Madou Old Port Cultural Park (蔴荳古港園區) is one of Madou’s most famous areas, and according to legend it was a dragon lair and the birthplace of the Emperor. Locals deeply believed here is also a place which locals view as a getaway paradise. In Fengshui, the location here is an auspicious land named shuijuetou (水崛頭), usually where has water surrounded the land (represented at dragon throat area). Setting aside its mythical stories, in the early days of Madou District it was made up of an inland sea and came to be known as Daofeng Inland Sea (倒風內海). Due to its favorable location, Shuichutou Harbor(水堀頭港) was a 3 way fork port which was in an ideal location from which to access Fujian (福建), and it was also a place from which sugar would have been exported. At that time, due to the fact that the Sika deer of the Pingpu tribe occupied the area, deer leather was also a popular export, and merchant ships loading and unloading led to a bustling environment for a short period of time; indeed it might even be possible to say that such glory years were the making of Madou. As well as Plains aborigines, there were also large numbers of Han living in the Madou area, and indeed many would live in the port area which was their arrival point as immigrants into Taiwan. As a result, the area gradually began to urbanize. As there were changes in the river channel and the river began to silt up, the coastline moved towards the West. These days there only exists some partial vestiges of the port of old. For example, traces of ancient viaducts or ancient ship fixings take visitors back to the bustling old merchant port, as well as the stories of this place.
