Keelung City’s Pride – Heping Island and Miaokou Night Market

More from my New Taipei series, after my rock exploration in Yehliu Geopark, I decided to embark on another rock-filled adventure in Keelung City. Keelung 基隆 is one of the bigger cities in Taiwan known for having the second largest seaport in the country, the Port of Keelung, that now serves as a gateway to places like Xiamen, China and Okinawa, Japan. With frequent train trips from the capital, it is so convenient to travel back and forth without any hassle, another city worth recommending if you’re looking for day trips outside Taipei.

just one of the many interesting sights in Keelung

How to Get to Keelung City
If trains are your favorite mode of transpo, Keelung has frequent trips via the TRA with one-way ticket priced at about 41 NTD. Train intervals are about 15-20 minutes and takes only 30 minutes. But if you use Google Maps like me, there are also bus servicing Keelung to Taipei, the bus stop is also located at Keelung terminal. What I like about buses is that I don’t need to transfer or walk more, these buses would often have stops a few meters from my hostel which makes it more convenient. You would be able to connect to iTaiwan wi-fi service at bus stops or terminal stations so you could look up directions before you leave.

Keelung bus terminal

colorful city lights of Keelung city

From Yehliu, it was just one bus ride away to Keelung, or Jilong, as the locals would pronounce it. (Note: Nobody understood me every time I said Keelung). Keelung is part of the Northeast Scenic Zone and as I have seen on free pamphlets from the Tourist Information Centers, there are lots of awesome sceneries in this city. However, my time is quite limited so I decided to keep it to a minimum. From the city terminal, I hopped on bus #105 to the idyllic town of Heping Island. Connected by Heping Bridge, the island was pretty easy to get to and there were signs along the way. I had to walk about 10 minutes from the highway to reach the park.

Heping Island Park

My main goal in the island is to see Heping Island Park 和平島海濱公園 or Peace Island, a previous settlement by the Ketagalan Tribe, which is one of the more famous tourist attractions in the city for its seashore park featuring rock formations. Like other rocky landscapes in Taiwan such as Yehliu Geopark, it has formed overtime from weathering and erosion due to being exposed to different elements from the sea and wind. Fossils can also be observed up close.

I wonder what the story is behind that religious shrine..

mushroom rocks

I didn’t have to pay for any entrance fees! Which was a nice bonus, but not necessarily the reason why you should go here. Even though I went to Yehliu before going here, I still enjoyed looking at the small rocks shaped like mushrooms!

Doesn't this look like a dog howling?

fingernail-like rocks

chunky hippopotamus showing their healthy backside

When I went there, the area was blocked off for access so we could only view the rocky shoreline from a distance. I noticed there were constructions on going which was probably why.

an ongoing construction for a viewdeck, this should provide a more interesting angle for photographers

colorful Keelung

The sun was already setting when I left the coastal park and tried to go to Badouzi Coastal Park. The only thing is that buses around Heping Island to Badouzi don’t come often and I had to wait for about an hour. It was past 6PM when I arrived and I couldn’t find where the beautiful coastal area was. The area was not lit so I only took pictures with the best my camera could do (so at least I’d know how it looks like).

this area is supposedly gorgeous, with enough sunlight to appreciate the view. I was still glad to have made it this far, it was a chill place with gorgeous mountainous backdrop

As I boarded the bus back to the city center, it started raining hard. Really hard that I considered ditching my plans to see the night market. But then again, the rain would probably help lessen the crowd, I was wrong. Again, I was there on a Sunday and Miakou Night Market 廟口夜市 is another well-known tourist destination so despite the heavy shower, people like me were still busy looking at each stall, searching for that perfect snack or souvenir to bring back home. I was told there are more than 200 food stands, so there are definitely wide array of snacks to choose from. It sucks that it was crowded and raining so finding a place to eat got difficult, but if not, I would have probably eaten a lot!

the night market is accessible from TRA Keelung Stations (look for Ren Road or Ai Road)

More time for Keelung?
I wished I had more free days to spend in Keelung, if you plan to visit the city, here are some notable attractions
Zhongsheng Park – I think this is quite close from the train station as well
Ershawan Fort – nice view of Keelung Harbor
Dawulon Fort – another significant historical landmark
Lovers Lake – interesting name with lovely scenery

I suppose you’d need a full day (or make it two) to fully explore the beauty of Keelung. Aside from the places I have seen, there are still so much more left, however, the location of each one of them makes it hard for DIY travelers like me to cram it in so little time. The laid back atmosphere and stunning landscape of the city is enough to consider it on your Taiwan bucket list.

More of my 16-day exploration of Taiwan here:

Taipei

Elephant Mountain

Attractions in Taipei for 2 Days

Taichung

Rainbow Village

Xinshe Flower Festival

2 Days around Taichung

Nantou

Sun Moon Lake

Tainan

Quick trip to Tainan