Bali and the Shihsanhang Museum

The Shihsanhang site at Bali was found when an aircraft compass anomaly led to iron slag, and excavation uncovered a settlement of an iron-working culture that lived at the Tamsui river mouth from around eighteen hundred to five hundred years ago, with smelting furnaces, burials and imported Chinese ceramics showing trade. The museum, a striking building of rusted steel and concrete, holds the finds, including a human-faced pot that has become its emblem.

What you actually see

• The human-faced pot - the museum's emblem, a vessel with a modelled face.
• The iron working - furnaces and slag from the settlement's smelting.
• The building - a rusted steel and concrete design responding to the site.
• The riverside path - a cycle route along the Tamsui estuary from the ferry.

When to go

Year round; the museum closes on Mondays. The ferry from Tamsui runs through the day and is the pleasant way to arrive. Weekends bring cyclists to the riverside path.

Honest expectations

The museum is modest in size and labelling is largely in Mandarin. The site itself is mostly built over and there is little to see outside. Weekend crowds on the ferry and path are heavy.

Nearby

Tamsui is across the river, and Guanyinshan is south.