kaohsiung · Sizihwan

  Sizihwan, located on the western side of Kaohsiung, is this awesome beach area with flat sands and shallow waters, totally famous for its breathtaking sunsets and cool natural reefs.Bummer, though – it was raining cats and dogs when I visited, so I totally missed out on seeing that epic sunset. The pic you see here? Yeah, that’s one I snagged online to give you the vibe.

  

  
  

• Taipei · Keelung River
  
  

  Most folks know Tamsui, Gaomei, and Sizihwan as THE spots for catching sunsets in Taiwan. But let me tell you, I’m about to throw another contender into that ring: the Keelung River right here in Taipei.

  You know how it goes – where there are people, there’s gotta be water, right? And for Taipei, most of its water comes from the Tamsui River, the Keelung River, and the Xindian Creek.

  

  Okay, so the Xindian Creek is kinda tiny, we can pretty much skip that. But as for Taipei’s two “mother rivers,” I’ve seen the Tamsui River tons of times. For a while, I was hitting Tamsui every Wednesday, all for those gorgeous Fisherman’s Wharf sunsets and the lively old street vibe. But the Keelung River? Never really put it on my must-see list. So, on a recent business trip, I decided to finally check it out. I picked Meiti Riverside Park out of the two main parks along the Keelung River (just a heads-up: the Keelung River used to be super curvy and caused a lot of flooding, so they straightened it out, creating a bunch of new land for parks like Dajia and Meiti, complete with bike paths – perfect for exercising, sightseeing, and a chill bike ride). Why Meiti? Well, it was closer, and I could get a killer view of the Dazhi Bridge from there. Funny story, one year my colleagues and I got a free calendar with our Taiwanese stamp purchases, and every month featured a different bridge in Taiwan – Dazhi Bridge was one of them!

  

  After taking a stroll along the river, I gotta say, the Keelung River totally holds its own against the Tamsui River. It’s truly something! And get this – when I visited Jinguashi, my tour guide told us that back in the Qing Dynasty, lumberjacks actually found gold dust flowing in the Keelung River. They followed it upstream and that’s how they discovered the Jinguashi gold mine. So, that saying at the entrance of the Jinguashi Gold Museum, “Long river flowing, shimmering with gold,” really hits the nail on the head for the Keelung River. Talk about a golden legacy!

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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