By Nancy T. Lu / Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Photos from Kaohsiung City Government
Residents asked at random to pick a site most representative of Kaohsiung today narrow down their choices to the Kaohsiung 85 Building, the tallest skyscraper in Taiwan before Taipei 101 laid claim to such honor and even the world record, and the British Consulate at Takao, the first western building in Taiwan. The former with a five-star hotel and a department store inside offers an aerial view of the scenic port from the deck on the 75th floor.
Meanwhile the British Consulate on a hill is another favorite spot for taking in the beautiful sunset in the bay. The grade-two historical site serves food and drinks during the day and at night. Live entertainment is an added treat when evening shadows fall.
The rebuilt structure, a favorite subject of artists doing on-the-spot painting, doubles as a gallery of sorts for Taiwanese painters in the Sizihwan area.
The red brick consulate building with roof blown off by a strong typhoon in 1977
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Chatting with friends over drinks by the Love River
during a regatta is one great way to spend time in Kaohsiung/Photo courtesy of British consulate
of TAKAO |
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has a prison dungeon so low that inmates in the olden days had to literally crawl their way in. Some incarceration spaces are slightly higher. Tourists often are tempted to stoop to get in and have a feel of the prison surroundings.
Close by is the beautiful campus of National Sun Yat-sen University. Before entering the tunnel that leads to the gate of the university in Sizihwan, visitors can walk around the Shaochuantou Park, a virtual lovers' lane and one of the best locations to watch the boats and enjoy the view of the Kaohsiung Port.
Sailing out to Cijin
While looking out to the water, visitors can catch sight of the two-level ferries heading out to Cijin, a popular place for enjoying fresh seafood especially at night. The ride costs only NT$10 for a seat on the upper level. The lower section is reserved for commuters on motorbikes.
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Chatting with friends over drinks
by the Love River during a
regatta is one great way to
spend time in Kaohsiung/Photo
courtesy of British consulate
of TAKAO |
|
In Cijin, you can go on a rickshaw tour, setting out near the Tianhou Temple, which was built in honor of the goddess Matsu in 1673. The baroque-style Cihou Lighthouse and the Chinese-style Cihou Gun Emplacement are also worth a visit. The Cijin Wind Turbine Park, the Cijin Coastline Park, and the Cijin Fishing Port add further to the local color. Before ending the visit at the ferry landing for a water trip back, tourists can sit down to a hearty seafood meal in a restaurant around the Tianhou Temple and Jhongzhou Beach area.
Kaohsiung City, long and narrow on the map, borders the Taiwan Strait on the left and connects to other towns and villages of Kaohsiung County on the right. Stretching more than 10 kilometers from north to south, Chaishan on the west boasts an elevation of 356 meters and was originally home to the Makatao tribe of the Pingpu indigenous people.
Kaohsiung was once simply a fishing village where southern Fujian fishermen used to take refuge. In the late Ming Dynasty, |
Chinese settlers mistook "Takao," the Makatao allusion to thorny bamboo fence used in defense against pirates, as the name for the place. The Takao name stuck until around 1920 when it was changed to Kaohsiung.
With so much history behind it, Kaohsiung looks forward to a better and brighter tomorrow. The sun shines most days in the harbor city. The weather down south is always warmer than in Taipei. In fact, solar energy is already being tapped to light up the city's big boulevards like Wufu Road.
While touring and discovering sights in Kaohsiung, take a break at Ah Po's Fruit and Ice Shop. The place has been selling refreshing star fruit slush since 1934. The City of Steamed Glutinous Rice is another address serving the nostalgic taste of three generations. Meanwhile the Liouhe Night Market offers palates a different kind of feasting.
For shopping, go to Sanfong Middle Street in the busy, old section of the city.
Changes are rapidly taking place though. Kaohsiung is building a modern subway system. A big stadium will soon be constructed for the 2009 World Games in Zuoying. The best architectural designs entered in a competition are exhibited in the old Kaohsiung Train Station.
The quaint building has been physically moved with the whole structure intact a short distance from its original site. The preserved landmark will be moved back later upon the completion of the new train station.
As for the Love River, poets and writers will continue to be inspired by it. At the Running Water Park on Wufu Road, landscape artists have given the Love River a blue glass interpretation, using LED lighting for special effect. The park's landscape design maps out Kaohsiung's administrative district. |
