Daan Waterway

Introduction

Daan Waterway, formerly known as Daan Steep Waterway, is located on Bai Ji and most of the region is located on the Tucheng District in New Taipei City of Taiwan, where some lower reach passes by some areas of Banqiao District. This was an irrigation waterway system excavated in 1736.  Chinese Han Lin,Cheng-Zu migrated to Taiwan and developed the waterway with initial intention to allow the water of Dahan River to flow through farmlands in Tucheng and Banqiao, supplying water to the Hans immigrants who had acquired the license for reclamation of farmland.

Reference:Wikipedia

Daan Waterway Excavation

Daan Waterway was excavated by Lin,Cheng-Zu in 1735 and completed in 1757 with a project cost of 50,000. Acarcia or hackberry trees were planted on the bank of the waterway as protection.  Lin,Cheng-Zu came to Taiwan in 1747 and worked as an interpreter in Dajia. He earned money from renting farm land for cultivation and then excavated Dajia Waterway with an annual income of ten thousands of units of Dan. His family prospered and then he went northward to excavate Daan Waterway.  Lin,Cheng-Zu faced opposition from Pingpu Tribe in Bai Ji at initial stage of excavating Daan Waterway and could not reach any progress. At the time a plaque became prevalent and many people from the tribe died.  Lin,Cheng-Zu participated in the relief and saved numerous people. The tribe leader appreciated his efforts and had his daughter marry him. Daan Waterway was then excavated with success after the tribe and the Hans became relatives.

   

   

Reference: Glamor of the Century-Tucheng Art and Culture

Water under the bridge

In recent years, the development of industry and business leads to the gradual erosion of farmland acreage by apartments and industrial plants. Consequently farmland drastically shrinks while Daan Waterway also loses its function eventually. An investigation reveals that the acreage for irrigation in the 1950s was 1,672 hectares, 1,084 hectares in 1970, 251 hectares in 1984, 145 hectares in 1994, and less than 20 hectares today. However a rare image of captured when the student from Dingpu Elementary school was helping the student's mother with agricultural work during a recent visit to the farmland.

   

   

Butterfly Walkway of Daan Waterway

To find this secret Butterfly Walkway, follow Lane 34, Alley 321 of Section 4 of Zhongyan Road in Tucheng, pass by a small bridge and the trail ahead of the tunnel leads to the Butterfly Walkway. This walkway was built by the Tucheng Dingxin Community Development Association. Association Chairperson Mr. Ci-Chuang Xu mentioned that he led the community residents to jointly build an ecology trail along Daan Waterway in order to promote the overall community building. Chairperson Ci-Chuang Xu led the volunteers to plant many Taiwan epidemic species and nectariferous plants on the sides of the 1.3Km long walkway to attract the butterflies. One will see twelve kinds of spotted butterflies, white butterflies and coppers as well as other insect such as rhinoceros beetle, dragonflies and damselflies when walking on this walkway in the right season will. This area has a diversity of ecology.

   

The Butterfly Walkway next to Daan Waterway is secluded and pleasant; it is  the private scenic area for the communities nearby.