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Keelung was first inhabited by the Ketagalan, a tribe of Taiwanese aborigine. Its first contact with the west was with the Spanish in the early 17th century, who built a fort in Keelung as an outpost of the Manila-based Spanish East Indies. From 1642 to 1661 and 1663–1668, Keelung was under Dutch control

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Goddess of Mercy

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The stratum of Yehliu is mainly composed of sedimentary rocks; the formation of sea bays is due to the impact of sea erosion on softer rock layers, while those hard and solid ones may therefore turn into sea capes eventually. The prospect as presented from a long distance view of Yehliu Cape is like a turtle crouching down by the sea; therefore, the cape is also called "Yehliu Turtle".

In the olden days, Yehliu was a key channel of the trade route between mainland China and Keelung harbor. Yet, the waters around the area were torrential and dangerous, and often caused serious shipwrecks. A legend was told that once a turtle elf was making trouble in the sea. A fairly was dispatched by Jade Emperor to tame the turtle elf. The fairy was riding an elephant with a sword in her hand. When she arrived, she yelled at the turtle and said, "What a naughty turtle; how dare you do such evil things and kill so many innocent people. I, bestowed with the power of this holly sword, shall punish you and you shall have no way to escape." The turtle elf was serious hurt then. After that, whenever the weather changes, people may notice a strand of smoke permeating through the air at Yehliu Cape. And that’s when you'll hear local people say. "look, the half-dead turtle is making its last breath again".

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Jinguashi is a town in Ruifang District of Taiwan, notable for its historic gold and copper mines. It is also known as Kinkaseki in Japanese. From 1942-1945 it was used by the Japanese as a prisoner-of-war camp.

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Although the minerals have since been depleted, the town still attracts many visitors to its Gold Ecological Park, which opened in October 2004. Jinguashi was named a potential World Heritage site in 2002.

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During the first years of the Qing Dynasty, the village here housed nine families, thus the village would request "nine portions" every time shipments arrived from town. Later Jiufen ("nine portions" in Chinese) would become the name of the village.

Jiufen was only an isolated village until 1893, when gold was discovered in the area. The resulting gold rush hastened the village's development into a town, and reached its peak during the Japanese rule. Many present features of Jiufen reflect the era under Japanese colonization, with many Japanese inns surviving to this day.

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During World War II, a POW camp named Kinkaseki was set up in the village, holding Allied soldiers captured in Singapore (including many British) who worked in the nearby gold mines. Gold mining activities declined after World War II, and the mine was shut off in 1971. Jiufen quickly went into decline, and for a while the town was mostly forgotten.

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