1.Background
The Taijiang National Park Management Office (hereinafter referred to as TNPMO) was officially established on December 28, 2009, becoming the eighth national park of Taiwan as well as the “back garden” in the eyes of the people of Tainan. The back garden of the TNPMO is the Taijiang Academy Embankment, which is a waterfront greenway along the Yanshui River and Chianan Irrigation Canals. Since the opening of the Taijiang Academy in 2016, the TNPMO has facilitated the construction of a green belt around the Taijiang Academy starting from 2017, to comprehensively improve the quality of the surrounding ecological environment.
2. Design and Planning
In order to improve the overall landscape of the surrounding area of Taijiang Academy, TNPMO selected the waterfront greenway adjacent to the back embankment of Taijiang Academy as a key area to allocate funds for construction and enhancement year by year. The planning and design of the greenway are based on the concept of “Faces of Taijiang.” The Taijiang Academy Waterfront Greenway was completed in late 2019 (running approximately 700 meters from the Sicao Bridge to the northern end of Taijiang Academy). Construction costs amounted to NTD$8.5 million in 2017, NTD$4 million in 2018, and NTD$8.5 million in 2019).
The planning and design concept is based on the pivotal role Taijiang played as a gateway to Tainan since ancient times, combined with the core positioning of Taijiang Academy in environmental education. The waterfront greenway is positioned as a trail guiding visitors on a journey through the Sicao area, and the whole line is divided into three distinct phases; “preface” (from Sicao Bridge down to Dayuan Port ), the “main text” (behind the main embankment of Taijiang Academy), and the “final chapter” (the fishpond at the northern end of Taijiang Academy), leading tourists to learn about the rich ecology and culture of the area bit by bit while roaming the trail. Following the stroll, drawing on towards the final chapter is akin to visitors reading the full introduction of Taijiang, and then getting a preliminary yet comprehensive understanding of the surrounding area.
3. Expected benefits
Taijiang Academy Waterfront Greenway was completed on November 4, 2019, and was classified as a Class A project by the Ministry of the Interior’s Engineering Construction Inspection Team on November 18, with multiple recreational landscape platforms set up along the route to provide visitors with expansive views overlooking the sceneries of the Taiwan Strait, the banks of Yanshui River and the estuaries of the Chianan Irrigation Canal. The rich ecology of the area is epitomized in designs of two pavilions inspired by the "Black-faced Spoonbill" and "Pied avocet," two of the “Three Treasures of the Taijiang River.” From the two pavilions, visitors can relax and observe the oyster breeding grounds and aquaculture industry of Sicao as well as a stone stele inscribed with the characters “Taijiang Inland Sea”, which is witness to the rich history and evolving geographical changes of the area. Visitors are welcome to visit the “back garden” of Taijiang Academy to experience the "Faces of Taijiang."