Third day in Taipei, we visited Yehliu Geopark, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial, Taipei 101, and Ximending. You might be interested to read our experiences in Taipei Zoo, Maokong Mountain, and Raohe Night Market for our second day in Taipei.
Yehliu is located in Wanli District, around 40 km away from Taipei City. Going to Yehliu by bus is convenient. We reached ZhongXiao DunHua MRT Station at 9:15 am to catch the connecting bus (no 1815) to Yehliu.The bus stop is located a few steps away from exit 4. Well, with less than 5 minutes of waiting time plus 1 hour of road trip, we reached Yehliu bus stop. Pedestrian lane was prepared so it took us 10 minutes to get to the ticket counter of Yehliu Geopark.
Yehliu Geopark is well-known with strange-looking rocks formed by marine erosion. The special thing is, over millions of years, some of the rocks were actually shaped in the way that they resembled some objects, such as the queen rock, sandal rock (which is called as the fairy's shoe by locals), candle rock, ginger rock, dragon rock, and marine bird rock. Some of the rocks can be easily recognized by the distinct shapes, while others, strong imagination required.
The park entrance fee was NTD 80, opens from 8 am - 5 pm. Unlinke Yuntai Mountain Geopark in China with a lot of stairs to climb, it is easier to move around relatively flat Yehliu Geopark. The park is clean with clear signage, the wind was strong, and the view around the park is stunning. Restrooms and a food shack are available beside marine bird rock.
Our advices, be early. The place can be very warm under blazing sun. There might be a long queue to take photo with the queen rock. Want to beat the queue? We can take photo at the other side of the rock, which looks about the same. Can't find the special rock? We can always ask the guard there (the guys with whistles with them), and they are more than happy to show us the location of the rock. The higher ground offers stunning view around the area, so do take some effort to climb up to the observatory platforms there. We strolled around the park from 11 am until 12:45 pm. We were lucky that day as the weather was not too warm.
Zhongxiao Dunhua Bus Stop is located a few steps away from gate 4 of the MRT station (upper left). The bus no. 1815 brought us from Taipei City (upper right) to sub-urban area (lower right). The bus was air-conditioned with LCD flatscreens providing entertainment to passengers. The programme however was in Mandarin only.
Once get off the bus, what we need to do is to look for the signages and follow the pedestrian lane to Yehliu Geopark.
To return to Taipei City, we need to wait for the bus at the bus stop opposite of the road (upper left). The pedestrian walkway was painted in green (upper right). We passed by the harbor stuffed with fishing boats (lower right) before we reached the ticketing counter.
Souvenir shop, food corner, and restrooms are available in the visitor center (upper left). We can get a free copy of geopark map there. The walkway in front of the the visitor center leads to the park (upper right), and we can see the crowd moving around the cape (lower right). There is a stone garden on the right side of the entrance. All the stones exhibit are replicas. One of them is the replica of the panther rock, which was damaged by waves. Our advice, go straight to see the authentic stones first. Leave the replicas to the last as we are going to walk pass the garden on our way out of the park.
The mushroom stones from the observatory platform.
Most of the 1.7 km long cape of Yehliu is flat except a hill at the tip of the cape.
There were many visitors roaming around the area (upper left). The information about some special stones are provided in the park (upper right). Visitors are not supposed to go beyond the red line (lower left). Lifebuoy is prepared, just in case someone steps too far beyond the red line.
The layers of limestone can be clearly seen.
Sandal rock or fairy's shoe rock (upper left), dragon rock (upper right), and bird rock (lower right) can be easily identified. Fossils are not difficult to be found on the ground.
The food shack marks the end of the flat land (upper left). Then, we need to climb stairs (upper and lower right) to the hill.
The tip of the cape can be clearly seen from the hill.
Town view from the hill.
There is a hawker center beside the park (upper left and right). We bought some dried fish (lower right) and took our lunch at one of the eatery there. The price was reasonable.
After lunch with pork rice, unagi soup (eel), and fried oyster with egg, we went back to Taipei by bus. Again, we waited for 5 minutes only to get onto the right bus. Yehliu Geopark is a must visit place if you ever visit Taipei. You can find more information about Yeliu Geopark at the official website of the park. Next, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and Taipei 101.
More about our experience in Taipei:
[Raohe Night Market] [Yehliu Geopark]
[Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and Taipei 101] [Ximending, a Good Place for Evening Stroll]
[Yangmingshan National Park] [Shilin Night Market and National Palace Museum]
[Jiufen and Jinguashi] [Zhongzheng Memorial Hall, Taipei]
[Staying Around Longshan MRT Area]
[Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and Taipei 101] [Ximending, a Good Place for Evening Stroll]
[Yangmingshan National Park] [Shilin Night Market and National Palace Museum]
[Jiufen and Jinguashi] [Zhongzheng Memorial Hall, Taipei]
[Staying Around Longshan MRT Area]
More about our experience in Kaohsiung and Tainan:
Yehliu isn't beautiful... It's magnificent!!
ReplyDeleteAgree. It is truly a world heritage.
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