Mini Series - Kaohsiung, Taiwan

By Ieuan Dolby

The jumbled and assorted streets lie flat as a pancake in the sprawling city, barricaded on one side by the rolling green hills of the interior country and protected by the surfing oceans on the other. A city that grows as time passes and with no plan in mind it resembles a junk yard of intrigue.

Walking around is a tricky exercise as the average person tends to forsake the two feet for a nifty moped. These two wheelers are a confusion and breathtaking experience as they defy the rules of the road to beat traffic lights and the few cars that struggle amongst them. Pedestrians are far and few between and in the making of the City they were not considered. Look left and look right at all times: never look straight ahead.

Steeping off the ferry from Chi Island an assortment of building yards and workshops will lead rapidly to the Five Star Kingdom Hotel and the boisterous night life that surrounds it. A place of activity for the tourist with modern coffee shops and dark lit bars galore. Walking further the Love River and the romance that it provokes turns noise into silence in one easy step: with recently met couples or long time loves the place defies time. Further on the large and awesome skyscrapers herald the entrance to the large department stores and shops whose products are over-priced but the area brings with it a hive of activity and wonderment for the unaware. Underneath the overpowering glass facades and in amongst the side streets cheaper and more daring clothes and jewelry are displayed on hundreds of makeshift tables that stretch for miles along the lanes and back streets.

Through the city and beside the Railway Station come the assorted computer and mobile phone shops where competition is high to offer the latest goods at the cheapest prices. And to the North the airport brings with it the docks and the fewer but equally active drinking parlors. In the form of impressive and daring KTV lounges they are designed for rich locals or those looking for one night of love.

Walking around the impression of a scrap yard sticks. But along every street lies a superb and authentic noodle shop, tiny specialized shops that require serious browsers to enter and drink vendors that produce concoctions that make the mouth water.

Just watch out for the mopeds!

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