Kaohsiung: the industrial gateway of southern Taiwan

A former industrial and port center, Kaohsiung has repurposed its warehouses as art galleries and one of Taiwan's most photographed temples.

The light rail metro remains the most convenient way to move around this southern industrial gateway.

The Pavilion of Spring and Autumn, a Taoist temple built on an artificial lake, houses dragon statues through which visitors enter and exit according to tradition to purify themselves.

A short walk away, the Pier-2 Art Center, former port warehouses converted into an artistic space, displays contemporary installations and sculptures along the canal.

Continuing on, you climb the Eighty-Five Tower, among Taiwan's tallest skyscrapers, with a panoramic lookout over the entire Kaohsiung Bay.

As evening falls, the Liuhe Night Market, one of Taiwan's most famous, offers local street food along animated pedestrian streets until late night.

Walking through the Dragon's Body at the Lotus Pond's Spring and Autumn Pavilion follows a strict ritual: you must enter through the green dragon's mouth and exit through the white tiger's mouth, never reversed, to ensure good fortune.

Kaohsiung, once synonymous with Taiwanese industrial pollution, has invested heavily in environmental and cultural transformation of its harbor district over the past decades.