Shore Excursion – Kaohsiung Port 1

KHH-CTST-KH01: Kaohsiung City Tour(4 Hours) Meals Pick up from/to Kaohsiung Port -- Tour Tour: Pier 2 / National Kaohsiung Center for Arts(Weifuyin) / Formosa Boulevard Subway Station

National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) is the first national theater located in southern Taiwan. Its superb location and rich history signify its mission of bridging the past with the future, connecting local and global talents.

Designed by Dutch architect Francine Houben, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) spans 9.9 hectares and sits in the northeast corner of a vast lush park. Transformed from a military training base to an arts and culture center of the future, Weiwuying continues its heritage of talent fostering and civil service. As it becomes one of the pivotal theatre complexes in the arts. Weiwuying hopes to bring forth new experiences and life-changing moments that make the arts special to everyone.

Formosa Boulevard Station - named after the nearby Central Park, this station lies on the Red Line of the Kaohsiung subway. A two-level underground station, the Central Park stop was designed by British architect Richard Rogers. Design-wise, purple is the pervading color throughout the station. The courtyard grass areas, in turn, are covered in a slope of yellow windmills shaped liked sunflowers. Read more about Kaohsiung metro art. 2

Formosa Boulevard is one of the busiest stations in Kaohsiung city, and also one of the most beautiful. In addition to being the place where the Red and Orange subway lines meet, the stop is also the location of the “Dome of Light.” The “Dome of Light,” situated on the upper part of the station, is known as the biggest public art installation all over the globe. We thank the artist Narcissus Quagliata for putting together the dome in a little less than four years, which included shipping pieces of colored glass directly from Germany.

KHH-CTST-KH02: Forguanshan Monastery(4 Hours) 3 Meals Pick up from/to Kaohsiung Port -- Tour Tour: Forgauanshan Monastery

Foguanshan Monastery - which means "Buddha's Light Mountain," is the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. It's also part of one of the largest charities in Taiwan. When you visit it, you'll see some of the nation's largest temples, a museum, a meditation center and a university. The area is peaceful, surrounded by green forests and interspersed with 10,000 beautiful Buddhist statues.

KHH-CTST-KH03: Kaohsiung City/Lotus Lake Tour(8 Hours) 4 Meals Pick up from/to Kaohsiung Port Lunch Tour Tour: Lunch Pier 2 / National Kaohsiung Center for Arts(Weifuyin) / Formosa Boulevard Subway Station / Lotus Lake

Formosa Boulevard is one of the busiest stations in Kaohsiung city, and also one of the 5 most beautiful. In addition to being the place where the Red and Orange subway lines meet, the stop is also the location of the “Dome of Light.” The “Dome of Light,” situated on the upper part of the station, is known as the biggest public art installation all over the globe. We thank the artist Narcissus Quagliata for putting together the dome in a little less than four years, which included shipping pieces of colored glass directly from Germany.

Lotus Lake - This famous scenic area on the northern outskirts of Kaohsiung City is noted for its profusion of temples, with the Confucius Temple at its northern edge and, in the south, the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas and the Spring and Autumn Pavilions. The lake is most beautiful in the late afternoon, when the setting sun is reflected in the water. Nearby are the ruins of the Fengshan County walls and gates, which have been designated a first-grade historic. Spring and Autumn Pavilions Two massive pavilions dedicated to Kuan Kung, the God of War, the Spring and Autumn Pavilions were completed in 1951. In front of the pavilions is a statue of Guanyin(Kuanyin), the Goddess of Mercy, riding a dragon. According to legend,

Guanyin(Kuanyin) appeared above the clouds riding on a dragon, signifying that 6 believers must erect an image depicting this event between pavilions of summer and autumn: The present-day structures are a result of this vision. Dragon and Tiger Pagodas About 700 meters to the south of the Spring and Autumn Pavilions are the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. The dragon's throat is the entrance and the tiger's mouth is the exit. Entering a dragon's throat and coming out a tiger's mouth symbolizes turning bad luck to good fortune. Inside, paintings depict China's 24 most obedient sons as well as scenes of heaven and hell to inspire people to do good deeds during their lifetime, and to provide threatening examples of retribution for wrongdoing.

KHH-CTST-KH04: Tainan Tour(8 Hours) 7 Meals Pick up from/to Kaohsiung Port Lunch Tour Tour: Lunch Anping Fort/Anping Old Street /Chih Kan Tower/Cheng Ching Kung (Koxinga)Shrine /Confucius Temple As it was once also called "Sian Shi Shemg Temple" (literally, it suggests that the temple pays homage to the greated teacher in the world), Tainan Confucius Temple is the first in Taiwan memorizes Confucius. In the Ming Dynasty, Yong-hua Chen, Koxinga's chief counselor, advised to build the temple. The Temple, run by the governments, was also the first and highest academy in Taiwan teaching Confucianism during the Ming and Cing dynasties. One of the most important commemorative rituals to be done during the Confucius Cultural Festival held in the Teacher's Day is celebrating Confucius' birthday. There are 38 things needed to be done before completing the ritual. The confucius Cultureal Festival

In 1624, Dutch built the first fort in Anping, Taiwan, called "Fort Zeelandia", now known as Anping Fort, where has been the administrative center of the Dutch regime, 8 and the hub for trading. The building was originally constructed in square inner fortress and rectangle outer walls. In 1661, the fort was renamed as Anping to commemorate his home town when Guoxingye (Cheng Cheng-Kung) has driven the Dutch out of Taiwan. Therefore, Fort Zeelandia was also known as "King's Fort" or "Taiwan Fort", nicknamed Anping Fort.

Guoxingye's Shrine (Yanping Junwang Temple), located by Kaishan Road surrounded by trees, is the only Fujianese style shrine in Taiwan. This is the shrine built in memory of the work and achievement of Cheng Cheng Kung, the pioneer of Taiwan. Cheng Cheng Kung was originally called Cheng Sun, a native in County Fujian. His father, Cheng Chi Lung, was a wanderer in his early days. He has been a merchant as well as a pirate. His mother was a Japanese lady called Tagawa. Cheng was born with great intelligence. Not only was he diligent in his studies, he also has a huge ambitious to achieve something big, i.e. to become someone who are good in both academic work and in the military field. By the time he was 21 years old, Wu San Kwei led the Qing army into China and the Ming dynasty thus came to an end. As a result of his father surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and his mother committed suicide, Cheng Cheng

Kung suffered a lot of pain and decided that he should turn against the Qing Dynasty 9 to rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty in order to get rid of the shame caused by his father's traitor behavior. In April, 15th year of Emperor Yung Li (1661 A.D.), he led his army crossing the Taiwan Strait and after 9 months' battle, had finally retrieved Taiwan from the hands of the Dutch. Taiwan thus was no more a colony of the Netherlands. After gaining access to Taiwan, Cheng quickly built up the whole place by setting up governing offices, regulations, education system as well as developing more farm lands to improve the living standards of the local people. He also actively trained people in military tactics, preparing them to fight the Qing army. However, just half year after he had retrieved Taiwan, Cheng died of illness on May 8, the 16th year of Emperor Yung Li of Ming Dynasty.