I see the new maps including Ankeng line in MRT stations and saw the tram coming into Shisizhang station yesterday.
Is there anything particularly fun or interesting to do over there? With or without kids.
(yeah, I know nothing is stopping me from going there now, but a new line is a good excuse to do some exploration. )
-Don
The rooftop garden at Shisizhang Station is remarkable. If there’s sunshine, bring some drinks and hang out (though be prepared to also encounter dancing high school students from the nearby school!).
Guy
But that’s already accessible through the yellow line.
Most of the LRT area is quite residential.
Yes I know. But this can be incoporated as part of a trip . . .
Guy
There really isn’t much up the line. I lived there way before the line was even conceived.
Unless you have a car and want to go to see another mountain sightseeing point, it’s not much if you’re using only public transit.
How would the Ankeng line perform vs bus?
Ankang does have a history—a terrible one connected to White Terror detention and torture. I heard one of these detention sites will be eventually folded into the National Human Rights Museum. I’m not sure I would bring children there though. 
Guy
l pass through the Sunshine Sports Park often when riding the riverside bikeway between Yonghe and Xindian. The kid’s playground has been remodeled recently and looks like fun for children. There’s also a bike rental station there with bikes for children. Youbike rental is also available. And footbridge across the river is nice too.
I’m living in Taiwan for 25 years and I’ve never seen one of the detention sites, and I’ve lived in Ankeng for a while.
I saw an article once. I think it would just look like another decrepit ruin of a dormitory or something.
There is a Patriot Battery next to Jinwen University of Science and Technology but you have to drive or hike above it to see anything.
Some details are here. WARNING: this is not light reading.
Guy
They were testing up by DaGuan school today. First time I’d seen a train up there. Thought they forgot about this track.
Yeah I lived in Xindian for a decade I think before I discovered where the political prisoners jail site was. Not obvious.
And then Ankang…they did their best to hide it. I knew there was a site somewhere there but not sure where. There’s also a jail in Ankeng so it gets confusing.
Not only that, there’s an old WWII POW camp out that way aswell that I could never locate either.
Located on top of a small hill, Ankang Reception House had only one entrance and exit connecting it to the outside world, and given that the building itself was only one story high, the whole center was particularly low-key and secret. After the lifting of martial law in 1987, it was turned into a warehouse.
I don’t think it will be faster than the available buses for anyone. Maybe if you are going from ankang to banqiao
The whole line is a bit of a headscratcher given the impact from it.
Most of Ankeng still looks like a complete dump, be better off using the funds to level it and put in a bus lane.
Is this the one to mark as the solution? 
When I look at this line, or for example Xiaobitan, I just assume some politician owns property that would benefit.
The whole thing is looks like it was just built because there is space on the road and money.
Lots of housing there already and lots of it up on Hills that are not easily walkable up and down so maybe some increase in shuttles to the homes?
The route is kind of down a one-way street to nowhere.
Will it eventually go to Sanxia? Maybe that is the 30 year plan.
This place looks promising. Not sure how far it is from one of the new stations.
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