Qidu

Qīdǔ (七堵) is the westernmost and largest district of Keelung in northern Taiwan. Its name records a Qing dynasty line of earthen defensive walls, of which this was the seventh section, built on what had been Basay Indigenous territory. Qidu Station (七堵車站) dates to 1891 and now serves as the northern terminus of express services on the western trunk line, a role it took over from Songshan in 2008. The marshalling yard laid out beside the station in 1966 remains a major rolling stock depot, and the shortage of level ground around the harbour has led the city to designate Qidu as its secondary center. Urban development follows the Keelung River and the railway across the south of the district, while the bulk of its territory is mountainous, reaching northwest into the Malingkeng (瑪陵坑) and Youna (友蚋) valleys, where coal mining left coke kilns and railway bridges behind.