Taiwan: Day 7 Dongbeijiao 东北角 & Jinguashi 金瓜石

After lunch at the scenic spot, we continue to explore the coastline, for more scenic spots.

Dongbeijiao (东北角), is like the Taiwan version of Great Ocean Road in Melbourne. It is a nice place to visit, and capture the nice views with your own eyes. Cameras do capture moments, cameras do have panorama setting, but sometimes, you still need to enjoy with your eyes. 

2 cute whales. May be a good spot for proposal. XDOne of the spot, but we did not explore. Car just slowly passed by and we could take photos. 

Nice view of Dongbeijiao (东北角)

Then, we had a little walk to The Placard Longdong Bay Cape scenic spot (龙洞湾岬观景区) for some photos. It was drizzling when we reach the parking spot. >.<

LET'S WALK!!

Look at the deep blue sea!

At first I thought that was our lunch spot -- BUT NO. 

Some description of this scenic spot.

It was very windy. Look at the grasses! (Can't feel? I have more evidence)

Gate is the photoboom.

Windy #1~~ Rain Drops~~
But the view was amazing!

Windy #2. Still can smile happily and pose huh.....

Windy #3. Wind is really annoying. >.<
Uncle endanger himself to take this group photo. He stood at a very sloppy spot. Awww.....

Windy #4. Now that I can open my eyes, my hair lost control. Arghhhhh.....

Ah well, this is not my first time taking photos under windy and rainy weather. So I can tolerate the frustration of being ugly in photos. Strong Wind -- the most problematic photoboom.

We need to cross this little "jungle" to the scenic spot and every place is a photoshoot place.
Wrong attire for jungle trekking.
 Lesson learnt: Know where you want to visit and plan your attire. 

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Next stop: Shuinandong Yin Yang Sea @ Jinguashi (阴阳海@金瓜石)

Look at the yellow + blue sea --> Yinyang Sea (阴阳海)

This Yinyang Sea is located near Shuinandong in Rueifang Township. This phenomenon gets its name due to the intense contrast between the yellowish-brown water in the bay and the azure blue water toward the open sea. It is one of the unique sits of Taiwan's Northeast Coast. Although the water in the Yinyang Sea is yellowish-brown, the water 3 meters below the surface is still blue, which is what causes this distinctive sight.

Most people assume that the colored water is waste water from a factory (as this is the area of gold mining), but that assumption is actually not true. It is in fact the natural runoff from a special geological feature nearby. The rock around Jinguashih (金瓜石) contains large amounts of iron pyrite and the Northeast Cape is a very rainy area --> Hence, rain water enteres the rock and leaches out iron hydroxide, which stains the runoff a yellowish-brown colour.

How the yinyang effect is created? The yellowish iron hydroxide-laden water floats on the surface of the sea when it reaches the ocean. The water by the bay does not mix readily and thus the phenomenon of the Yinyang Sea is created. ~~ (Information from Taiwan Government website)

Chemical reaction involved! That really amazed me. =)

Closer look at the Yinyang Sea (阴阳海). W-O-W!

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NEXT STOP: Shuinandong Smelter (a.k.a Remains of the 13 Levels) 水湳洞精炼厂/十三层 

Uncle asked us to guess what was the function of this building and we all failed to answer. We thought of Prison and Castle XD

This building is actually the smelter, also called "13 stories" (十三层). It was the ore sorting and smleting plant for the Taiwan Metals Mining Corp. It was an important facility in the gold making process. It was built in 1933 and now resembles another neglected Pompeii, bearing witness to the large scale of mining industry in "gold mountain" in times gone by, an industry hoping for an opportunity to live again ~ (Information from Wikipedia)

The Shuinandong Smelter was built during the Japanese Colonial Era for refining gold and copper ore which were abundant in the area. Because it was also used in the screening and selection process of high quality ores, it was also called the Mine Selection Plan. ~~ (information from roundTAIWANround, to read more please click here)

Tourist must take photos at historical places! 

After reading about this building, I'm thankful that uncle did not skip this tourist spot. 
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NEXT STOP: Golden Waterfall 黄金瀑布

This waterfall is so unique and look so fake. Unbelievable nice, but Shifen Waterfall still win.
(To read about Shifen Waterfall, please refer to my previous blog post. Click here for the link.)

About Golden Waterfall: it is located along the Jinshui Highway near the Jinguashih mining area, also appears in golden-yellow colour due to the large quantities of iron in the stream water. The iron minerals have been oxidized to a golden-yello sand, which accumulates in the stream bed. This sand sparkles like gold in the sunlight, giving the waterfall its name. ~~ (Information from Taiwan Government site)

Jiemin and I, with a little bit of gold waterfall as background. =D

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NEXT STOP: Randomly stopped by after passing snake highway to take a look at Yinyang Sea, from a different angle.

This is a very unique bay -- agree?

The snake highway! Definitely a great spot for people to drift (飘移). LOL

A pavilion at where we randomly stop. So traditional!

This is Keelung Mountain. From this view, it looks like a pregnant lady.
IMAGINATION TIME AGAIN!!

More about Day 7 & Day 8 will be up soon! I'm rushing to finish up Taiwan Trip. Took too long to update!! XD