Qishan

Qíshān (旗山), formerly known as Fānshǔliáo (蕃薯藔) after the early Zhangzhou settlers who subsisted on sweet potatoes while clearing the land, is a historic market town at the geographic center of Kaohsiung. Renamed in 1920 after Qíwěishān (旗尾山), the prominent peak to its south, Qishan prospered through banana cultivation from the 1920s onward and became known as the “banana kingdom” of Taiwan. Qishan Old Street (旗山老街), with its distinctive neo-Baroque façades and stone archways, is recognized as a cultural landscape, while the Tianhou Temple (天后宮), a municipal monument completed in 1824, anchors the town center.

The district retains an exceptional concentration of Japanese colonial era built heritage. Qishan Sugar Factory (旗山製糖所), established in 1909, and Qishan Railway Station (旗山車站), a wooden station house on the now-defunct sugar railway Qiwei Line (旗尾線), both survive as reminders of the district’s role in the colonial sugar economy. The Farmers’ Association (旗山區農會) building, the rice mill, and the waterworks are among the other heritage-listed institutions that served the growing agricultural town.