Chueming Mine Introduction
Located in Gongguan Mining Village, it is the birthplace of petroleum in Taiwan. The earliest discovery of oil in Taiwan occurred in the 22nd year of the Jiaqing era (1813), at the site of the "Chuhuang坑 No. 1 Well," about eighty meters in front of the main entrance of Chuhuang坑. This was the first well drilled by the Japanese. Due to the abundant oil sources in Chuhuang坑, the Japanese drilled a total of 99 wells. The name Chuhuang坑 was given because locals discovered a liquid of sulfur color bubbling up from below the ground; they did not realize it was crude oil and assumed it was sulfur, hence the name "Chuhuang坑." This site is the earliest and also the most important petroleum mining area in Taiwan, geologically belonging to an anticline structure, with the central part being the highest and the wings sloping outward, trapping the oil and gas within the structure, which are extracted through oil wells. The wings of the Chuhuang坑 anticline are made up of alternating soft and hard sandstone and shale. The geological structure, stratigraphy, and paleobiological research in this area make it a typical location in Taiwan that geology students should definitely visit! The China National Petroleum Corporation has also marked the geological layers of the Houlong Creek Valley in the southern part of this township along the roadside, making it a great outdoor geological teaching site. The mining area of Chuhuang坑 is brilliantly illuminated at night, with bright lights shining; to the left is a farm, and the scenery is extremely beautiful, earning it the nickname "Night Hong Kong."
