The Seaside Skywalk allows people to enjoy the landscapes of the mangrove forest and wetland ecology up close. Along the Seaside Skywalk, there is a sunset watching platform, a bird watching pavilion, and a benthic environment observation platform. Walking along the Seaside Skywalk, finally, visitors will arrive at Fangyuan Sea Dike. It is a major sightseeing route for visiting the mangrove forest, inter-tidal zone, and seaside ecological environment. The whole trip takes about an hour.
Fangyuan Wetland is located in the Erlin River estuary, where seawater, river water, and sand meet and mix, forming a mud and sand beach. This gives the impression that it is dirty. Because of this, people call it “black land”. There are surprises when walking along the trail. During the ebb, people can see sea creatures, such as sentinel crabs and mud skippers, and the mangrove forest, composed of black mangrove and kandelia, at a close distance. When people are lucky enough, they may also encounter small egrets, cattle egrets, and other kinds of birds at the bird watching pavilion too.
Composed of a mangrove forest and a mud beach, Fangyuan Wetland cultivates rich bird resources. In the mangrove forest, the major bird species is Ardeidae, including egrets, cattle egrets, black-crowned night herons, grey herons, etc. The mangrove forest also provides an ideal place for birds as their habitat and mating ground. During the mating season from March to May every year, we can see these birds flying into the mangrove forest carrying branches in their mouths to build nests there.
On the mud beach of Fangyuan Wetland, snails, such as zoned ceriths, jade snails, periwinkles, etc, are the major benthic creatures there. Regarding crustaceans, there are plenty of grapsid crab, sentinel crabs, red mangrove crabs, hermit crabs, etc. Peanut worms are one of the major soil animals in the mangrove forest. Ragworm is a kind of polychaete worm, is frequently seen here. In the far end of the mangrove forest and the dike, duck lantern clams can be found occasionally. Near the shore, red-mouthed clams, surf clams, white clams, etc, are frequently seen.
During the ebb, the puddles in the intertidal zone provide temporary habitats for coastal creatures that cannot survive drought. It is also an ideal habitat for fiddler crabs and mud skippers. Serving as an ideal education venue for mangrove forests, there are low railings along the path on the side of the mangrove forest so that people can observe trees and the mud beach at a close distance.
During the ebb and high tide, the sunrise and sunset in the intertidal zone present different landscapes.
In the neighborhood, there is Baimafeng Putian Temple, the second largest Mazu Temple in Taiwan, Xihua Temple, the Oil Learning House, Wanggong Fishing Port, Wanggong Lighthouse, and other scenic resorts. Local snacks, such as oyster fritters, peanut candy, ice-lollies, and more, are also very delicious. When visiting Fangyuan, visitors are highly recommended to harvest oysters on ox-drawn carts along the seaside. Welcome to Fangyuang and indulge yourself in the beautiful landscapes of Changhua’s west coast.
