Kaohsiung

A large vibrant metropolis that over the years has been transformed in the past 20 years to a lively urban centre with amazing architecture and cultural attractions. Kaohsiung often described as the most liveable city in Taiwan but often missed by most tourist.

High speed train from Taipei was very efficient and quick travelling at 300 Kph the train was clean arriving at Kaohsiung was like arriving at an international airport, with many signs in English and service desks in English.

First purchase was our metro card easily purchased at a 7 11 or family mart. So many choices on what you wanted your card pictures to select from as I was in the birthplace of “Hello Kitty” was my natural choice. The card was very versatile you could use this card on buses, trains, ferries, taxi and convenience stores.

The Hotel was close to the stations as the cost was low we had seperate rooms very modern and clean. Dropped the bag off and set out to explore the local area.

As it was lunch time we started with the first of many beef noodle soup at a local food stall

Kaohsuing has many creative art spaces which are easily reached by the local taxi the drivers and google translate were very helpful tool. The city has a population of nearly 3 million but the streets never appeared congested due to the fabulous infrastructure and public transport. Many of the underground stations has stain glass murals which helped you enjoy looking for you platform

We took a train and tram to go to a creative space in the old harbour the has converted old warehouses into a shopping and art space

Back near the hotel was a night market the first of many we visited for dinner great concept and great food at low prices. As with other Asian city a lot of homes don’t have a kitchen.

The Lotus lake has the Tiger and Dragon Pagoda both were built in 1976 but represent ancient pagodas the art work inside was very excellent telling you a story. the d the lake there were a number of smaller temples and the lake itself had many turtles in side and sunbathing on the sides in the sun. in Chinese cultures turtles turtles symbolise longevity, wisdom, and protection, and they are considered one of the four sacred animals alongside the dragon, phoenix, and qilin. They are often associated with good fortune and are believed to ward off evil spirits. in the photo the sky look overcast but it was a heat haze caused by the humidity

A 45 minute taxi ride out of town was a Buddhist museum a spiritual place spread over large area close to the sea. We took lunch before we started to explore vegetarian sorry no photos. There was a walking path that took you up to the Buddha image and you went back the other side so you can experience it each building had a different meaning and purpose, a place to reflect, craft area. Importantly they were air conditioned offering respite for the heat and humidity you could a mini break with tea or water, the museum had many excellent items and everything has details in multiple languages.

Leaving the temple a taxi ride to the Cijin district to watch the sun set the beaches had black sand sipping on a gin&tonic

A taxi ride to the Anping district has a lot of history related to when the Dutch occupation in the 17 century. This was amazing with more western style buildings wth many having been restored. The day we visited many school children were also visiting.

A late lunch using a recommendation from ChatGPT we went to. Shrimp restaurant omg so many choices food was amazing. No English menu but a little pointing and gestures we may have ended up with sooooo much food. All prawns and scallops from the local area