建得台中貨櫃場

March 25th, 2016

Intermodal shipping containers are strangely fascinating to me. I am, like most citizens of consumerist democracies, dimly aware of their contribution to the background hum of global trade, but I seldom have an opportunity to see them up close—not in their natural environment, anyway. Most ports have security measures that prevent laypeople from gallivanting around container yards for obvious reasons.

Taichung Port Jiande Container Yard (建得台中貨櫃場)

This is why I was so delighted to chance upon the Jiàndé Container Yard (建得台中貨櫃場), also known as the “Delta Taichung Depot” according to the sign out fron, while on a motorized jaunt to Wúqī Fishing Port (梧棲漁港) not so long ago. It lies immediately outside the access-controlled entrance to Port of Taichung (台中港), the second-busiest in Taiwan, in Qingshui, Taichung. Despite the impressive scale of the place (which is no doubt eclipsed by the many container yards inside the port proper) it is completely unobstructed from the road. You could probably wander into the yard itself—if you don’t mind being squashed by fully-loaded forklifts anyway!