While workers were building the Keelung-Taipei section of the rail line they struck gold between Chitu and Patu and set off a frantic gold rush. People poured into northern Taiwan, which rose to a position of undisputed pre-eminence vis-a-vis the south. Although the island has switched from Chinese sovereignty to Japanese and back again since that time, Taipei's position as the political capital has never since been challenged.
此外，彷彿天意一般，工人建築基隆到台北段鐵路時，在八堵附近發現沙金，北部淘金熱一發不可收拾，多種因素互動循環，人口急速往北流動，從此北風壓倒南風，江山幾度易手，首府再沒有離開過台北。