Su'ao Cold Spring Park Introduction
The unique "Number One Strange Spring in the World," Su'ao Cold Spring is located in the northern part of Su'ao Township and is one of the two natural underground treasures of the Lanyang Plain, alongside Jiaoxi Hot Spring. It is said that in the early days, the people in the Su'ao area often found insects dead in the cold spring water and mistakenly believed that the spring water was toxic, thus they dared not approach it. During the Japanese colonial period, the first Governor-General of Taiwan, Sejiro Hashimoto, took a bath in the Su'ao Cold Spring while on an expedition to Nanao, and he felt incredibly refreshed after bathing, both physically and mentally invigorated. A Japanese soldier named Nobuyuki Takenaka, due to military travel, also felt revitalized after drinking from the cold spring! After retiring, Takenaka settled in Su'ao Township and began researching the composition of the cold spring, ultimately confirming that it was not toxic and even had special therapeutic effects, a point of pride for the local community until today. It is said that frequent soaking in Su'ao Cold Spring is beneficial for the skin, regarded as a natural beauty secret among local women, and it is also helpful for stomach and lung ailments, as well as conditions like kidney stones, bladder stones, gout, diabetes, and various chronic obesity issues. Interestingly, not only did Takenaka prove the therapeutic effects of the cold spring, but he also recognized the abundant carbon dioxide and refreshing unique taste of the spring. He opened Taiwan's first soda factory, "Qixingtian Soda Factory," at the foot of Qixing Mountain, producing the widely popular and trendy "marble soda." The Japanese businessman Shinichi Nakamura also utilized the characteristics of the cold spring to set up a factory near the Bai Mi Bridge to make "yokan." Although marble soda is no longer produced, "yokan" remains a representative specialty of Su'ao Cold Spring. The Su'ao Cold Spring is characterized by a constant temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, which is a "low-temperature mineral spring," formed by the abundant rainfall in Yilan and the thick limestone terrain of Su'ao. The spring water is colorless and odorless, with transparent quality, and bubbles occasionally emerge from the ground, making it a carbonated spring suitable for bathing and drinking. Due to the continuous fine bubbles rising from the bottom of the pool, it feels like soaking in sugar-free soda, which is quite special.
