Kanjin Bridge Audio Guide

Kanjin Bridge: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Kanjin Bridge

   Welcome to Kanjin Bridge, in Daxi District, Taoyuan. The bridge is listed on Section 2 of Rui'an Road, and it belongs to a stretch of the Dahan River with a lot of character. Very little is written about this particular bridge's own construction or history. So I'll tell you the story of the place around it, and I'll make clear when I'm talking about the neighborhood and when I'm talking about the bridge itself. Here is the hook. Daxi's tourism writers describe a century-old view called "sailboats returning to Kanjin." That name ties the place you're standing in to the river's working past, when boats were part of the scenery. Today the same landscape feels quiet, with mountain valleys, rocks and bridges in sight. Let your imagination fill in the sails.

2. 02

   Sailboats Returning to Kanjin

   Picture Daxi a hundred years ago. Today it is known for mountain valleys, rocks and bridges, but back then the area was famous for a scene of sailboats coming home to Kanjin. It was celebrated enough to earn its own poetic name, one of those labels that tells you people stopped and looked at this stretch of water and found it beautiful. That name matters because it shows how the river shaped Daxi. The Dahan River was once a place of travel and of views, and today it is a place for strolling and cycling. If you stand quietly here, the breeze and the open sky make it easy to imagine the past.

3. 03

   A Neighborhood of Bridges

   Kanjin Bridge is part of a small family of crossings along the Dahan River at Daxi. Its neighbors include Wuling Bridge and the better-known Daxi Bridge. Daxi Bridge has Kanjin Bridge on one side and Wuling Bridge on the other, so the three belong to one riverside landscape. The neighboring Daxi Bridge has a well-recorded story, and it gives you a sense of what bridges have meant here. It was completed in 1934, and the first version was made with bamboo sticks and rocks. It was an important gateway to the outside world, and it fostered friendship between residents on both sides of the river. Under Japanese rule it was rebuilt as a steel suspension bridge 280 meters long. After Wuling Bridge and a second outer ring road were built, Daxi Bridge gradually declined. In 2001 it was turned into a steel and concrete bridge 330 meters long, standing on 13 sturdy pillars. That is Daxi Bridge's story, not Kanjin Bridge's, but it shows how the river crossings here rose and fell with the roads around them.

4. 04

   Daxi Old Street and the Riverside Views

   From this riverside, you are close to one of Daxi's best-loved destinations, Daxi Old Street. Daxi Bridge links Section 1 of Rui'an Road with the old street. Weekend visitors come there to explore local culture and food, and the bridge's Baroque style echoes the residences along the street. If you walk over to Daxi Bridge, you will find benches where you can rest and look out at Shimen Reservoir and Guanyinshan in the distance. The bridge is known for its sunsets, and its cables are lit at night, which makes the Dahan River even more beautiful. The bridge also carries the Dahan River Leftbank Bikeway, which is open to both cyclists and pedestrians. It is also known as the Lover's Bridge.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Kanjin Bridge doesn't give up its history easily, and that is part of its charm. The name itself keeps alive a lost picture of sailboats coming home, and it invites you to look at the river with a little more curiosity. Before you move on, pause and listen to the river and the breeze. Then decide whether to wander toward Daxi Bridge and Daxi Old Street to see how the wider story fits together. Notice how the bridges, the water and the hills frame each other, and ask yourself what a sailboat would have seen from here.