I went to Kaohsiung twice and these are the 2 BEST places you can go to if it's your first time to travel there. This is located at the Southest part, it has it's own airport, and other than these 2 historical places that I will show you, Kaohsiung is also known for the beautiful beaches, night market and night life. It is "Taiwan's Maritime Capital" and it is the largest industrial center of Taiwan.
How to get to Kaohsiung from Taipei: If you are not coming from Kaohsiung airport, ride the Taiwan High Speed Rail from Taipei which will take around 1.5-2hrs and costs 21 USD. It is a smooth and comfortable ride in the THSR and even though it's a little pricey, I still prefer it than the regular train or bus. THSR is better especially if you have limited time to tour around and you can book it online. I used Klook during my visit.
I will be showing you LOTUS POND and FO GUANG SHAN BUDDHA MUSEUM.
馃尭 LOTUS POND 馃尭
We came to Kaohsiung from Tainan early in the morning to start our tour. We spent half of the day here because we wanted to really go around the lotus pond and check all the places there. Here's a map of how big it is and the many beautiful architecture you will find such as temples, pagodas, pavilions.
Check the source for a clearer photo of the map.
You'll be amazed as you enter the tower through the mouths of the Tiger and Dragon where you'll see a lot of beautifully made paintings that portrays their religion, culture and history. You can climb up the tower to get a nicer view of the pond and the surrounding structures.
When we went here at the pavilion, there was a group of young kids with their parents who I think was also having a fieldtrip. We stayed here to rest for a bit and took time to appreciate the place.
I remember they had like a fortune teller machine here where you put in a few coins and you'll get a mini scroll of paper with chinese sayings. I literally had no idea what was written on it and unfortunately, lost the paper. Guess I have to go back and get another one. 馃槄 You'll also see small statues on each side of the pathway beside the lamps as you walk towards the huge statue of the Taoist God.
Just in front of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, you'll see a lot of people visit this temple with intricate sculptures and designs that you can see even on the ceiling. Every angle of the temple is an art and I spent a lot of time looking and appreciating it. It is full of colors and I really liked that they also had a Koi pond inside!
I didn't have other pictures of this temple except for the view from the entrance. It's a small temple, still had those very detailed carved designs and we saw a few people who went in to pray.
This was built in memory of Confucius and is Taiwan's largest Confucius temple. There were different shrines for worshipping and it several halls where antiques, tools, pottery, instruments, calligraphy etc. were displayed.
馃専FO GUANG SHAN BUDDHA MUSEUM 馃専
Going here was a pretty long and expensive taxi ride which took us around 30-40 mins from Lotus Pond. I forgot how much the taxi costs but I remember it being expensive. lol Just be ready to have extra for transportation but this place is definitely worth it! Also, taking the bus would take so much time.
We spent the whole afternoon here and we didn't even get to tour the whole place since we still have to get back to Tainan. But if you travel to Kaohsiung, make sure to make some time for this museum so you don't have to be in a hurry walking around. 馃榿
Not only is this place famous as a tourist destination but also for the learning experience as you get to know about the Buddhist religion and culture displayed inside the museum.
You can check a clearer photo here
The museum had a lot of paintings, statues and dioramas with printed information written in Chinese and English to know about the history of the place and the Buddhism religion.
This is the view as you walk towards the Buddha statue and the next picture is the view from the back.
When I got here, I really felt a sense of peace and calm. I was in awe! Look how amazing the whole landscape is! Carefully thought and designed architecture and very well maintained and cleaned! 馃槏
Pagodas are tall religious buildings with curved roof. There were 4 pagodas on each side of the pathway.
Here's the view as you reach the top of the big buddha terrace. It was already late in the afternoon, just in time for sunset and the last part of our tour which is getting to the Big Buddha Statue!
Stupa means a buddhist shrine or monument for meditation. There are 4 stupas on every corner surrounding the Big Buddha.
And we have finally arrived at the Fo Guang Big Buddha, a gigantic statue in the middle of the stupas that depicts Sakyamuni Buddha. It has a total height of 108 meters and uses 1,800 ton of metal! Hope you can visit this place and let me know if you were as amazed as I was!
That's the end of this Kaohsiung adventure! 'Til the next tour around Taiwan! 馃挌
KAOHSIUNG, TAIWAN : [//]:# (!pinmapple 22.622046 lat 120.310699 long d3scr)
Welcome to Chill with Shanna. Shanna is a life enthusiast and a wanderer. She is easy going, spontaneous and want to challenge herself by testing her limits. She aspires to be an effective storyteller and content creator. She is in pursuit of fulfilling her purpose, living a good life and ticking adventures off her bucketlist.
She is a Speech-Language Pathologist and AXA Financial Advisor by profession.
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