Qijin District, Kaohsiung
The island Qijin, also Cijin (Chinese旗津 区, pinyin Qijin Qū, Tongyong Pinyin Cijin Cyu, PEH oē - jī Ki- tin khu ) is a district of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan. Are large segments of the Port of Kaohsiung between island and downtown. History a nucleus of the future town, the island is now also a major tourism destination for the inhabitants of Kaohsiung as well as for out of town guests. The population was 29 468 Qijins people in December 2012.
Location and transport
Qijin located upstream in the southwest of the city of Kaohsiung. Besides the elevated northern tip, a former coral reef, the rest Qijins emerged offshore sand bank from one of the coast and therefore very flat. The approximately 8.5 km long and an average of about 400 m wide island runs from northwest to southeast almost parallel to municipalities Gushan, Yancheng, Qianzhen and Xiaogang. Between the island and the opposite bank of wide sections of the Kaohsiunger port and it is a busy waterway. West of the island extends the Taiwan Strait.
At the northern tip Qijin is only about 130 meters away from the other bank. This passage forms the northern Kaohsiung harbor entrance. At this peak is also the highest with 48 m point of the island, on which a lighthouse is located. Slightly below the harbor entrance runs a ferry service between Qijin and the District of Gushan. At the southern end of the shortest distance to the opposite bank is about 400 m. Here, the island is connected by a subsea tunnel for motor vehicles with the district Xiaogang.
History
Qijin was originally a peninsula connected to the southern tip with her opposite side of the city. In earlier times, only occasionally dock for fishermen, merchants or pirates, Qijin was indelibly marked by the Chinese mainland and populated with a fixed port until the time of Dutch rule over Taiwan ( 1624-1662 ). This settlement formed the nucleus of the later city of Kaohsiung.
The importance of the port grew continuously in the following centuries. Called because the hill to the north (Chinese旗山Qishan, literally " Flag Mountain ) " with a: the time of the Qing Dynasty, the peninsula was Qihou ( " behind the flag lying " Chinese旗 后or旗 后, literally) on the flat rest of the peninsula " sported " flag compared. In 1883 a first lighthouse was built on the hill, which was replaced 1916-1918 by the Japanese colonialists by a more modern. Among the Japanese, the peninsula also received its present name.
For a long time remained Qijin the most populous part of the city of Kaohsiung, but with the increasing industrialization of the hinterland during the Japanese rule and the period after the Second World War, the focus Kaohsiung increasingly shifted into the interior. In today's megacity Qijin is one of the districts with the lowest population numbers. The inhabitants are partly still employed by the port industry and fisheries, but more recently taking tourism as a source of income rapidly in importance.
The southern land connection between Qijin and the rest of the city was demolished in 1967 to create an additional entrance to the port of Kaohsiung. Only since Qijin is a real island.
Tourism
Qijin is now one of the most popular attractions of Kaohsiung citizens and foreign guests. The most famous sights are originally from the Japanese colonial period 11 m high lighthouse on the northern tip and the Built 1673 Tianhou Gong (popularly Mazu miao, " Mazutempel ", called ), a Taoist goddess Mazu temple sacred in the 1673 by the first Chinese settlers from Fujian entrained wood figure of the goddess is seen.
Other attractions of the island include the here observed sunsets, the view, with which it ships serving the offers from the lighthouse on the opposite city and the strait, further comprising a voltage applied by the northern hills to the harbor entrance leading tunnel and new bike and walking trails along the western waterfront. To the northwest is a small sandy beach with swimming area. On the main street leading from the ferry to the beach there are a variety of stalls, food stalls and some restaurants. Here especially all kinds of seafood are offered.
Islands in the South China Sea
Some islands and a reef in the South China Sea, which are controlled by the Republic of China belong to the administrative district Qijin, namely the Dongsha Islands, Taiping Dao and the Zhongzhou Reef.
Gallery
Template: Panorama/Wartung/Para4
View of the north west side beach
Look at Qijin at night, in the background the city of Kaohsiung
Ferry to Qijin
The ferry dock
Ferry and Pier