From Fugui Cape to Shimen Arch

As with Linshan Cape and Baishawan, the destinations in this section are all within Shimen District, named after our last district stop, the Shimen (“Stone Gate”) Arch.

Fugui Cape is the island of Taiwan’s northernmost point. The compact Fuji Fishing Harbor is found at the cape’s west-side base. Known for ultra-fresh seafood, the narrow roads leading up away from the waterfront are packed like a sardine can with simple restaurants. The wide-ranging edible marine harvest includes curiosities such as roe, sea cucumbers, urchins, and varied seaweeds. If desired you can point out your food, still swimming in tanks at the eatery’s front, before sitting down. The local fishery association has also developed a comely sales center displaying high-quality products available to individual consumers.

The octagonal Fugui Cape Lighthouse is in a windswept park that takes up the majority of the cape, with paved paths leading to scenic outlooks. The lighthouse itself is on a small air force radar base, with access limited to weekends. The original phare here, constructed in 1896, was destroyed by the Allies for strategic reasons during World War II. The current edition, erected in 1949, has conspicuous blackand-white stripes for augmented discernment in fog.

One of the distinctive natural features that will prominently feature in the photos you take when meandering the park are ventifacts – i.e., here, large shoreline rocks peculiarly “decorated” by the artist Mother Nature using wind-driven sand. And just south of this bulging water’s-edge collection, at the cape’s east-side base you’ll find an assemblage of sand dunes. This is the start of Laomei Bay These are backed by a mini-forest of stunted “wind-cut” trees, and the dunes themselves are populated by resilient deep-rooted beach plants that help to hold the dunes in place.

The iconic visual at Laomei Bay, however, is the mystical, magical Laomei Green Reef. The material that constitutes the reef is derived from Yangmingshan’s past volcanic activity. Over time the sea has eroded soft sections, leaving a pattern of long, zigzagging, roughly parallel trenches. During the northeast monsoon season from February through May, wave action brings in sea lettuce and green hair algae, turning the reef formation a lush green. This magnetic coloring, matched with the changing palette of blues/greens/grays in the sea beyond, in turn brings in steady waves of photographers. (Note: Walking on the reef is not permitted, for eco-protection reasons.)

The Shimen Arch stands right beside the coastal highway. This is a massive block of conglomerate rock through which wind and primarily tidal-wave erosion long ago carved a cave-like doorway 10m tall. Tectonic activity has brought the block inland and about 2m up from the water’s level. The “Stone Gate” name was bestowed by the area’s Han Chinese settlers in the Qing Dynasty. Steps lead up to the top of the arch, where you’ll find sea-view seating and the remains of a military gun emplacement.

Northernmost

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