Located in the northwest of Taipei, with north connecting Sanchih (sān zhī 三芝), south to Guandu (guān dù 关渡), opposite to Pali (bā lǐ 八里), Tamsui (dàn shuǐ 淡水, formerly known as Danshui) is a vivid township with enriched historical background, beautiful ocean and mountain sceneries. The town was first known as “Huwei (hù wěi 沪尾)” until the occupation of the Japanese, the name Danshui was originated from Danshui River. The town has a total area of seventy point sixty-five square meters with a popular of twenty thousand including the migrants. Tamsui is located in northwest of Taipei basin. Tamsui is surrounded by mountains and rivers and the scenery is beautiful.

Overview

Tamsui is a town filled with history. As you walk the streets of the town you will see many old buildings, in the Western, southern Fujian, and Japanese styles. A casual stroll is a good way to appreciate the history of the town, with the ancient flavors of the old streets and the special characteristics of buildings from different periods best manifested along Zhongjeng Road, Zhenli Street, Chongjian Street, Sanmin Street, and Qingshui Street. Visitors traveling to Tamsui have the option of taking a ferry from Bali (just across the river) or Dadaocheng (in Taipei City) and enjoying scenes of the Danshui River along the way.


History

Back in the Qing Dynasty, Tamsui was an important harbor that led prosperities and establishments of the town. Undergone several transformations, with enriched historical background, there are now twenty-three preserved spots scattering all over Tamsui. These famous sceneries and culture attract approximate seven million visitors every year. The famous, must-see attractions of Tamsui include Little White House, Fort Santo Domingo, Fort Huwei, Martyr’s Shrine, Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf, Tamsui Church, Red Castle and many others.


Geography

In ancient time, Tamsui is the generic name of all places, used to mean Danshui River and Tamsui port, even all north of Taiwan in much earlier times. To point out “Fu-Wei”, name of a tribe, combined from Danshui and Fu-Wei, during the reign of Japan, it's renamed to Tamsui instead of Fu-Wei, continuing to use it till now on.

But during reign of Japan, Tamsui county concluded San-Zhi county, Shi-Men county, and Ba-Li county those small towns. “Fu-Wei” is come from phonic pronunciation, same explanation mentioned on "Government report of Taiwan" [Using gravel stone to build breach, calling “Fu”, for catching fish; therefore, named "Fu-Wei" means building in the end of village. Today, Tamsui is near by San-Zhi County, south area connected to Guan-Du County and Taipei, west is adjacent to Taiwan Straits, and very close to Ba-Li County (bā lǐxiàn 八里县). The length from east to west is 11.138 km, total dimension is 70.6565 km, the population till Sept in 1999, are 110.932 residents. Accept for Tamsui small plain, Da-Tun Mountains (dà tún shān 大屯山) covering almost half of Tamsui, so Tamsui become a port behind mountains. As those beautiful natural scenery, Tamsui is the famous sight-seeing place in Taiwan, is called as East Venice as well.


Attractions

Fisherman’s Wharf

Fisherman’s Wharf (yú rén mǎ tóu 渔人码头) is a multi-purpose leisure fishing port developed by the New Taipei City Government. There are magnificent floating piers and a spacious park, with a bridge in the shape of a boat spanning across the harbor and a wooden path stretching over 300 meters at the waterfront. It is relaxing to lean against the fence enjoying the breeze and sights at the Danshui River mouth. In the evening, this is the best place to watch the view of the sunset.

Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf is one of the popular scenic spots in Taipei since it has opened in 2001. It was established to have a multipurpose use: fishing plus sightseeing. Therefore, visitors are able to taste fresh seafood while keeping eyes on the sceneries. The Sunset view here at the Fisherman’s Wharf is considered as one of the eight famous worth seeing sceneries of Tamsui. Lovers and families are fond to relax and enjoy leisure time here. The Lover’s Bridge is another must-see spot of the wharf; visitors will be able to see the changes of light projecting on the bridge.

Location: Guanhai Rd., Tamsui District, New Taipei City
Tel: +886-2-2626-7613
Transportation: From Taipei Main Station by taking the MRT Tamsui Line to its northern end at Tamsui Station. Tamsui is a smaller city and the Old Street is not fare away.
Opening Hours: The whole day
Admission Fee: Free


Tamsui Old Street

Tamsui Old Street (dàn shuǐ lǎo jiē 淡水老街) is located in New Taipei City (Taipei County). A 5 minute walk from Tamsui MRT station can surely fulfill your desire with its surrounded beautiful coffee shops and restaurants located next to the riverbanks. Besides, a variety of Taiwanese snacks and traditional dishes will surely arouse your appetite.

