Lighten Up!

A fascinating corner of Kaohsiung City, known as the Urban Spotlight sits on Wufu Third Road, between Chunghua Road and Chungshan Road. What was once an old, uninviting park is currently a significant landmark of the city.

During the day, the area attached to Central Park, appears to be just an ordinary, peaceful park with landscape designs incorporating small-scale fountains with running water. Floral shades dotting a sea of green are a calm spot in one of the busiest part of town.

However, once evening falls, the peaceful corner transforms into the vibrant dazzle of Kaohsiung City.

Famous for its glowing decoration in the evenings, Urban Spotlight, a big piece of outdoor artwork, is themed with all forms and colors of lights, from neon tubes to tinted light bulbs to floorboard lights.

It was nearly a decade ago when eight independent local artists jointly designed the layout of the lights in the park as well as the main character of Urban Spotlight: a 150-meter long walkway. The project aims to introduce a new form of art to the modern Kaohsiung culture.

With outdoor bars and cafés parked in the vicinity providing background music provided by live bands or stereos, visitors can escape from the city in the city; the aesthetic environment is not just peaceful and delightful, but it also possesses the ability to erase one's stress.

The best part of the park is certainly the public 24-hour free wireless Internet service – a first in Taiwan – further transforming Kaohsiung City into a contemporary community, moving towards becoming the country's No.1 e-City.

The Night's Still Young!

As the city's financial district moved towards the east side of Kaohsiung, a new shopping zone named Shinkuchan developed near the Central Park on Wufu Road.

The shopping area operates in a manner similar to the original old bazaar, Chueh-chiang Market, although it has now been tidied up, with many dull, bleak stores converted into fashionable boutiques and popular creative craft stores.

A maze of intertwining lanes and streets of interesting shops sell an assortment of items, such as shoes, handbags and clothing, at all kinds of prices. Whether in trend or not, visitors are bound to find something they adore.

Well into the night only gives you more of a reason to go walk around and explore hidden stores found only in Kaohsiung City.

How to get there:

By HSR - Get off at Zuoying Station and take the free connecting bus into Kaohsiung City center. Train tickets are approximately NT$1,500 for the one two-hour trip.

By railway - Get off at Kaohsiung Station. The journey takes on average six hours, and costs around NT$850 per trip.

By bus - Ubus, or Tunglien, takes visitors on a six-hour drive to Kaohsiung from Taipei Main Station for about NT$600.

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