Lotus Lake, Tsoying, Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung's lake surrounded by temples

The Lotus Lake (蓮池潭) in Kaohsiung's northern district Tsoying (Chinese 左營, sometimes spelled as Zuoying) is one of the main tourist destinations in Taiwan's second metropolis. I had no idea, that there's such a big lake within the city, but my lovely girlfriend brought me here and I was really impressed by what I saw: Temple after temple and religious celebrations just upon our arrival. There were fireworks in the middle of the day. I thought: "OMG, what's going on? So many people and a lot of hustle and bustle. Wow. Let's see what's happening." So we just mingled and observed the situation, took photos. It was pretty loud, because someone started to throw firecrackers. And the heat was almost unbearable, so we didn't stand there too long. We started to walk around, entered the Dragon and Tiger pagodas and walked along the lake for a while, even took a break for a snack. The impressive Lotus lake looks amazing, but it's too good to be true. It's actually man made and opened in 1952. Most temples were built after that. So I can't really say I visited a historic site. Nevertheless, it's still a breath-taking display of amazing buildings surrounding the lake. And there is one really fascinating historic site in the area: The old Fengshan city North gate. But more about that in a new post.

Let's see some of the main sights along the Lotus Lake:

A religious festival upon entering the lake area greeted us.

The temple in its full glory.

The famous Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. See more of my photos here>>

Each pagoda is 11m tall.

The top part and the tip of the pagoda.

The view on the temple from the second floor.

The Tiger and Dragon Pagodas from the Wuli pavilion.

Guanyin goddess near the Spring and autumn pavilions (春秋閣).

I love this photo. My girlfriend walking towards the Wuli pavilion.

The Lotus Lake with the view on the Taoist temple.

Big statue of the Taoist god Bei-Ji Shien-Tien...

...he's also known under these names: 玄武, 玄天上帝, 真武大帝, 北帝 and 帝公.

The Temple of Enlightenment is a majestic temple in the area.

The Lotus Lake is Kaohsiung's getaway inside the city. I really liked the area and recommend everyone to visit it, if you happen to go to Kaohsiung. The buses are small and take some time, before they arrive, but they're very cheap. If I didn't have my girlfriend, I'd be a little lost. Maybe it's better, if you take a cab near the Tsoying station, but that will cost quite a bit.

My KAOHSIUNG Tour - NEXT: The old Fengshan city Northern gate>>

[My KAOHSIUNG page][My TAIWAN page][Info][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Love River 愛河, the spine of Kaohsiung

The river, that flows through Kaohsiung

The Soaring Dragon Fish statue near the Love River.

The Love River or Ai River (愛河) is the spine of Kaohsiung. It flows through downtown and provides a very nice environment for the citizens (or Gaoxiongies as I call them). The views from the various bridges are amazing and you can see them on many postcards. I really enjoyed taking photos here. I probably took the best ones of the whole trip along this river, but I just couldn't bear the heat at that time, that's why I didn't snap many, I had to sit down and take a rest. My girlfriend and I were so tired, because we were already walking for many hours. The Love River was a nice break from the whole extensive tour and the magical images gave us a boost to continue walking and sightseeing. We went on to the Lotus Lake after this, I guess we just loved to see water that day.

Let me share some photos with you:

The Soaring Dragon Fish statue is 25m tall, weights 30 tons and it's made of stainless steel.

The Love River, the way I saw it for the first time. The Soaring Dragon Fish is just near by.

A nice promenade along the river.

The woman on the left is the current mayor of Kaohsiung Chen Chu.

After sitting for a while, we decided to walk along the river.

The Ambassador hotel Kaohsiung is just near by. Impressive.

We wanted to cross that bridge to come to the other side, to Yancheng.

The Tuntex Sky Tower in the back, the Soaring Dragon Fish statue in the middle.

The tall landmark building on the left is Kaohsiung Twin Tower, 142m tall.

The view from this bridge is one of my favorite views of Kaohsiung. This is really a spot, where you can see the most beautiful part of this city, the magical skyline with some of the finest buildings. The Love River is a must see part of Kaohsiung, don't miss it.

My KAOHSIUNG Tour - NEXT: Museum of History>>

[My KAOHSIUNG page][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Tuntex Sky Tower, Kaohsiung's landmark skyscraper

Taiwan's second tallest building

The Tuntex Sky Tower also known as 85 SKYTOWER (or 高雄85大樓 in Chinese), located in Kaohsiung, is the former tallest building of Taiwan (between 1997-2004) and currently (2010) it's Taiwan's number two skyscraper. It's definitely one of Taiwan's landmark buildings and the landmark building of Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second biggest city and main port, located in the south of the country. I always dreamed of seeing this unique skyscraper in real and now I had the chance to see. It was one of the best moments of my Taiwan 2010 adventure. Thank you so much, Lily, for bringing me here.

