An early wake up and here we go to start of journey of the day. Our tourguide cum driver (江俊賢) had waited us punctually below our hotel to pick us up to our first destination which is the Yeliu Geopark.
The journey to Yeliu will take approximately an hour plus by car and during the journey, we do enjoy the scenic view of the city itself. The journey was fun where we saw simply a variety of attraction to go too. The weather was good where I can spot the blue blue sky during my journey to there.
I spotted the Taiwan Version of Titanic.Does it looks like one?
Next, the scenic trees which is just branches only. I just love the picture.
Next, we reach Wanli District ( 萬里) and looks like we are getting nearer to our destination where we start to see some of the formations. The skies of the day were so blue as well as the sea are so clear. We do not hesitate to get down the car and looking too see some of the tiny formations too.
And not far from here, we finally reaching Yeliu soon as the rock formation is even nicer.
And finally, we reach Yeliu where in front of Yeliu there is a dolphin centre and show. We did not visit them. We headed to the Geopark straight away and there are plentiful of tourist too from China and Japan when we are there.
We purchased the ticket to enter the geopark for NTD 50.00 per ticket. The Yehliu Geopark(野柳地質公園) is all about the a cape on the north coast of Taiwan in the town of Wanli between Taipei and Keelung and it is on the rock formation and one of the famous one will be the “Queen’s Head”
Yehliu Geopark can be divided into three areas. The first area contains mushroom rock and ginger rock. You may learn the development process of mushroom rock as well as witness the appearance of ginger rock, cleavage, pothole and melting erosion panel. On top of that, the famous candle shaped rock and the ice cream rock are presented in this area too.The second area is similar to the first area, where the mushroom rock and the ginger rock are the main focuses, only they are fewer in numbers. You may see the Queen’s Head, Dragon’s Head Rock, and etc. Since the area is near the coast, rocks that develop into four different kinds of formations can be seen in this area: elephant rock, fairy’s shoe, earth rock and peanut rock. The aforementioned are parts of the layers featuring special shapes as a result of being corroded by sea water.The third area is the wave-cut platform located on the other side of Yehliu. This area is much narrower than the second area; one side of the platform is closely adjacent to steep cliffs while down below the other side is a scene of torrent waves. Several rocks of grotesque shapes and sizes that are incarnated as a result of sea erosion can be seen in this area, including the 24-filial piety hill, pearl rock and Marine Bird Rock. The third area also includes the major ecology reserve of Yehliu Geopark in addition to the said rock landscapes.
Yehliu Geopark is famous for its sea-erosion landscape, while most of the spots are very close to the sea, tourists are advised to observe the tour guide regulations in case of the occurrence of possible danger or causing any damage to the natural resources.
When we entered the Geopark, we spotted the 3 little angels for the geopark which resembles some of the rock formation on their heads.
If you like to know more about the Rocks and some story behind it, you may visit HERE
Before an official scenic area was established, Yehliu was open spot without safety resources. March 18th, 1964, a group of students were visiting the area while a student named Chang Guoquan fell into sea by an accident. A local fisherman, Lin Tianzhen, jumped into the sea to save the student; unfortunately, both of them were drown in the end.
Upon hearing the news, President Chiang Kai-Shek gave orders to set up a statue in memory of the fisherman, Lin Tianzhen, while his story was also included in the textbooks for people to remember his brave acts.
Tips:
-In order to visit YehLiu GeoPark, ensure that you’ve checked the weather forecast so that you won’t be drenched in the rain and spoiling your mood thereafter.
– Bring umbrella or a hat, it is simply HOT too if it is not raining.
How to get there?
(Copied from the Yeliu official website)
1.Take the express bus (bound for Jinshan Youth Activity Center) of Kuo-Kuang Co. at its West Station A of Taipei city; alight at Yehliu stop. The bus comes every 20 minutes. (Weekdays: the first bus at 05:40am and the last bus at 11:00pm; Weekends: the first bus at 06:30am and the last bus at 11:00pm.)
2.Take the express bus (bound for Jinshan or Tamsui) at Keelung station (near Keelung Railway Station). The Bus comes every 10 minute.(the first bus at 05:40 am and the last bus at 10:40pm).
3.Take the express bus (bound to Jinshan) at Tamshui station (near Tamshui MRT Station); alight at Yehliu stop. The bus comes every 30 minutes (the first bus at 05:50am and the last bus at 10:20pm).