Dajia Riverside Park: The sandbox and other playground equipment provide a happy and warm family paradise. Taipei has 29 riverside parks. Connected by river, green space and bike paths, each of these has its own special features reflecting its local ambience. Together these blissful oases have helped develop a new look for the city.
Dajia Riverside Park – A Space for Families
The sunset is the same as always, and the river rolls on, but the design of Taipei’s riverside parks is new and fresh, and the distance from people’s hearts grows shorter. In 2014, after Taipei Mayor Wen-je Ko took office, he started listening to the vox populi and began boosting riverside projects aggressively to enhance overall park quality, stating “We do the best we can, but we can always do better.” Situated on the left bank by Dazhi Bridge (大直橋), Dajia Riverside Park (大佳河濱公園) is a good example.
“Dad, I found a dinosaur!” “ Come look, I’ve built a house!” On weekends, you’ll hear kids shouting and laughing like this if you come to Dajia, which aims to be a “parents and children’s fun park.” There is all kinds of playground equipment here, such as slides, swings, and splash fountains, but the most popular one is undoubtedly the giant sandbox.
A few years ago, a social welfare group asked: “Could you do something so disabled children can enjoy this place as well?” The Taipei City Public Works Department kept it in mind, and after a series of discussions with experts and scholars, it was decided to make playground equipment more inclusive. The first step was building the sandbox, and just before Children’s Day, April 2017, the biggest one ever seen in Taiwan was finally completed. The box has extra-wide slides to accommodate both parents and children, rock climbing facilities, an area for examining dinosaur fossils, and some special equipment such as excavators and sand tables, so disabled kids can enjoy the place too!
The sandbox is just a beginning. In the future, Dajia Riverside Park’s playground facilities are going to be improved even more inclusive, thus meeting and surpassing enhancement expectations.
Sweet Love in Chengmei Riverside Park
After you pass Dajia Park, along the upper reaches of Keelung River, you’ll see the big red Rainbow Bridge spanning the banks. This is Chengmei Riveride Park (成美河濱公園) – a rendezvous for lovers.
By day, the smitten can bike over asphalt inscribed with expressions of love in different languages, or they can stroll hand-in-hand over the Rainbow Bridge. At night, lover and beloved can treat each other to snacks at nearby Raohe Street Night Market (饒河街夜市). Goodies in hand, these enamored can then find a love-designed stone bench by the river and watch the neon light show on the Rainbow Bridge and the Luminous Water Corridor (光之水廊), formed by lights projected from both banks of the river. They whisper sweet nothings to each other and drink in the atmosphere of love!
Many sweethearts will make a special trip here and fasten a “love lock” to the bridge. Wishing their love will never be “unlocked,” some of them dramatically throw the keys into the river! Considering that the key’s metal might pollute said waterway, the Public Works Department requests people to leave their keys in the Mailbox of Love by the riverside. Their love will remain locked, but river ecology will be preserved from metal pollution. Let’s keep Chengmei Riverside Park a sacred place where love is nurtured and leads the way in protecting the environment!
Guting Riverside Park – The Spot for Wedding Photos
If Chengmei Park symbolizes the beginning of love’s journey, then Guting Riverside Park (古亭河濱公園) must be the sacred hall of blossoming love.
Whether summer or winter, Guting Riverside Park is often decked in flowers – scarlet sages, purple angelonia, bright orange medallions, and entrancing swaying cosmos. With nearby Taipei Water Park (自來水博物館) already a popular photo venue, and its blessedly green lawn, Guting Riverside Park has become one of the best places for nuptial photos in the city.
The park’s designers incorporated the ideas of engaged couples, wedding gown purveyors and photographers, and built installations such as the Love Arch, the Happy Bell Tower, the Blue and White Windmill, the Music Bandstand and Double Happiness as possible shooting locations. After construction done and the renovated park opened, photographers reported with a smile, “Engaged couples have a fun time taking the wedding photos, but a hard time selecting the ones to keep! They are all too beautiful to give up!”
A Treasure Trove of History and Culture – Yanping Riverside Park
If you bike along Highland Beach between Zhongxiao Bridge (忠孝橋) and Zhongzhou Water Pump Station (中洲抽水站), you’ll see a large mosaic mural depicting the streets of Dadaocheng (大稻埕). That means you’ve arrived at Yanping Riverside Park (延平河濱公園).
On the water gate, golden characters proclaiming “Dadaocheng Wharf”(大稻埕碼頭) in Chinese are worn with age. Here, glorious history lives on in memory. There’s a mini Tanshan sailboat built to scale on the pier. It tells the history of Dadaocheng, the old trade center of Northern Taiwan.
Beside being a witness to history and culture, the “Wind Art Feature Wall” adds a new look to the old town area. This sheet metal facade moves in the wind with “TAIPEI” written on it, and has already started attracting bikers to come and take pictures. So you might hear: “Lift your hand higher” or “Count to three and jump!” Precious memories of Old Taipei and the new generation are preserved in photos like that.
Riverside parks offer a leisure alternative for Taipeiers. They provide a vast area, green spaces, different themed scenery, and a river ambience–all while assisting in ecological protection and flood prevention. These are living, breathing spaces in the crowded city, oases recreation where people can enjoy satisfying and pleasant times.”
