Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office

Taipei City’s hill slopes are endowed with beautiful scenery and a magnificent view. To allow the public to view and learn about the overall environment of the recreational spots online, so that they may make informed decisions on choosing leisure locations, the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO), Public Works Department, Taipei City Government has, for the first time, developed a 720 degree panoramic virtual tour website. This site allows the public to experience the locations online as if they are actually there; it is now open for use!

The GEO says that Taipei City’s five mountain ranges are rich in ecological, scenic, topographical and cultural resources, and each has its own characteristics. To facilitate residents in planning their recreational itineraries, the Office has made unprecedented use of information technology in combining local characteristics, humanities and history, and has launched 4 featured services, capturing 11 themed attractions with “multi coated fisheye lens”. The public now has access to panoramic views of Taipei’s recreational areas, such as: Xiaoxitou, Baishihu (White Stone Lake) agricultural and recreational area at Neihu, Camphor Trail, Bihu Trail, 3 scenic areas and 2 camping sites.

Take the Camphor Trail in Wenshan District for example, from Maokong Station’s exit square, one can have a 720 degree view of the station and the tea leaf-shaped viewing pavilion. A 2 minute walk from Maokong Station takes one to the old-time charcoal kiln and pigsty. Following the Camphor Trail, one can enjoy a country walk with bullock cart, barn, cloud pavilion and the ecology pond’s waterwheel along the way.

Section Chief Li Zheng-Li of the GEO’s Planning Section says that at present, 11 attractions have been uploaded to the 720 degree panoramic virtual tour website (http://tcgemis.taipei.gov.tw/720/index720.html (中文網)). The navigation is simple and the public can have the system automatically take them on a virtual tour, or manually do so themselves, to help with their itinerary planning. All are welcome to make full use of it.