The top with the antenna and the roof.

I had the privilege to see this skyscraper in real and I tell you, I wasn't disappointed. I admired this extraordinary piece of modern architecture way before I ever dreamed of living in Taiwan, so it's really like a dream come true for me, when I finally saw it in real. Believe me, I took like 200 photos of the building from all directions and positions. I just couldn't stop, because skyscrapers are one of my passions.

The Tuntex Sky Tower is seen from almost every corner of Kaohsiung and not just within the city, but also from very far away. It's 378m tall with the help of the antenna. The roof tops out at 347,5m, the top floor is at 341m. The building has 85 floors, which is noted in its Chinese name. Let me show you some photos:

The massive hole in the middle. The Tuntex Sky Tower is supposed to resemble the character "gao" 高 (high), which is also the first part of the name Kaohsiung.

The Tuntex Sky Tower close-up from the eastern part.

In its full glory from the southern part.

There's a shopping mall inside, as well as apartments and a hotel.

The bottom part with its entrances is massive.

A nice little fountain on the south side.

Another shot from the eastern part. It was around 9 am that day.

On the right: Asia-Pacific Financial Plaza, 169.8m, nearby.

There are many buildings nearby, especially near the eastern part of the tower.

View on Tuntex Sky Tower from the Zhonghua road.

A bigger photo from the same position. The building is almost as massive as Taipei 101.

In the scorching morning sun.

See my Tuntex Sky Tower hi-def photos here>>

Taken from Sanduo road, the east side of the building.

My KAOHSIUNG Tour - NEXT: From Tuntex to Love River>>

[KAOHSIUNG][TAIWAN][Info][Homepage][SKYSCRAPERS][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Trip to Kaohsiung: Zhongshan road

This is what we saw on one of Kaohsiung's main avenues

Our Kaohsiung Tour 2010 started at the main railway station and continued along the very long Zhongshan road, one of Kaohsiung's avenues. It took us nearly 2 hours (together with a breakfast break) to arrive at the famous Tuntex Sky Tower, where we decided to take a break and have some coffee and cake in a small café. It was a great walk, because we started at 6am, when the weather was very pleasant. And the walking felt great, because we were sitting on a train for 6h. The only problem was a lack of sleep, that train was slow and bumpy. I highly recommend you to pay for the much faster high-speed train, in case you want to go to Kaohsiung from Taipei (will only take around 1.5h).

Let me show you some photos from Kaohsiung in the morning:

The famous Tuntex Sky Tower as seen from the Kaohsiung Railway Station.

The Zhongshan road and Tuntex Sky Tower again.

The old inoperative railway station built during Japanese times and the new one above.

Kaohsiung at around 6am in the morning. Empty, but slowly waking up.

Cisian 1st road. As you can see the roads are long and wide in Kaohsiung.

They sell snake meat here, too. Read my snake blood in Taipei post>>

We didn't eat snake, but chose a stall that sells typical Kaohsiung breakfast.

Pork with rice, oyster soup and an omelette. Simple and yummy.

After our small breakfast pause, we continued to walk along the Zhongshan road:

We went down to see the famous Formosa Boulevard station.

This part of the station was designed by an Italian designer. More about it here>>

A popular night market, empty during the morning.

Taiwanese and their scooters... a love story, hehe. Read more about scooters here>>

Xin Fu-Hwa residential building caught our attention. More info and photos here>>

A temple along the way captured my eyes, while my girlfriend took a rest.

Zhongcheng road, another long avenue.

Ta Lee Plaza Star Place department store, amazing architecture.

A small day market, where old people buy fruits and veggies.

Hanshin Department Store & Grand Hi-Lai Hotel in the back.

Hanshin Department Store & Grand Hi-Lai Hotel close-up, 186m.

And then we finally saw it from close: The famous Tuntex Sky Tower!

But before we started taking photos of the awesome skyscraper, we went into a small café called CROWN & FANCY, where we had a drink and a snack. The place is very cool, I like the layout. At first we were the only two visitors, but then a foreigner and a local girl sat next to us and this guy was talking and talking in Mandarin endlessly, which annoyed me a little.

This cake was delicious. Thank you, baby, for making my Kaohsiung trip so sweet.

My KAOHSIUNG Tour - NEXT: Tuntex Sky Tower>>

[My KAOHSIUNG page][TAIWAN page][Tall buildings Info][All photos by MKL, 2010]