So Danshui (or Tamsui) is a "seaside district" in New Taipei City, named after the Tamsui River. Before I go any further, I'd like to file a complaint with the place-naming bureau of Taiwan, please. The romanization of Taiwanese/Mandarin is terribly inconsistent in Taiwan. Mainland China uses the Hanyu pinyin system, which I was taught in college when I took Mandarin. Prior to that, I'd always learned Mandarin the Taiwanese way, which (prior to 2002ish, according to Wikipedia) was through Taiwan's own phonetic symbol system, BoPoMoFo (or BuhPuhMuhFuh).

But apparently between 2002 and 2009, Taiwan adopted a form of pinyin that was all their own, called Tongyong pinyin ... are ya confused yet? That is why something that is clearly (at least to me, in Mandarin ... not sure about Taiwanese) pronounced "Tai Zhong" becomes "Tai Chung" on signs in Taiwan. And something that sounds, to my ears, like "Dan shui" becomes "Tam sui." (I believe that's the Taiwanese pronunciation.)

Rant over!

I don't know very much about it except for the fact that it's widely thought of as a day trip getaway from Taipei, because of the nice views and waterfront areas. You can take a ferry across the river to a town they call "Bali" (another word of contention with me, as both Bali in Indonesia and Paris, France are pronounced "Bali" in Mandarin). Further down, you can take a ferry to the Fisherman's Wharf, or walk. We didn't have the time to check out the Wharf, but maybe it's worth checking out.

I mentioned earlier that the Danshui stop is at the end of the Red line of Taipei's MRT (subway system), so it's an easy and smooth commute, about 20-25 minutes from Taipei Main Station at the heart of Taipei.

Here are some photos ...