Jibei Island Introduction
Jibei Island covers an area of approximately 3.1 square kilometers and has a coastline of about 13 kilometers. It is the largest island in the North Sea and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taiwan. The terrain of the island is characterized by a high eastern section and a low western section, featuring beautiful beaches and sandbars formed by marine accumulation, which are the island's most significant geographical features. The beach is located in the southwestern part of the island and extends southward from Xikanshan Mountain. At the end of the beach, a sandbar stretches into the sea due to the effects of ocean currents, measuring about 800 meters in length and up to 200 meters in width at its widest point. Around the island, many small stone fishing traps, known as stony weirs, have been artificially scattered, with a peak of over 200 traps in the past, but only 88 remain today. The island is about 5 nautical miles from Chikan and takes approximately 20 minutes to reach by boat. Jibei Island is not only one of the fishing grounds in northern Penghu, but it also features significant tidal differences and a vast intertidal zone. Early settlers observed the ecological behaviors of fish and used the tidal differences for fishing, building stone traps from the basalt and coral reefs around the area during the low tide. Historical records show that during the Qing Dynasty in the Qianlong period, Jibei had one large weir and four small weirs, indicating the construction of stone weirs existed well before that time. The stone weirs in the waters surrounding Jibei are dense, and the remaining 88 weirs account for nearly one-seventh of the more than 580 stone weirs in the entire county. During low tide, it is possible to walk from the small local area known as Rengwanzi to the northwestern part of the island where Guoyangyu is located. The coasts on both the east and west sides of Rengwanzi are densely packed with around 40 stone weirs, which represent about half of Jibei’s stone weirs. This unique cultural landscape formed by residents utilizing the intertidal zone with basalt to create fishing traps is one of Jibei Island's distinctive features. The popular Taiwanese idol drama "Dolphin Bay Lovers" featured the place where Zeya (played by Hsu Shao-yang) encounters Yi Tianbian (played by Zhang Shao-han) in Dolphin Bay, which is Jibei's Shawai. "Have you heard the legend of the dolphins? According to the legend, dolphins once held a steel ring to help a pair of separated lovers reunite, and from then on became the guardian of love! In Dolphin Bay, there is a story of love and legend!" The airing of this drama attracted many fans to visit the location. The boat house where Yi Tianbian and Xu Zeya meet for the first time, Yi Tianbian's family noodle shop, and the Dolphin Bay bus stop are all focal points captured by fans. Are you one of them? When you visit Jibei Island, besides experiencing the beach at Jibei Shawai and fantasizing about the boat house scenes, don’t forget to explore the community to find the home of the female lead, Yi Tianbian. If you take photos, feel free to share them with us! Additionally, the music video for "Forget" by the healing song singer Xin Xiaoqi was also filmed in Jibei, showcasing the vibrant and colorful summer unique to Penghu. The popular "Da Ren Ge" – Chen Bolin and Ke Youlun filmed a "7-ELEVEN" promotional advertisement in 2006, featuring scenes of the two riding a motorcycle with clouds drifting in the sky and jumping into the crystal-clear water, all of which were shot in Jibei.
