Heart of Love River─ Ruyi Lake / 愛河之心─如意湖
◎Text by Agnes Lin
After construction of more than 1 year, the 200 million NT dollar project "Heart of Love River- Ruyi Lake" situated on the crossroads of Bo-ai Rd. and Tongmeng Rd. officially opened on Nov. 4, 2007. The traveling route of the "Love Boat" on Love River will be extended upstream from Jianguo Bridge to Bo-ai Bridge and in the future it will be lengthened to 6 km. from 4.5 km. During the opening ceremony, Mayor Chen promised to develop the "blue highway" by utilizing all of the rivers in the city within four years in order to offer citizens with a water-friendly environment.
According to Mayor Chen, Heart of Love River- Ruyi Lake not only has the functions of providing a resting and sightseeing space and causing industrial value, but also possesses the functions of controlling or preventing flood. She invited people from all over Taiwan to come and visit Love River and enjoy the sight of Heart of Love River, which gets even more beautiful at night. She also stressed that with the volunteers' preservation and inspection work and through the cooperation of the government and the residents, the high-quality environment of Ruyi Lake will be maintained and it will become the new landmark in northern Kaohsiung to make the townscape of Kaohsiung's waterfront city better in the future.
Mayor Chen also drew an outline for future images of the blue highways in Kaohsiung. Through the Love River sailing project, there will be more scenic spots along Love River and the traveling route will be extended upstream. Tourists may take the Love Boat to Ruyi Lake and transfer to the rapid transit system to visit other places around Kaohsiung. The traffic routes combined with the waterway and land routes will bring more tourists to Kaohsiung, prosper the areas around them and advance the value of the land.
Love Boat sailing Project
Love Boat sailing project is the only project that integrates the functions of sightseeing of blue waterscape and landscape, controlling or preventing flood, redevelopment of the wetlands and providing sightseeing and recreation spots in Taiwan. There are Lovers Bridge and humpback bridges across the Ruyi Lake of Heart of Love River to connect the bike path systems of Love River and Lotus Pond. It also provides citizens with green galleries combining the riverbank scenic spots, ecology, culture and wetlands as well as affords a power saving, environmental protective and healthy relaxing space. At nighttime, the splendid lights on the 3 bridges of Ruyi Lake shine brilliantly with their reflection on the surface of the water and form a beautiful scene.
There is more good news. Kaohsiung Harbor Steam Ship Limited Liability Company has provided a river traveling service and launched a holiday ship route for Love Boat to sail between the Heart of Love River-Ruyi Lake to Love Pier on holidays. The price of an adult one-way ticket is NT$ 50 dollars. The price of a discount ticket is NT$ 25 dollars. The fare is collected when boarding the boat at Love Pier before the boat departs for Heart of the Love River. The return trip fare is collected when disembarking at Love Pier. Tourists can either buy tickets or deposit coins for the fare. coins for the fare.
Along with the Love River sailing, the service will also provide connection buses for tourists. You may take bus No. 224 or No.301 to Heart of Love River. You may take Waterfront Bus (only on holidays), High Speed Rail(Gushan free transit bus), 0 South, 0 North, No. 2, No.11, No.14, No.25, No.33 or No. 50 to Love Pier - Dacheng Street Stop.
◎文／無明
耗資兩億元，高雄市工務局歷經年餘施工，位於博愛路同盟路交叉路口的「愛河之心─如意湖」於十一月四日正式啟用，未來「愛之船」的愛河溯河路線，由建國橋上溯到博愛橋，長度也由4.5 公里延長為６公里。市長陳菊主持啟用儀式時，允諾４年內會打造全市河川成為藍色公路，讓市民享有更多的親水空間。全市河川成為藍色公路，讓市民享有更多的親水空間。
陳市長表示，愛河之心不但具休憩、觀光、產業價值，還兼具滯洪及防洪功能。她邀請全國民眾一起來遊愛河，欣賞愈夜愈美麗的愛河之心如意湖。她還強調，未來將借重志工參與維護巡守，透過政府與民間協力合作，讓如意湖保持優質環境，成為北高雄新地標，讓高雄市水岸城市景觀更上層樓。
陳市長也為高雄市構築藍色公路的願景，透過愛河溯航計畫，讓愛河流域景點更豐富並向上游延伸，民眾搭乘愛之船遊河到如意湖後，可轉乘路上捷運系統到全市各地。水陸融合的交通動線，預估可為高雄市帶來可觀的觀光人潮，也可帶動周邊繁榮及土地價值。
愛之船溯航計劃
愛之船溯航計畫是全台唯一結合藍色水陸觀光、滯洪、生態濕地的河川改造與熱門遊憩地點。愛河之心的如意湖上有情人橋、拱橋串聯愛河及蓮池潭自行車道系統，提供市民遊憩河岸景觀、生態、人文、溼地的綠色廊道，成為環保與健康有氧的休閒活動空間。夜間，如意湖三座橋閃耀璀燦燈光與湖面燈倒影相輝映，美不勝收。
此外，高雄市輪船公司也提供貼心的遊河服務，特別在假日開闢愛之船「溯航愛河之心」假日航線，每２小時行駛一班，提供往返真愛碼頭至自愛河之心的服務，單程全票50元，優待票25元。去程由真愛碼頭上船收費，返程則至真愛碼頭下船收費，採票證及投幣２種方式併行。
航線同時還搭配遊愛河航班，提供接駁公車，前往愛河之心可搭公車224路、301路，前往真愛碼頭除有水岸公車(假日行駛)、高鐵鼓渡免費公車；民眾還可搭乘0南、0北、2路、11路、14路、25路、33路、50路等(大成街口站)。