🏙 🌄 Kaohsiung | Places to Visit

[Whatevah]

@meishijia

It’s not really worth going to be honest, they are very plastic “made in China” looking.

Exactly. Hopefully the renovation will improve them a little.

[Noel]

Thanks for the info.

[Brianjones]

Pro tip, spend 5 mins at the pagodas and either cycle around the lake or go to the old fengshan city area across the main road beside the hill, which is now a nice park where the old walls have been renovated and a new walkway installed , it’s especially pretty and quiet at night . The Kaohsiung city government has been steadily opening up the area and beautifying it but keeping a lot of the old stuff intact. The whole park and hilly area is worth a walk around day or night (old Zuoying town on the other hand is a bit rubbish and disappointing given the incredible history of the area).

[DrewC]

@meishijia

We went there last month and you could still go inside but the exterior was all under construction. Some local told us it hadn’t been renovated in over 100 years, and then I googled it and found they were built in the early 70s . It’s not really worth going to be honest, they are very plastic “made in China” looking.

I like them and was pretty impressed by them when I first moved here. Sure, it’s not like the Forbidden City or something, but when it comes to landmarks it’s about as good as you get in Kaohsiung along with the giant Buddha (Fo Guang Shan) outside the city. The only sight I’ve ever been “wtf” about here was when locals were trying to convince me that Formosa Boulevard MRT was some beautiful Instagram-worthy landmark because the meeting area had some pillars with different colors.

I probably wouldn’t go to Lotus Pond right now anyway as we had a dengue outbreak a month ago and if it’s lingering anywhere it’d be there.

[DrewC]

@Brianjones

The whole park and hilly area is worth a walk around day or night (old Zuoying town on the other hand is a bit rubbish and disappointing given the incredible history of the area).

I live in Zuoying, so I guess it’s my duty to defend it a bit. It’s not the most exciting place in Taiwan, but it does have Kaohsiung Arena and some nice green spaces and parks dotted around. It’s also pretty developed and modern so lacking some of the infrastructure and sanitation problems you’d see in older areas of the city.

*- ah, “old” Zuoying? Which part do you mean?

[Brianjones]

The original Zuoying (left camp) town hence old Zuoying . Where the KMT and qing and Zheng ChengKongand Japanese military camps were mostly based and all the way out to the massive navy base still. It’s got a very long history but was hard to discern until recently due to the 1970s buildings they constructed, or rather vomited up, everywhere. Lotus lake was originally connected to the sea and ships would sail right up to the walls from what I understand (although that was hundreds of years ago :)).

You are talking about the new Zuoying there, on Kaohsiung city side of the railway tracks. Agree on your description by the way. New Zuoying and Old Zuoying are completely different in character.

[DrewC]

Ah okay. Well, I don’t go there often, but there’s some interesting historical buildings. Like one that still has bullet holes from being strafed from an American plane during WW2 when Japan controlled the island. At least that was my recollection; it’s been a few years. But yeah, nothing to write home about.

[user86]

Funny, I would say New Zuoying is nothing to write home about. Just a big residential district filled with tall residential towers and parks, and a mall. At least Old Zuoying has historical buildings and colonial-era Japanese homes.

[TT]

The little park @Brianjones recommends is neat and a short hike. The old Japanese fortifications are open, and the city wall restoration is nice. There’s also an old tower at a stupid roundabout. I ride that way quite often just because it is pleasant, and do a loop around lotus pond for the air

[DrewC]

@user86

Funny, I would say New Zuoying is nothing to write home about. Just a big residential district filled with tall residential towers and parks, and a mall. At least Old Zuoying has historical buildings and colonial-era Japanese homes.

I wouldn’t call it “anything to write home about” either. If I lived in a different country, it’s not like it’d be a travel destination. But in terms of living, it’s relatively clean and relatively modern (there’s actually sidewalks!) for this city and the strip going from K Arena to Aozidi Park is good real estate if you’re raising a family.