Qualla: Chengcing Lake

Chengcing Lake: Introduction

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Born2bdigital304, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Bridge of Nine Turns was built in 1960, zigzagging across the water in right angles because straight lines, according to Chinese tradition, allow evil spirits to travel too easily. Whether the bridge was doing its job spiritually is uncertain, but the lake it crosses has accumulated a remarkable density of history for a reservoir in the Kaohsiung suburbs. Chengcing Lake — also called Cheng Ching Lake, Dabei Lake, or Toapi Lake in Taiwanese — is an artificial lake in Niaosong District, about twelve kilometers from downtown Kaohsiung, and it holds more than water.

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Image: Born2bdigital304 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Chengcing Lake: A Lake Built for a City

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 阿道, CC BY-SA 4.0. Chengcing Lake is not a natural feature. It was constructed to supply water to the Kaohsiung region, and for much of its history that utilitarian purpose defined it. The lake's position in the flat suburban landscape between Kaohsiung and Fengshan made it a convenient reservoir, ...

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Image: 阿道 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Chengcing Lake: The Tunnel Under the Lake

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 阿道, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1961, workers bored a tunnel system into the lakeshore — not for drainage or utility, but as a nuclear-hardened underground military headquarters for Chiang Kai-shek, the Republic of China's president and military commander. The facility was designed to survive an attack and a...

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Image: 阿道 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Chengcing Lake: The Bridge, the Pagoda, and the Island

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kaoshiung panorama.jpg: Rubendene derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי, CC0. The park surrounding the lake rewards slow exploration. The Bridge of Nine Turns, completed in 1960, stretches 230 meters across the water at 2.5 meters wide — nine right-angled turns making it difficult to walk quickly, which may be the point. The Zhongxing Pagoda stands as the ...

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Image: Kaoshiung panorama.jpg: Rubendene derivative work: ויקיג'אנקי | CC0

Chengcing Lake: Chiang's Chateau

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA, CC BY 2.0. A chateau associated with Chiang Kai-shek stands within the gated park area near the lake. Properties like this — presidential guesthouses, retreats, and command facilities — dot Taiwan's landscape from that era, each one a reminder of the decades of authoritarian rule that gave ...

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Image: Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA | CC BY 2.0

Chengcing Lake: The Lake Today

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 阿道, CC BY-SA 4.0. Chengcing Lake Scenic Area functions today as a popular weekend destination for Kaohsiung residents — families on the Bridge of Nine Turns, visitors climbing the pagoda for views, school groups touring the aquarium in the old bunker. The water itself remains part of Kaohsiung's s...

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Image: 阿道 | CC BY-SA 4.0