Shimen Reservoir

In other countries, a reservoir is normally for water storage but not a tourism attraction. Foreigner would hardly be interested to come over and have a look on these places. However, it is a bit different in Taiwan. Lots of Taiwanese would camp for a night next to Wushantou Dam (烏山頭水庫) in Tainan. Fishing above Sun Moon Lake Dam (日月潭水庫) is popular among fanatics of this hobby as well. Such fashion of doing recreation activities around dams is originated from Shimen Reservoir. This reservoir, which is constructed in Taoyuan has put in service and supplied water to northern Taiwan for more than a half century. In autumn and winter, wide variety of birds are attracted here for the around flourishing forest. Along Maple Wood Pathway (楓林步道), about 3,000 maple trees were planted more than 30 years ago. Every autumn, lots of tourists are attracted to this pathway for its fame and the maple. Because this majestic reservoir is in a height of more than 100 meters, whenever it has to discharge the surging flood after being struck by typhoon, many people come here just to watch the scene. If coming with family, you could consider to take a boat trip around the lake and end the day with a nice meal at nearby seafood restaurant. Shaguo yutou (砂鍋魚頭, fish head casserole) and hongshaoyu (紅燒魚, braised fish in red sauce) here are famous for a story: due to construction project, plenty workers decided to reside here. Later, one of them opened a restaurant featured at fresh fish from reservoir. This restaurant has become famous and blew up a trend of fish dishes around here. Nevertheless, because Taiwan would be hit by typhoon three to four times annually, plentiful rainwater brings sand and mud, resulting in gradual deposition at bottom of reservoir. Currently, its capacity remains only half as scheduled. If the situation keeps deteriorating, the dam would face risk of collapsing.

In Taiwan, if you notice a male forget to zip up his trousers in public area, you could remind him by whispering, “you forgot to shut your Shimen Reservoir” as a polite notification. This phrase was based on a story: during quiz section of a beauty contest, the host asked a contestant with question “what will you do if you find someone forget to zip his trousers?”, and the beauty resolved the challenge wisely and humorously with this reply. Since then, this slang has spread over Taiwan.