The street was renovated and broadened in the year 2000. The smooth walking paths next to the river with numerous shops provide visitors a more comfortable place to enjoy the visit. Visitors are also recommended to enjoy a short cruise ride to Bali or Fisherman’s Wharf from the wharf located in the center of Tamsui Old Street. The cruise ride will provide you with beautiful sceneries of Danshui River.

Taiwanese snacks which you might want to give it a try will be plum juice, fish ball soup, oily bean curd (yóu dòu fǔ 油豆腐), iron egg, fried fish crackers, etc. If you are considering having a regular meal here at a restaurant, there are some seafood restaurants as well. The shops are opened till late night; visitors have no worries if they are looking for something to eat late while staying over at Tamsui.

Location: Zhongzheng Rd., Tamsui District, New Taipei City
Tel: +886-2-2622-1020
Transportation: From Taipei Main Station by taking the MRT Tamsui Line to its northern end at Tamsui Station. Tamsui is a smaller city and the Old Street is not fare away.
Opening Hours: The whole day
Admission Fee: Free


Hongmao Castle

Hongmao Castle (hóng máo chéng 红毛城) is a historical site in Tamsui with historical meaning. It was built by the Spaniards in 1626 and restored by the Dutch. The castle was called Anthony Castle. Because Taiwan people called the Dutch people Hongmao (people with red hair), the castle thus was called Hongmao Castle. It was also called Huwei Castle.

The castle was once taken by the English and it was returned to our country in 1980. The castle is more than 300 years old and is designated as 1st class historical site. The building is red brick construction. The original furniture is reserved for indoor decoration. There are exhibition showrooms for historical data and pictures related to early Taiwan years.

Location: No.1, Lane 28, Zhongzheng Rd., Tamsui District, New Taipei City
Tel: +886-2-2623-1001
Transportation: From Taipei Main Station by taking the MRT Tamsui Line to its northern end at Tamsui Station. Tamsui is a smaller city and the Old Street is not fare away.
Opening Hours: 09:30-22:00, Tuesday through Sunday
Admission Fee: CNY 60 (for reference)


Food

Ice Cream

It was an ice cream shop that sold 6 different flavors: vanilla and/or chocolate, green tea and/or mango, taro and/or strawberry. You may be familiar with the flavors, but it wasn't an ordinary ice cream shop.  It was a soft-serve ice cream shop that squeezes out ice cream at arm's length, literally.  If you order a large, that's practically how long the ice cream would stack up.  It didn't have the creamy consistency that you would find in typical soft-serve ice cream.  It was more of a sorbet.  But it sure was refreshing.  The small ice cream of green tea and mango is TWD 10. If you feel the need to save stomach space, you can order the small one or sharing the big one.


A-Gei

A-gei (ā gěi 阿给) are a speciality food originating from Tamsui District of New Taipei City and consists of a piece of fried tofu, stuffed with cooked Cellophane noodles, and sealed with surimi, which is widely sold by vendors in the district. The name A-gei was derived from aburaage, age, a fried and stewed Japanese tofu packet from which the A-gei is made. The individual A-gei are steamed to completion and served with either a plain soy-based or a sweet chili sauce. A-gei is commonly eaten with a bowl of stuffed fish ball soup in the winter and a glass of cold soy milk in the summer.

The a-gei was reportedly create in 1965 by Yang-Zheng Jinwen (yáng zhèng jǐn wén 杨郑锦文), who combined various food items sold at her Zhenli street (zhēn lǐ jiē 真理街) food stall to sell as a new food item. This original a-gei consisted of fried tofu that has been emptied of its center, stuffed with cellophane noodles cooked in stewed ground pork, its opening sealed and covered with a carrot and surimi mixture.


Tamsui Fish Ball

Because Tamsui is near the ocean, therefore, it is a good place to try their fish balls (鱼丸 yú wán), which are balls of fish paste stuffed with meat and garlic cooked in light broth.


Iron-hard Preserved Egg


Iron eggs (tiě dàn 铁蛋), are eggs that have been repeatedly stewed in a mix of spices and air-dried. The resulting eggs are dark brown, chewy and full of flavor compared to normal boiled eggs. The famous Iron eggs store is Grandma’s Tiedan (ā pó tiě dàn 阿婆铁蛋), which is on 135 Zhongzheng Road (Old Street).


Fish crisps

Fish crisps (yú sū 鱼酥) are fish snacks that are light crispy with a texture comparative to shrimp crackers. They are available in original and hot flavors.