臺北市政府文化局

Some Taipei residents may be unaware of Sanjiaodu. Formerly a terminal for ferrying people among three locations crossing the river, it also served as a transportation hub connecting villages and providing a harbor for the boats local residents needed to make a living. However, after the first engineering works to straighten the Keelung River in 1965, use of the terminal gradually declined and the structure disappeared. Nevertheless, local fishermen still refer to this place as Sanjiaodu.

During Sanjiaodu’s heyday, over two hundred ships, some as large as 40,000 tonnes, would transport large quantities of coal upstream to Xizhi. Local residents here practically grew up drinking water from Keelung River and activities such as washing clothes, duck farming, clam digging, fishing, and shrimp catching were all part of daily life. But industrial pollution meant the community gradually moved away from the river. 

Master craftsman Liu Qingzheng, a national treasure–level dragon boat maker known as Master Zheng, once said, “When the Kuomintang government came to Taiwan, thirty to forty warships lined up below the Grand Hotel, including the Yang destroyers.”

Visitors will see several sampans and dragon boats quietly moored by the terminal, testament to the changes that have come to Sanjiaodu and the Keelung River. This space is rich in historical meaning and is one of the rare docks in Taipei where sampans can still be seen docking.