By Nancy T. Lu / Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Photos from Kaohsiung City Government
Waterfront landmarks, which are worth visiting while in Kaohsiung, are all part of the bustling city's metamorphosis of fairly recent memory. Old buildings have been taken over and given face-lifts to better serve the people's needs.
Taiwan's second biggest city, which is preparing to host the 2009 World Games, has history and culture to share with tourists right along the Love River.
Volunteers in many interesting places all over the city are gearing up to show Kaohsiung hospitality. Kaohsiung's first tourist information center to serve foreigners, in fact, opened not too long ago at 801 Chongde Road in the Zuoying district with the help of a Canadian volunteer, who has seen the transformation of Kaohsiung particularly right along the Love River since 2002.
The city government in recent years has earnestly initiated plans and changes to improve the people's quality of life. The former City Hall, which was built in the Japanese colonial-era architectural |
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The Kaohsiung 85 Buildinglords it over the
Hsinkuang Pier/Photos from Kaohsiung city government. |
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style in 1938, has been converted into the Kaohsiung Museum of History to promote public awareness of and pride in the city's history and culture.
Kaohsiung's evolution from the 19th century to the present day is the subject of the exhibition on the ground floor. "The February 28th Incident in Kaohsiung: Revival and Sublimation" takes a look at Taiwan's not-too-distant political past, which was characterized by struggle against oppression.
The museum opens a window on local culture, too. A tribute to Kua Ki-hua, whose English grammar book has been a much-appreciated reference of English language students in Taiwan since 1960, invites attention as much as Huang Chun-jan's creative lion's head art. The Kaohsiung Museum of History has the Kaohsiung Music Center and the Exhibition Center for Industry & Commerce on its two sides.
The outdoor music hall presents special programs to entertain the public during holidays. Live performances by street artists are encouraged elsewhere near the Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center. The Urban Spotlight with lighting to create a special ambience at night is also a favorite spot for performances by local and foreign artists.
Romance on the silver screen
Visitors to Kaohsiung can also learn about the city's fascinating story at the Kaohsiung Municipal Film Archive. Impressions can be picked up through the films of directors of different generations, revolving around Kaohsiung's urban development and the people's changing lifestyle.
The Kaohsiung Municipal Film Archive, which has been a prominent fixture known to organize interesting film screenings along the Love River since three years ago, has been able to dig up fascinating film records showing the city's changing riverside image.
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| The Love Boat takes tourists around the love River/Photos from Kaohsiung city government. |
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Almost always, the Love River ?so named after a pair of lovers committed suicide there ?has been closely associated with romance in the motion pictures. Filmmakers have conveniently borrowed and artistically transformed the river's look over the years in movies like "Wang & Liu's Taiwan Travels" (1959), "Last Train from Kaohsiung" (1963), "Love Is in the Air" (1965) and "The Boys from Fengkuei" (1983).
"Last Train from Kaohsiung" has the Love River |
bearing witness to the love promises between a man and a woman, who meet and fall in love in Kaohsiung. The reel scenario is being repeated frequently in real life today as seen in couples who turn up to keep trysts at different spots by the Love River.
As for "The Boys from Fengkuei," the movie depicts the hardworking spirit of the Kaohsiung settlers from nearby Penghu. To this day, the influx of people from the off-shore islands in Kaohsiung remains significant in number.
The Kaohsiung City Government has been promoting tourism by encouraging Taiwan's movie directors to highlight local sites in their film productions.
Award-winning director Tsai Ming-liang made the cast of "The Wayward Cloud" (Tian Bian Yi Duo Yun) do a kitschy musical fantasy scene with a watermelon theme at the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas of the picturesque Lotus Lake in Kaohsiung.
In fact, the Chung Hwa School of Arts near the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Neiweipi Cultural Park was where Tsai recruited supporting cast members for the movie, which won the Silver Berlin Bear for outstanding artistic achievement at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. Tsai's lengthy film footage featuring a Kaohsiung tourist spot earned him an incentive award worth NT$10 million.
Life close to the water comes to mind without fail at the mere mention of Kaohsiung. For many years, the calendar picture most representative of the southern setting was that of a very busy container port. Before that, the Export Processing Zone marked Kaohsiung out as an industrial city.
But all these are now giving way to the image of a harbor city ideal for romantic activities like strolling on the riverbank, watching the beautiful sunset and meeting friends in a sidewalk cafe.
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