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Kaohsiung--A Five-Star Trip to a Five-Star City
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| If the traffic's good, Kaohsiung International Airport is just a ten-minute drive from the city center.
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The Ai River divides the landscape in two,
But the clouds say, it's spring casting shadows on the water.
The weather station says, no, it's summer.
Thus does Yu Kwang-chung, a poet who came to live here more than a decade ago, describe the city he loves.
Kaohsiung has a tropical marine climate and is indeed the "city of summer."Set between mountains and sea, its straight roads are lined with coconut groves, the green fronds breaking the bright sunlight into thousands of brilliant rays, while the Ai River gently slips through the heart of the city.
Located in southern Taiwan, in the past Kaohsiung was generally considered warmhearted but not at all cosmopolitan. In the last two years, however, Kaohsiung seems to have had a complete makeover. The streets are clean and the Ai River has been cleaned up, so that one glimpse of it now draws people towards it, along with the city.
Kaohsiung, previously called Takao, has been a port for almost 150 years. An energetic people, residents throw themselves into whatever comes next, so although already Taiwan's second largest city, Kaohsiung is still rapidly developing. Spectacular new buildings vie to be tallest and even a short visit will open a whole new vista.
Change is reflected too in the growth and decline of popular sightseeing destinations; old favourites such as Chengching Lake and the Cultural Center no longer top the list, their place taken by Chichin Island, ideal for water recreation, and the revitalized Ai River. Recent years have seen northward migration and the construction of more high-rise buildings. Even Nantzu and
Tsoying, districts once thought far from central Kaohsiung, have become a burgeoning cultural and tourist circuit, centered around Lotus Lake and including cultural essentials such as the historic "Old
city,"Mt. Panping and the Museum of Fine Arts. A change even more obvious to the visitor's eye is the proliferation of new malls and hotels.
The city has mountains, waterways, the sea, good shopping, an agreeable climate, sumptuous seafood, and an airport only ten minutes from the city center! Over the last two years a succession of five-star hotels have been enticing those living in the north of Taiwan to venture southwards to spend their holidays. They've introduced a whole range of package tours, and have arrangements with the airlines offering air transport and accommodation for just over NT$3,000.
You can enjoy a luxurious yet inexpensive five-star holiday without travelling overseas. This is a great way to have luxury weekend away from it all. We've de signed three distinctive itineraries to visit the city. We highly recommend Kaohsiung to all our readers!
Kaohsiung Fact File
Area: 153 square kilometers
Population: 1.5 million
Climate: The year-round average temperature is 24.4C
and the average annual rainfall is 1,810.3 millimeters. The rainy season is from May to October, but it doesn't rain every day.
Some brief historical details:
Kaohsiung was formerly called Takao.
In 1661, during the Yongli reign of the Qing dynasty, Zheng Chenggong, known in the West as Koxinga, expelled the colonial Dutch forces and established the Wannien county government here in the "Old city"area of modern day Tsoying. The port was opened to foreign trade by the Qing rulers in 1863 as a consequence of the Treaty of Peking (one of the
"Unequal Treaties"which opened up treaty ports and provided bases for the expansion of imperialist powers into China). An administrative office was set up at Chichin under Japanese colonial rule, and Kaohsiung Prefecture was established in 1920. Kaohsiung was incorporated as a city in 1945, and in 1979 was promoted to the status of a special municipality under the direct administration of the Executive Yuan. Kaohsiung is Taiwan's second largest city and its premier port. |
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