Gold Ecological Park

與九份相鄰的金瓜石，是日據時代的採金重鎮，因此日本人在空間及景觀上的規劃十分的用心。從車站、醫院、郵局及派出所，還有職員宿舍等等，可以說是相當的完整。金瓜石將這些珍貴的文化資產保留了下來，並整合了自然與人文資源，將礦業遺產與生活空間一併納入，打造了一座「黃金博物園區」。

Next to Jiufen, Jinguashi was a gold mining town during the Japanese Colonial Era. The Japanese carefully designed the space and landscape. It was very comprehensive with a bus station, a hospital, a post office, a police station and miners’ lodgings. All these have been preserved very well and integrated with nature, cultural resources, mining ruins, and living spaces, forming a "Gold Ecological Park".

走進博物園區，第一個映入眼簾的，是四戶一棟型式的日式宿舍，這是國內少數保存下來的特殊規模建築，十分的珍貴。這「四連棟」，雖然是連棟式的宿舍，但在當時都屬於高階主管的家族宿舍，四戶都有各自的玄關、廚房及浴衛間等。園區以「修舊如舊」的方式進行整修，採取日本傳統工法施作，並盡可能保留原有建材。目前的四連棟，已規劃為「生活美學體驗坊」，作為展示及生活美學的體驗空間。

After entering the park, you can see the Japanese style residence which is the connected four unit Japanese style residence is one of the unique architectures preserved in Taiwan and it is very precious. Although these four residential units are connected, they all have their own living room, kitchen and bathroom. They were the executive supervisors’ residences. All these building have been remodeled based on the original look. Now these houses are the "Living Art Experience Workshop", as the space to illustrate the experience of living aesthetics.

「太子賓館」是為了迎接當時日本皇太子計劃前來金瓜石所興建的臨時行館，全部建材採用上等檜木，空間配置及格局上，皆仿照日本皇宮式樣。庭院內設有水池，花木扶疏，造景十分優美。目前園區特地開放賓館的周邊及庭園，並設立解說牌，讓民眾得以欣賞到這典雅優美的日式宮廷建築。

“Crown Prince Chalet” was a temporary house that was built for Japanese Prince at the time when he visited Jinguashi. The building was built with the finest cypress wood. It was modeled based on the Japanese Imperial Palace’s spatial configuration and pattern design. It has a gorgeous courtyard with flower ponds and filled with trees. The courtyard is opened to public with self-explainable plates on side for the visitors to enjoy the elegant look of the Japanese architecture design.

照片裡的這幢木造建築，為博物館內的餐廳，旁邊則為戶外用餐區。能在這樣的環境下用餐，感覺很棒！

The building in the photo is the restaurant inside the park. Below is the outdoor dining area. It is an awesome feeling when having a meal in this environment!

有著美麗鋼骨玻璃帷幕建築的「黃金館」，是由昔日台灣金屬礦業公司辦公室整建而成的。館內展示著採礦器具與相關文物，並介紹金瓜石礦業運輸系統。二樓則以黃金為主題，展示著黃金藝術品，並且有打破金氏世界紀錄的純金大金磚，遊客還可以親手觸摸，感受一下大金塊的魅力！

This beautiful steel glass building, "Museum of Gold" was renovated from a former Office of Taiwan Metal Mining Company. It exhibits the equipments of the mining, related items and coal mining transport system. The exhibition on the second floor has the gold art. It has the world largest gold brick that was made with 99% pure gold. It has broken the Guinness Book of World Records. Visitors can touch and feel the gold!

黃金館旁的「本山五坑」，是金瓜石至今保存最完整的礦坑。目前坑道內提供模擬實景，並開放給遊客參觀，讓遊客也能夠有機會親自深入坑道，體驗當年礦工們採礦的工作情景。

"Benshan Fifth Tunnel” is the most well preserved pit in Jinguashi. The tunnel is open to the visitor to see and feel the mining work in the past.

每個進入坑道體驗的遊客，都必須頭載安全帽，但這可不是園區用來招攬遊客的花招，而是依照坑道安全法，而必須遵守的一項規定。這也代表著，遊客們即將進入的是一個貨真價實的坑道。

The safety helmet is required for each visitor in order to enter the pit. This is a safety rule that visitor needs to comply upon entering a real pit, not a game for fooling around with.

