First Trip To Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫)

Today I finally got up to Feitsui reservoir in Xinbei, outside Taipei city. My main purpose for today's trip was just to move the motorbike up from Hsinchu to Xinbei's Xindian district in preparation for forthcoming trips, but because I completed the journey earlier than I had thought I would, I found myself with plenty of spare time to explore around Feitsui reservoir itself.

Prior to the trip I had been somewhat pessimistic about my prospects at Feitsui given that public access to the dam is restricted; I had expected that there would be only a few, partial glimpses of the reservoir available from provincial highway 9. How wrong I was! I found a wide and well maintained public access road running steeply downhill through tea farms down toward the reservoir. After some distance the road splits into four separate routes. I followed one of these but did not have time to follow the others. There were several little open-porch type houses throughout the area selling drinks and food, and there was even a tourist viewing platform at one point...

At a tourist viewing platform on the northern shoreline of Feitsui reservoir about two thirds of the way upstream from the dam.

The journey began at my 4.25 a.m. arrival in Hsinchu. This time I arrived without any major mishap, though I hadn't been able to sleep at all on the train up from Tainan. After a quick coffee and rubbing my camphor oil on my ankles, I tied my things to the motorbike and set off. Going north out of Hsinchu city I turned east onto the 118, then north on provincial highway 3, east again on the 3 "乙", north on the 4 and then back east on the 3 before switching over to the 110 east all the way through Taoyuan, Xinbei and finally into Xindian where I turned off onto provincial highway 9 at just before 7 a.m., at least an hour earlier than I had anticipated.

Along the way, provincial highway 3 brought me past the front of Shihmen reservoir, presenting me with a direct view toward the dam and spillway I had never previously seen...

Shihmen reservoir's six tainter gate spillway as seen from provincial highway 3 at about 5.30 a.m. this morning.

300mm lens shot of the six tainter gates; they seem to be about the same size as the three employed at Baihe reservoir.

The broader scene.

Having arrived in Xindian early, I decided that rather than hang about looking for a parking space now, I would leave that until later and get myself out to see whatever I could at Feitsui reservoir. Along the way (provincial highway 9 "甲"), the first thing I saw was a weir-and-barrage system designed to slow the river down for flood mitigation...

One half of the river surmounted by a long, low weir and stilling basin, with the other half blocked by a six gate barrage.

I briefly stopped at the front entrance to Feitsui reservoir to talk to the policeman on duty; everything he told me was just as I expected and already knew. But in my experience it is worth talking to the cops at places like this, because sometimes they'll tell you something unexpected. Not this time however. I drove back around on the 9甲 to rejoin the 9 and drive eastwards and upwards into the mountains toward a little township called "Pinglin" at the back of the reservoir. It was a pleasant drive but some four or five kilometers outside of Pinglin I found that aforementioned road heading down toward the reservoir itself. After a moment's deliberation, I took it and was soon greeted with a view toward the snake-like final third of the reservoir...

Looking south down upon the snake-like body of the reservoir. Further upstream to the right, the water narrows even further, whilst further downstream to the left, it begins to widen out considerably. This winding, irregular shape is why Feitsui resembles a Chinese dragon when seen from above.

The same shot in broader view; I was standing on a steep bank with rows of tea plants both behind and in front of me.

A view eastward over that same bend; this was a difficult shot for me due to the clouds and the overhead light.

The same shot using a filter.

I followed one of the small branch roads down through the farms and came across an observation platform with a half-decent view downstream...

Partially obscured by trees, this was the best downstream view I could manage. However, it was getting on for mid-morning, and I was becoming time conscious. There will be plenty of time to look for alternatives on subsequent return trips.

Whilst I was there, I ended up in conversation with the other tourists and at one point, when a bird of prey came into view in the distance, I mentioned that it is easier to take good pictures of these birds at smaller reservoirs than larger ones. And, right on cue, one of the birds circled us directly overhead at a height of only ten meters or so...

I'm not yet sure what kind of bird this is, but it's not a Black Kite. It might be a Harrier of some kind.

I even caught the bird performing a hunting dive, though I ended up with some bad camera shake in swerving to try to follow the sudden movement...

Further down the hill (very steep) I stopped to meet some farmers one of whom was skinning a two meter long snake he had hanging from a tree...

As I arrived he was almost done skinning it, and when I asked what kind of snake he used a word (possibly Taiwanese) that I didn't know: it sounded like "chimu".

The object on the ground to the man's left is the snake's internal organs, the snake having been disembowled first.

He explained that he had run it over by accident, and I surmised that this must be an occasionally inevitable consequence of living at the shoreline of a major reservoir.

I drove back to Xindian and, luckily, found a perfect parking place for subsequent trips. The MRT trip from Xindian to Banqiao HSR station took about 45 minutes and cost exactly NT$45, which was an odd coincedence. Not having used the Taipei metro system for something like seven or eight years, I was surprised at how cheap it was. I slept briefly on the HSR train back to Tainan, and was relieved to no longer be relying on the comparatively old, slow and uncomfortable TRA trains. Overall, a good trip.