Kaohsiung Travel Guide: The Port, Lotus Pond and Cijin

See & Do

The harbour is the sight. The rest of the city arranges itself around it.

The port and the new bay

The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest harbour in Taiwan, and the city wraps around it: container terminals to the south, the old ferry piers and warehouses to the north. The Asia New Bay Area has rebuilt the waterfront between the two, with a music hall, a library and a light-rail loop along the water. Walk it late in the afternoon.

Lotus Pond and the pagodas

Lotus Pond in Gushan is the set piece: lotus in summer, a dragon and a tiger pagoda you walk through rather than past, and the Spring and Autumn Pavilions standing out on the water. It is free and open all day, and busiest at weekends with families feeding the turtles.

Cijin by ferry

The ferry from Gushan to Cijin runs in about ten minutes. The island is 1.5 square kilometres with 26,000 people on it: a seafood street, a black-sand beach and a lighthouse at the north end. Rent a bike at the pier and ride the length of it.

Pier-2 and the warehouses

Pier-2 Art Center is a row of Japanese-era harbour warehouses turned into galleries and shops, with the light rail running past the door. It is the one part of the city designed for a slow afternoon rather than a shift.

Eat

Southern Taiwanese food, priced for a port that eats at lunchtime.

What a meal costs

Numbeo's 8 November snapshot: a meal at an inexpensive restaurant NT$135 (USD 4.09), a three course dinner for two NT$1,000 (USD 30), a fast-food combo NT$155.50 (USD 4.72), a local draft beer NT$50 (USD 1.52), a cappuccino NT$92.62 (USD 2.81).

Night markets and beef noodles

Liuhe is the night market every guide sends you to; Rueifeng and the neighbourhood markets are where the city actually eats. Beef noodle soup is the Taiwanese dish and this version is a little sweeter than Taipei's, with danzai noodles, oyster omelette and grilled squid filling out the list. A bowl runs USD 3 to 5.

Cheaper than Taipei, dearer than Vietnam

At USD 4.09 a meal this sits under Taipei's USD 4.55 and well over Da Nang or Hanoi: a rich city with a cheap street level, on an average local income of USD 2,048.

Where to Stay

What a bed costs

Nomads.com's medians are USD 26 a night for a hotel (USD 546 across thirty nights) and USD 88 a night for an Airbnb, which is USD 2677 a month. Its one-bedroom studio in the centre is USD 393, and Numbeo's one bedroom in the centre is NT$14,609, about USD 443, with NT$10,750 (USD 326) outside. A three-bedroom in the centre is USD 959.

Which district

Zuoying in the north holds the high-speed station. Xinxing is the old centre, walkable and cheaper, with the interchange at Formosa Boulevard. Yancheng and Gushan put you by the water and the ferry, Cianjhen has the software park and the airport road. Three metro lines plus the light rail cover the flat city, and a monthly pass is NT$399 (USD 12).

Logistics

Kaohsiung International Airport in Siaogang is Taiwan's second busiest, 5.8 million passengers in 2024, with direct flights to Japan, Korea, China and Southeast Asia. From Zuoying the high-speed rail reaches Taipei in about an hour and a half.

In town a metro ride is NT$20 (USD 0.61), a taxi starts at NT$85 (USD 2.58) and runs NT$25 a kilometre, and Uber is the app. Cash still rules for small purchases, tipping is not expected, and tap water is not drinkable.