HIGHLIGHTS OF KAOHSIUNG CITY
The historic port city of Kaohsiung is the third largest city in Taiwan after Taipei and Taichung and is the largest city in the south of Taiwan.
Kaohsiung has an international airport but we’d arrived in Kaohsiung by ‘Bullet Train’ on Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) travelling from the north after spending four days and three nights in the Mid-Taiwanese City of Taichung.
Our next exciting point of call in our fabulous 12 Day Taiwan Itinerary was to be Kaohsiung.
It is, of course, impossible to see and experience all that this vast city has to offer the visitor in just a few days – but we kept to a full itinerary – and I want to share with you our Highlights of Kaohsiung City!
Table of Contents
- HIGHLIGHTS OF KAOHSIUNG CITY
- KAOHSIUNG PORT
- WHAT TO DO IN KAOHSIUNG CITY
- WHERE TO STAY IN KAOHSIUNG
- NORTHBOUND TO TAIPEI
KAOHSIUNG PORT
Kaohsiung Port was first established in the 1680s from a natural lagoon. Since then it has gone from being a military port to be developed into Taiwan’s largest commercial harbour.
WHAT TO DO IN KAOHSIUNG CITY
THE LOVE RIVER
The Love River: From the port estuary a river flows for twelve kilometres through Kaohsiung City.
Just as London has The Thames and Paris has the Seine, Kaohsiung has Love River.
A riverside park offers locals and tourists a place to relax, to walk, to eat, and to admire street art.
And, on the river itself, you can take a romantic cruise.
Interestingly, it was from a romantic river cruise that The Love River got its name.
Originally it was just called ‘Kaohsiung River’. Until a sign advertising a ‘Love River Cruise’ was damaged in a typhoon and the ‘Cruise’ part of the sign disappeared to leave ‘Love River’ and that is the name that stuck!
THE DOME OF LIGHT
The Dome of Light: In central Kaohsiung, at Formosa Boulevard MRT Station, is the world’s largest glass artwork with 400 multicoloured glass panels set over a 30 meter diameter area.
It is literally a dome of light and is stunningly beautiful and so unexpected.
What a surprise to see such an amazing art installation on the ceiling of a busy metro station!
The design is the vision of an Italian-born artist from Mexico called Narcissus Quagliata.
It took Quagliata four years to complete the Dome of Light, which tells the story of human life on its four-colour coordinated main panels.
The emphasis on blue represents water and the Womb of Life through green growth and orange creation and finally fiery red and yellow ochre for death and rebirth.
A must-see while in Kaohsiung City!
CIJIN ISLAND
Cijin Island: Another must-do experience from Kaohsiung is to take the short ten-minute ferry ride from Gushan Pier over to Cijin Island.
It’s a perfect day trip and a top thing to do in Kaohsiung.
Use your Easy Card to Gushan Pier from Sizihwan Station (orange line) or Hamasan Station (green line).
Or take the #50 bus from Kaohsiung Central Park
Ferries depart from Gushan Pier every ten minutes.
Once on Cijin Island you’ll find lots of shops and a 7-11 and places to eat and drink along ‘Cijin Old Street’.
The Old Street leads to the Cijin Sign (perfect for a photo) and the black sand beach.
All along the length of the beach is a paved promenade and cycle path.
CIJIN BEACH ART INSTALLATIONS
Cijin Island Art and Culture: We enjoyed a walk along the beachside path, stopping to sit and admire the view from bench and to take photos at stop offs like The Rainbow Church which is an art installation of colourful frames in a reflection pool.
I also enjoyed the interactive seashell art installations. It is possible to hear the echo of waves from the sea!
There are also several beautiful and ancient temples on Cijin Island that honour the Goddess of Fishermen and the Sea.
Cijin Island felt like a breath of fresh air and was a real highlight of our time in Kaohsiung!
LIUHE NIGHT MARKET
Another highlight and greatly anticipated – experience for us was a visit to the traditional Liuhe Night Market in the Xinxing District of Kaohsiung.
This is a smaller night market than the one we’d experienced in Taichung but it is just as well known throughout Taiwan and it is famously the oldest night market in Kaohsiung.
We’d actually chosen our hotel because it’s located in the very next street to the Liuhe Night Market.
As Kaohsiung is a port city we were especially looking forward to eating fresh and tasty seafood.
We were also looking forward to trying more authentic typically Taiwanese street food straight from the grill or the wok or the steamer!
WHERE TO STAY IN KAOHSIUNG
We stayed for three nights in the central Xinxing District of Kaohsiung city at The Cloud Hotel (we paid $41 USD per night).
We booked this hotel in with Booking Dotcom.
We thought The Cloud Hotel was very nice and a perfect location not only for the Liuhe Night Market but it’s only a short walk from Formosa Boulevard MRT Station – where you can admire the aforementioned Dome of Light – the world’s largest glass artwork!
It’s really easy to get around Kaohsiung on foot and using public transport with the Easy Card.
After our fabulous few days exploring Kaohsiung, we were taking the northbound Bullet Train (THSR) all the way back up to Taipei.
FIND YOUR PERFECT PLACE TO STAY IN KAOHSIUNG TAIWAN USING THIS MAP
In Taipei – the capital of Taiwan – we had big adventurous plans!
NORTHBOUND TO TAIPEI
Northbound to Taipei! Over the next six days and five nights we intended to fully explore this so far unknown to us Capital City of Taiwan.
For the views from Elephant Mountain to the top of The 101 Taipei Tower to the length of one of the most famous of Taiwan’s street markets – the Ningxia Market – with its coveted Michelin Star Street Food!
THEN on the 15th day of the first lunar month – to mark the grand finale of the Chinese New Year celebrations – the Taiwan Lantern Festival will be taking place in Taipei for the first time in twenty-three years!
Join me on all my fabulous travels through Taiwan culminating in Taipei with The Lantern Festival!
Are you planning to visit Taiwan?
Will you go south to Kaohsiung?
Let me know in the comments!
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