Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung (高雄) is Taiwan’s great southern metropolis. Originally known as Takao (打狗), from the Siraya word for “bamboo forest”, the city developed rapidly under Japanese rule into Taiwan’s primary port and industrial hub.

The historic sandbar island of Cijin preserves much of the city’s early maritime heritage. Fengshan, the old county seat, features Qing dynasty era fortifications and one of Taiwan’s highest concentrations of military dependents’ villages. Further inland, Qishan flourished as a banana-trading center in the Japanese colonial era and retains a well-preserved old street lined with neo-Baroque shophouses. Meinong is one of southern Taiwan’s most celebrated Hakka communities, known for its distinctive courtyard homes and traditional paper umbrella craftsmanship. In the mountainous interior, Indigenous townships like Taoyuan, Namaxia, and Maolin are home to Bunun, Rukai, Hla’alua, and Kanakanavu communities.