Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second largest city with a population of over one million. It is Taiwan’s largest international seaport, its major industrial centre, and the only city on the island besides Taipei with an international airport. The port is the world third-largest container port after Hong Kong and Singapore. Besides Taipei, it also enjoy the status of a special municipality and administered by the central government. Kaohsiung can be reached from Taipei by train, express bus or plane. A city of humble origins Kaohsiung has experienced meteoric economic growth, but the concentration of heavy industry has caused considerable pollution. The city is often shrouded with smog. Fishing remains a major enterprise with over 1,500 vessels registered here plying water as far as South Africa. The city’s center is dominated by modern tower blocks, including the Grand 50 Tower, whose 50 stories make it one of the tallest buildings in Taiwan.

A 25-minutes drive north of downtown Kaohsiung is Chengching Lake. A broad treelines explanade leads to the Ming style entry arch of the lake’s park. An entrance fee gives access to a seven kilometer long road sweeping the circumference of the lake. A leading attraction at Chengching Lake is the tall and stately Restoration Pagoda. There are also islands, towers, bridges, pavilions, and orchid collection and aquariums, along with boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, golf and swimming.

Thirty minutes’ drive north of Kaohsiung, in suburban Tsoying, lies a lovely body of water called Lotus Lake. The architectural attractions here include Kaohsiung’s Confusion Shrine. The Spring and Autumn Pavilion standing on an islet connected to the south shore of Lotus Lake is entered through the jaws of a life-sized dragon sculpture.

A stones’s throw away stand the twin, seven-tiered Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, which also sit over the water and are joined to shore by a nine-corner bridge. A Taoist temple dedicated to Kuan Kung is located directly opposite the entrance to the Spring and Autumn Pavilion.

Fokuang Shan or Light of Buddha Mountain located at least an hour drive from northeast Kaohsiung is the center of Buddhist scholarship in Taiwan. The complex consists of several shrine halls surrounded by cool colonnades, pavilions and pagodas, bridges and footpaths, libraries and meditation halls, ponds and grottoes, and exquisite Buddhist statuary. Near the entrance, the tallest Buddha image on the island is 32 meters high, surrounded by 480 life-sized images of disciples. The major shrines hall is known as the Precious hall of Great Heroes. The size of a larger theater, this hall has no artificial lighting. The second major shrine is the Hall of Great Pity. It houses a white Kuan Yin bodhisattva standing on a lotus dias. Fokuang Shan is nestled amidst a dense bamboo forest.

As Taiwan’s major port city, Kaoshiung is also the gateway to Penghu, the Pescadores Islands, the Isles of the Fishermen, situated between Taiwan and the mainland. Penghu is Taiwan’s only island-county. It’s population is 150,000 live in Makung, the county seat on the main island of Penghu. Fishing is the primary source of income. Makung has number of attraction including the old town walls and its gates and a number of temples. The Crossing Sea Bridge joins the islands of Paisha and Hsiyu. With a total length of 5.5 kilometers, it is the longest bridge between two islands in Asia.

 Hengchun Peninsula is located on the southern tip of Kaohsiung. Two arms reach into the sea, Oluanpi (Goose Bell Beak), longer and to the east and Maotoupi (Cat’s Nose Cape) stubbier and more westerly. The broad bay between the two points harbors have some the island’s best swimming beaches and many scenic attractions. A drive towards the south, a turnoff in a westerly direction towards Kuan Shan leads to scenic seascapes. The Palace of Blessed Virtue is a small temple set in a charming grotto of bizzare rocks and trees, A path leads to Blessed Spirit Tortoise, a turtle-shaped rock with a green carapace formed by tenacious vines growing on top.


In the low hills above the two-pronged peninsula sprawls Kenting National Park, a lovely haven of exotic flora and strange formations of coral rock. Kenting National Park was first established by the Japanese in 1906, who combed the earth to find exotic species of plants to transplant here all that could thrive in this climate. The Chinese have continued to expand the collection, currently there are more than 1,200 species growing in the 50 square kilometers park. Paved paths and marked scenic routes interlace the park, and most trees and shrubs are identified in Latin as well as in Chinese.



Kenting Beach features an unspoiled white sand beach that stretches about 200 meters. The clear azure water is warm and gentle, perfect for swimming from April to October