戴上安全帽、領了派工卡後，遊客就可以沿著坑口的舊軌道步行入內。坑內的溫度較低、濕度較高，岩壁及地面皆滲著水，四周相當的昏暗，要不是有燈光的設置，還真的是伸不見五指呀！可以想見當年坑道內的工作環境是多什麼的艱辛了。

After receiving a helmet and an ID card, visitors can walk along the old rail to enter the pit. It is cool with high humidity and wet walls and floors, and without the lighting equipment, we could see nothing! Now I could feel how tough the work was like in this environment.

在坑道內的沿線設置了栩栩如生的蠟像，模擬當時礦工們的工作實景，還配上了生動的語音導覽解說，讓遊客可以藉由老礦工細心指導年輕礦工的對話，了解架牛條、爆破、清理廢石、開挖採集等等工序。

There are lifelike wax figures inside the tunnel simulated miners’ work in the past. It also has voice guided tour. Through the conversation from with an older miner to with a younger miner, I understood how the blasting, cleaning wasted rock, collecting, and excavation were done.

礦工一整天都在黑暗的坑道內，包括休息及如廁，出了坑大多也已天黑，可以說是幾乎見不到太陽相當的辛苦。

Miners work in the dark tunnel for an entire day except break and bathroom time. It was already dark outside when they finished their work. That was a tough work without seeing light the whole day.

在結束工作出坑前，每個礦工還會被安檢人員搜身，以防私自夾帶黃金。走一趟本山五坑，遊客能夠體會到礦工們的辛勞，並對採礦工作有一定程度的了解。

After the whole day’s work, miners also needed to be body inspected to see if they had stolen any gold. After the tour of the “Benshan Fifth Tunnel”, visitors definitely could feel how hard the miners’ job was like and learned the process of excavation.

逛完了坑道，可順著石階梯步行至山坡上的「黃金神社」。黃金神社是日本礦業株式會社在接管金瓜石礦山後，為求礦區產金豐足而建立的，是當時日本人的精神信仰中心。遊客可以沿著古樸石階參道，迂迴緩步而上，在前方佇立的高大烏居與沿途在側的石燈籠引領下，一步步上達主殿。

After visiting the pit, along the stone steps you would be taken to the “Golden Shrine” on the slope. “Golden Shrine” was built by Japanese Gold Mining Co. Ltd after it took over the Jinguashi mine. It was the center of the Japanese spiritual center to pray for the abundant gold excavation. Following the stone steps to go up and under the guidance of the stone lanterns will take you to the main hall.

在日據時期台灣各地都建有神社，其主要目的是日本當局為了推動殖民同化運動而興建的。台灣光復後，日本人撤離，神社遭到了嚴重的破壞，目前僅剩地基、石柱，及兩座鳥居與四座石燈。雖然社神的主體建築已不復見，但從這些遺留下來的遺跡中，仍然可以想像當年的氣勢與規模。

During Japanese Colonial Era, lots of shrines were built. They were built to promote assimilation under the Japanese authority. When Japanese withdrew after the retrocession of Taiwan, the shrine was severely damaged and only the foundation, columns, and four stone lamps can be seen now. Although the main body of the shrine has gone, we can still imagine the momentum and scale of the shrine from the remains.

屹立在山腰上黃金神社，視野展望極佳，除了可以遠眺基隆山、茶壺山外，底下的金瓜石聚落與遠方海景皆一覽無遺，站在神社上，吹風賞景相當的舒服宜人。

黃金博物園區的腹地很大，可看的東西很多，假日時還有淘金活動供遊客體驗，很適合來這裡一日遊。

Located on the hillside, the Golden Shrine provides a great view over the Keelung Mountain, Chahu Mountain, and the Jinguashi village and sea. Enjoying the scenery with a nice breeze is quite comfortable.

The Gold Ecological Park is quite large and offers lots of exhibitions. It also offers the Gold Rush activity during weekends and holidays. It is a good place for a one day trip. Read More