River
Tamsui River
159 km from source to mouth · Taiwan.
TaiwanFlows into Taiwan Strait3rd longest in Taiwan
In numbers
Length
159km
Average flow
210m³/s
Basin
2,726km²
Drop
1,113m
from 1,113 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
159 km of river and 23 stops on the way: 10 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmPintian Mountainat 1,113 m
- 2 kmSmangus Silifu Waterfall
- 58 kmLonggu Pubu
- 58 kmXiao Wulai Waterfall
- 78 kmShimen Reservoir5.5 km²
- 92 kmDaxi94,222 people
- 107 kmYingge87,920 people
- 109 kmSanxia115,185 people
- 122 kmShulin180,044 people
- 129 kmBanqiao551,221 people
- 134 kmWanhua District169,024 people
- 134 kmDahan Rivertributary
- 134 kmXindian Rivertributary
- 136 kmZhongxing Bridge
- 137 kmZhongxiao Bridge
- 137 kmSanchong District383,035 people
- 139 kmTaipei Bridge
- 142 kmChong Yang Bridge
- 147 kmErchong Floodwaytributary
- 148 kmWugu District94,871 people
- 152 kmGuandu Bridge
- 158 kmDanjiang Bridge
- 158 kmBali District43,448 people
- 158 kmDanshui189,271 people
- 159 kmTaiwan Straitat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Taiwan
At the mouth it carries 210 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 12 seconds. It drops from 1,113 m to 0 m, 7.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,726 km², about the size of LU. 6.7 million people live in it. Highest water: from June to September. Its dams hold back little of its water (7.3% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- BanqiaoLargest city on its banks · 551,221 people
- Taipei Songshan International Airport (TSA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 10 km from the cityCar hire in TaipeiDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water44 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From November to JanuaryThe best months to visit
Tamsui River, month by month
Highest water: from June to September
Best months to visit: from November to January.
From about 94 m³/s in the lowest month to 170 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Tamsui River: the basin in numbers
2,699 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 6.7millionpeople live in the basin
- 2,571/km²people per km²
- 662maverage altitude of the basin
- 2,932mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 18.6°Caverage air temperature
- 9%protected areas
- 0.6%covered by lakes
- 0.3km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 71% Forest
- 6% Cropland
- 2% Pasture
- 27% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Tamsui River: what you find on the way
- 10Weirs
- 25WaterfallsMaliguang, Takahashi Bridge Waterfall, Devil Waterfall and 22 more
- 24Boat ramps
- 15Ferry piersHuajiang Pier, Zhong Xiao Pier, Dadaocheng Wharf and 12 more
- 5MarinasTamsui First Fishing Harbor and 4 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Tamsui River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
3waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
1lake on its wayLakeyas
2beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
73mountains at the sourcePeakyas
1island off the mouthIslandyas
Waterfalls (3)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Smangus Silifu Waterfallkm 2
- Longgu Pubukm 42
- Xiao Wulai Waterfallkm 42
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (1)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Shimen Reservoirkm 575.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (2)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Bali Haishui Yuchang5.5 km away28.6°C
- Zhuwei Haishui Yuchang20 km away28.5°C
Mountains at the source (73)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Xueshan6.2 km away · prominence 1,932 m3,886m
- Dabajian Mountain4.1 km away3,492m
- Beilengjiao5.8 km away3,789m
- Dajian Mountain12 km away3,594m
- Xueshan North Peak3.1 km away3,703m
- Pintian Mountain0.1 km away3,524m
- Kailantekun Shan5.0 km away3,696m
- Kailantekun Shan Beifeng4.7 km away3,676m
65 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (1)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Twin Candlestick Islets24 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Tamsui River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (8)
Also: Keelung River, Xindian River, Dahan River, Erchong Floodway, Guanyin Creek, Tsiu-a-bue-kau, Zhonggang River, Shumeikeng River
ChinaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2420747) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit