Yesterday, the coast of Hualien, a city in eastern Taiwan, was the largest earthquake this year, with a magnitude of 6.7 and a focal depth of 24 kilometers. There have been casualties. Chihsingtan, the most famous tourist attraction in the coastal area of Hualien, also experienced the earthquake. After the earthquake, I don't know that the beautiful Qixingtan can still remain as it is.
Hualien is located on the long and narrow east coast of Baodao, close to the Pacific Ocean. It is the largest county in Taiwan Province. In the past, due to inconvenient transportation, Hualien was also one of the last places in Taiwan to be immigrated by Han people. It was called "Qilai" in ancient times. Hualien County is sandwiched between Taiwan's central mountain range and the vast Pacific Ocean. The narrowest point in the east-west direction is only 27 kilometers, while the north-south direction is 142 kilometers long.
Hualien's geographical location is just right on the junction of the Eurasian plate and the Philippine plate, and earthquakes have been frequent in history. According to historical records, in 1920, a magnitude 8 earthquake occurred in the waters of Hualien, and in the past five years, there have been 14 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above in Hualien. Yesterday's magnitude 6.7 earthquake was the largest in recent years.
Hualien, the "city by the sea", has many scenic spots, such as Taroko Grand Canyon, Baiyang Waterfall, Shitiping, etc. Among them, the most beautiful coastal scenery is "Qixingtan". This bay, which is more than 20 kilometers long, overlooks the famous "Qingshui Cliff". At night, you can enjoy the lights of the nearby Xincheng and Chongde areas. Even if you look at the stars on the beach, it is also one of the best places in Taitung.
Qixingtan is located in Beipu Village, Xincheng Township, Hualien, next to Hualien Airport. This bag-like bay has blue waters and long sandy beaches. From the shore to the sea, it has a width of more than 100 meters. In addition, the beach is covered with gravel. It is a famous gravel beach in Taiwan. Many tourists come to the beach of Qixingtan to pick up stones, because these gravels washed by the sea for many years have various shapes and of course rich colors.
The name is "Qixingtan", but when tourists come here, they can only see the vast sea, and there is no "water pool" at all. It turns out that in the past, there were small lakes and small pools of different sizes in this place near the sea, dotted all over the seaside. It is similar to the stars in the sky, so it was named "Qixingtan".
When the Japanese invaded and occupied Taiwan, they filled up all the pools and lakes to build Hualien Airport. Even the aborigines who originally lived on the edge of Qixingtan were moved to the other side of the bay, so people can no longer see the beautiful water pool, leaving only the beautiful name "Qixingtan".
So the current Qixingtan, more precisely, is a beautiful bay. There are bicycle lanes, Nanbin Park, Stone Sculpture Park, Star Appreciation Square, Sun View Building and other landscapes on the bay for people to come to the seaside for leisure and play. In addition to people coming here to pick up stones, there are also people who come here to watch planes take off and land at Hualien Airport. Because the end of the runway of the airport is on the seaside of Chihsingtan, but there are very few planes taking off and landing at Hualien Airport every day, it is rare to see the fuselage of the plane passing over the heads of people playing on the beach.
As a scenic spot in Hualien, tourists not only like to ride the waves on the beach, but also have a childlike innocence and like to build stones on the gravel beach. Pick up seven round stones and build them in the shape of a pagoda from large to small. When the sea breeze blows, the "stone pagoda" cannot fall. Because the force points of the circular stones are inconsistent, it takes a lot of skill to build a "stone tower" successfully. If you walk on the beach, you can see "stone towers" built by others everywhere, erected on the beach one by one.
If there were no earthquakes, Chihsingtan in Hualien must be an excellent leisure place. Come here to watch the sea, ride the waves, stroll, even pick up stones and build pagodas. I hope this earthquake did not add "scars" to the beautiful Qixingtan. About the author: Lu Jianhua Photography (photographer, traveler, self-media person)