2022/11/12

Changes in Jingmei’s Geography and Road Infrastructure

  1. In the 1950s, Jingmei remained a semi-isolated region surrounded by hills on three sides, facing the valleys of Jingmei River and Xindian River in the west, and split by Wansheng River, which flowed into Jingmei River. At that time, Jingmei was mainly accessed through Wan-Xin Railway, which connected it with Gongguan and Xindian (today, the route started from Section 6 of Roosevelt Road, reaching Tingzhou Road through Alley 150 of Section 5 of Roosevelt Road, and ending in Wanhua). Jingmei was also connected through Jingmei Railway Station (at the junction of Cheqian Road and Section 6 of Roosevelt), from which push cars traveled to Shenkeng and Shiding via Muzha (spanning from Sections 1 to 5 of the present-day Muzha Road). Within Jingmei, push cars from Wanlung Railway Station (originally called “Jyugofu” and located at the junction between the old path of Jinglong Street and Section 5 of Roosevelt) transported coal from mountainous areas to coal yards in the neighborhood of the Railway Station. Apart from being accessed through these means of transportation, Jingmei was separated by hills from the outside world. These hills, surrounding Jingmei from three sides, are separated by Toad Mountain and Gongguan at the junction of Wansheng Street and Roosevelt Road, and from the east to south they stretch from Xingfu Mountain (a graveyard), Fanlan Mountain (a graveyard), Zhongbu Mountain (also known as the Back Mountain of Shiwufen, which stands at a height of 139 m and is split by Xinhai Tunnel), the East Peak of Zhongbu Mountain (standing at a height of 145 m), 140 Hill Park (located within Wanfeng Community), Xinglong Mountain (a community built along a hill and standing at a height of 118 m), Mamingtan Mountain (a community built along a hill and standing at a height of 110 m), Jingmei Mountain (also known as Xizikou Mountain and standing at a height of 143 m), and Zunhou Mountain (standing at a height of 77 m) to Jingmei River. If you look at Jingmei Mountain from Yonghe, the mountain’s pattern is similar to a dragon, with its head facing Jingmei River; such a scene makes for a desirable Feng Shui orientation.


    Jingmei would later see the following roads constructed and opened for traffic: 

    1. Wan-Xin Railway was decommissioned and incorporated into an existing road as Sections 5 and 6 of Roosevelt Road; Beixin Bridge was subsequently installed to link Jingmei with Xindian. 
    2. A railway line for push cars that used to travel to Shiding was converted into Sections 1 to 5 of Muzha Road.
    3. Jingmei Bridge was installed on the west side of the amphibious Liugong Bridge to facilitate traffic. After Liugongjun was abandoned, its aqueducts were capped and widened in 1968 to build Jingwen Street.
    4. Section 1 of Xinglong Road was constructed to link with the now-defunct railway line for push cars (spanning Sections 2 and 3 of Xinglong Road) from Jinglong Street and with Muzha after hills before the elementary and high school programs of Taipei Private Tsai Hsing School were flattened.
    5. Xinghai Tunnel of Zhongbu Mountain, constructed on Section 4 of Xinghai Road, links with Muzha Road through Huaien Tunnel, which runs through Jingmei Mountain.
    6. The hill on 140 Hill Park next to Taiwan Police College was flattened to build Wanfang Road, which links with Muzha Road.
    7. Jingxing Road was built at the junction of Sections 1 and 2 of Xinglong Road, extending to one side of Zunhou Mountain to link with Muzha Road.

    Today, many roads in Jingmei are built by flattening low-slope hills, and indeed along these roads there are retaining walls. Access roads for Jingmei—among them Jingwen Street, Jingxing Road, Section 6 of Xinhai Road, Section 4 of Xinglong Road, and Wanfeng Road—are mostly linked with Muzha Road, which is a unique road network.

    Old roads within Jingmei are mostly curvy, and the older they are, the narrower and curvier they are. Sanfu Street, Jingmei Street, Wanqing Street, the former path of Gongguan Street, Sections 2 and 3 of Xinglong Road, Fuxing Road, Xingde Road, among others, are all part of the infrastructure development of Jingmei.

※ 感謝鄭之瑜(Kat Chamberlain)老師協助本文翻譯校閱。
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