Northguan National Scenic Area carried out the "Geopark Witness Maritime Affair Changes-Renewal of Heping Island Park in Keelung" project to improve the park's recreational facilities and service quality, highlighting the geological landscape and cultural style of Heping Island Park. It also received the "2022 FIABCI-Taiwan Real Estate Excellence Awards" Excellence Award in the Best Environmental and Cultural category; at the same time, the "New Construction of Zhongjiao Bay Visitor Center" project improves the recreational environment of Zhongjiao Bay Surfing Base, encourages the public to get visit the ocean, and encouraged a wave of sports tourism. It also won the "2022 FIABCI-Taiwan Real Estate Excellence Awards" Gold Award in the Best Planning and Design category.
Geopark Witness Maritime Affair Changes-Renewal of Heping Island Park in Keelung project
Northguan National Scenic Area took over Keelung Heping Island Park in 2016. In order to balance the needs of environmental loading and recreational quality, the project adheres to the four principles of "facility reduction," "environmental priority," "international standards" and "tourist convenience." The project progressed in stages over several year based on the planning design concepts such as integrating the site with natural scenery, the international portal of northern Taiwan and the port city’s links to the wider world, the transformation of Jiukong Pond, restoration of green space in environmentally friendly ways, and the pursuit of accessible tourism. In addition to improving tourist service facilities, idle space was also reutilized, establishing a sea friendly and nature friendly environment, that greatly improved the quality of the leisure environment and boosted tourism for Heping Island Park.
"Renewal of Heping Island Park in Keelung" presents the rich and unique local human history and geology/terrain through subtractive design and trail planning, taking into account the quality of tourism and recreation, and serving the different needs of tourists based on ethnicity, gender and age with accessible facilities. The leisure environment in the park includes walkways, activity space and information signs that recently won the Outstanding Award and Annual Award at the 8th Golden Thumb Awards held by the Ministry of Finance and Taiwan Landscape Award Culture and Traditions (Scenery and Leisure Category).
Heping Island Park has undergone improvement and transformation. At the same time, it also introduced a private professional management team in 2018 to provide more diverse, high-quality and lively recreational services. Visitors come to the park to enjoy the scenery, play in the water, and enjoy catering services with local features. They can also reserve guided tours around the rocky landscape, history and culture, enjoy outdoor puzzle games, environmental education courses and seasonal activities, experiencing the natural and cultural scenery of Keelung Heping Island Park.
Zhongjiao Bay International Surfing Base
In view of the limited land and insufficient service capacity at Zhongjiao Bay Base, the Northguan National Scenic Area worked with central and local governments to plan Zhongjiao Bay International Surfing Base in accordance with the instructions of the Executive Yuan. This involved building a visitor center and optimizing the surrounding environment and landscape. Moreover, the improved service quality created a high-quality sea-friendly environment that led to a boost in sports tourism and the local economy.
Zhongjiao Bay International Surfing Base integrates its facilities with the landscape, the objective being friendly, universal and accessible services throughout the area. It is equipped with a visitor center (including shower space), viewing platform, parking lot, bicycle paths and other facilities, and is designed with multiple layers of a coastal planted green belt according to the terrain. The visitor center building uses a lot of arc, circle and ellipse geometric elements, the appearance referencing the curved horizontal belt extension of the coastline, characterized by the distinctive cylindrical lighthouse shape; the facilities and periphery merge with the natural environment. The visitor center building has a low-volume 1-story configuration to reduce the sense of it being imposed on the environment, and uses earth colors in coordination with the local environment.
In order to promote green tourism and low-carbon tourism, Northguan National Scenic Area plans to provide a shuttle bus service between Zhongjiao Bay base to scenic spots along the Crown Northern Coast Shuttle Bus route, and cooperate with local governments to set up public bicycle rental stations (25 YouBikes), Shared electric scooters (3 GoShares) and a battery exchange station providing tourists with a wider range of vehicles to choose from.. Northguan National Scenic Area has also cooperated with the Ju Ming Art Museum to set up installation art around Zhongjiao Bay Visitor Center using combined public and private efforts to introduce new attractions.
Director Chen Meixiu said that Northguan National Scenic Area has been continuously improved through overall planning, year-by-year with implementation based on the four core concepts of landscape, environment, tourism, and sustainability so tourists can experience the natural landscape and improved sightseeing and recreation. At the same time, it satisfies the general service needs of different customer groups; the fact that "Renewal of Heping Island Park in Keelung" and the "New Construction of the Zhongjiao Bay Visitor Center" both received awards is a greatest affirmation of the team's hard work and also encourages them to go even more out of their comfort zone and meet international standards.
Events and marketing projects
"Ocean, Healing, Experience" is the theme of the Island Life Festival held this summer. The festival links local culture, local specialties and other tourism resources through soothing, in-depth, local and close-to-nature experiences. Its major activities include: Island Night Singing Concert, Island Market, Outdoor SUP Experience, Ocean Photography Exhibition, Marine Lectures, Local Small Trips and Immersive Experiences.
Start at Heping Island Park, stroll along the way to the cultural core of Keelung, feel the breadth of the marine culture. Northguan National Scenic Area holds the "Raising Trends and Wave" series of events in winter. This involves activities with different themes over a five week period, such as markets, workshops and guided tours, to experience the diverse "Taste" of life on Heping Island"; In addition, illustrators, craftsmen and sound artists are invited to use visual and auditory creative forms to portray Heping Island and local residents in three performances based on their observations of local life; "Tide" represents the highlight installation, with the creative team using the Heping Island Park landscape as a display area to showcase four on-site installations and interactive situational art pieces. It is also a check in spot for visitors to take pictures and experience the landscape of the park from an unusual perspective.
