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Blogs by Jerome Parisse
Kaohsiung, the friendly city 9/26/2010 5:57:06 PM
I’ve just spent a few days in Kaohsiung. It was my first time in Taiwan, and I must admit and I was impressed! The people are extremely friendly and they welcome the few tourists who go there with open arms (To be honest, we didn’t see more than a handful of them over the four days we spent there). Kaohsiung is the most densely populated and the second largest city in Taiwan after the capital Taipei, with a population of around 1.5 million. It is located in southwestern Taiwan and is a major port, through which pass most of Taiwan’s marine imports and exports. The city has large avenues, without too much traffic (for a Chinese city), and with footpaths that are wide enough for walking (although the heat at this time of the year makes it somewhat uncomfortable). Unfortunately, The FANAPI typhoon passed over the city a few days ago, and some of the vegetation has suffered extensively. We went to the city of Tainan (about an hour from Kaohsiung) and the mountains for a few hours of relaxation in the local hot springs, which I strongly recommend to anyone in need of a good rest. When we left the springs, a storm came over us and in a matter of minutes, the road we were driving on became a river. Very scary.
People in Kaohsiung speak Taiwanese or Mandarin, and some of them also speak English. Things to see and do in Kaohsiung include a walk along the Love river, the Rose Basilica, the Lotus Pond, the former British Consulate at Dagou, the port, and the Liuhe night markets, full of people and food stalls from 5 pm to 5 am every day! One of the highlights for me was the food, which is of amazing quality. I strongly recommend the fried fish, beef noodles, smelly (sic) tofu, mango ice, and some of the delicious cakes to be found in the numerous tea and coffee shops. In fact, Taiwan did remind me a little of Japan from that perspective. I should also mention the KMRT, the 2006-newly opened subway system, which, with its two lines, covers the city well. I have never been in such a clean underground train system in my whole life. I will be spending the weekend in Taipei in a few weeks time, and I can’t wait!
