20 years ago I used to swim in Bitan every weekend. I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic for those days and was thinking of going for swim and a beer there this weekend. But I’m wondering how clean the water is there these days. Do any of you still swim there? Sandman or other Bitan dwellers?
I do. It’s nice, but I generally go in from the other side of the river. It’s much nicer there but a bit a walk to get to (although you can of course just swim across.)
Great to know, thanks. Thinking of going on Sunday mid-/late-afternoon. Maybe go to that pizza joint mentioned on the restaurant forum for a beer after.
So if I wanted to swim to the other side, which side would I start from? And if I wanted to walk there, where should I walk to to start? Could I swim to the place where I should start walking from? Could I swim back after I’ve walked to the other side? etc
That was demolished, along with everything else. And it was on the other side anyway. You would have had to walk to some place where you could swim to it from first.
That was demolished, along with everything else. And it was on the other side anyway. You would have had to walk to some place where you could swim to it from first.[/quote]
It wasn’t demolished, it was moved. The restaurant is, as far as I know, now on the main street.
So Sandman, the authorities don’t bother you on the other side? I thought they had a change of heart and closed Bitan down for swimming? Or do they just not care about enforcing the regulation?
I haven’t been there since last year, but I used to walk around to the other side and go cliff jumping.
Never had any problems there.
[quote=“Josefus”]I haven’t been there since last year, but I used to walk around to the other side and go cliff jumping.
Never had any problems there.[/quote]
It’s not called cliff jumping when you jump off a one metre high rock.
The pizza place is gone. Best place to swim is on my side of the river, not the other side. The cliff jumping side. Don’t listen to Loretta. He know naaating. And its more than one metre high. It’s at least three feet.
You can eat a Sri Lankan roti instead.
Bitan?? Swimming? I thought that place was full of whirlpools and stuff? And people dying there all the time from them??
We are not Taiwanese, if you please.
I’ve never drowned there.
I did once, but I got better.
donno dude, back when I wuz in high school and wuz there with a GF and rowboating. We saw a dead body float by !!! Super UGH> and the police were just waiting for it to float to an accessible spot so they could retrieve the old guy.
Surreal.
Out ona date, nice sunny Bitan day. Nice water, boat…DEAD BODY FLOATING BY…
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Were u rowboating or smooching … Tommy? 
Yeah, people drown there. Arsehole people who should probably be out of the breeding pool in any case.
“Look! Water! Let’s swim!”
“Uh, dude, neither of us can swim. Hey! Water! Let’s swim!”
Normal people swim there all the time. You have to queue to get on the springboard sometimes.
Actually if you must know , at that very moment I was ashen faced because I was rowing and the boat had got caught in a small whirlpool and we were being bumped up against a big rockface. So I was concentrating on getting us out of that minor maelstrom when I spotted the body. Told me GF not to look but she did anyway. Well that was a pretty memorable day out !!
The river that is a real problem in northern Taiwan is the Dabao River 大豹溪 out in Sanxia. Couple weeks ago I was out there cycling and saw the TV crews out there waiting to see iif anything would happen. I was talking to one of the volunteer lifeguards out there who has been swimming in the Dabao his whole life. He said that even experienced swimmers drown out there when they get caught in currents that trap them below underwater ledges.
Apparently they have this problem elsewhere.
Feiren, did you get a close look at the river and if so what did you think? I’ve seen it a few times and never thought there was enough of a flow of water to create strong currents.
Getting caught againts rocks is a danger. Happened to Chris one day on the Jia Jiu Liao just below the rock slide. Water level was pretty heavy and he was pushed under just enough to he couldn’t get his head out of the water while being kept snug against the rock by the current.
Tommy, that body was sent downstream by the girl’s father as a warning to you. 
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[quote=“Muzha Man”]Feiren, did you get a close look at the river and if so what did you think? I’ve seen it a few times and never thought there was enough of a flow of water to create strong currents.
Getting caught againts rocks is a danger. Happened to Chris one day on the Jia Jiu Liao just below the rock slide. Water level was pretty heavy and he was pushed under just enough to he couldn’t get his head out of the water while being kept snug against the rock by the current.
Tommy, that body was sent downstream by the girl’s father as a warning to you. [/quote]
Water levels vary quite a bit on the Dabao especially spring and after typhoons of course. There are deep pools that make for great swimming holes. In general, it strikes me as a bit more wild than the other rivers in northern Taiwan, probably because it has those mini gorges. I’ve never felt any really strong currents when swimming there–these pictures give a pretty good idea of what the water levels are usually like. After a good rain, it would be higher than this and I suspect more dangerous. Half of Taoyuan County is out there on any given hot summer weekend, so you are going to have some people who can’t swim who panic in water like this.