Kaohsiung is definitely my New Favourite City.  Read this post I wrote in March to see why, and see the photos of the ‘Transformation by Colour’ that Kaohsiung is undergoing!  Previously I hated the place, now I love it.  Can’t get enough of it!  Just look at this ~ on the wall of the bus station.  THIS IS KAOHSIUNG!

Kaohsiung is now Taiwan’s must-go, must-see city, YES YES YES!

And really it’s all to do with the massive explosion in street art that has appeared in the city over the last few years.  Even boring old walls along the railway are painted in the most beautiful colours!

Ah, 高雄: Kaohsiung ~ there’s even Chinese calligraphy as street art showing the city’s name….

This past weekend, I found myself accompanying some church visitors from the USA to Kaohsiung for them to perform in a music concert at St. Timothy’s Church, and then at the morning service at St. Paul’s Church. More news of that next week.  We were busy all day and all evening, but early mornings were free.  What better time to visit my favourite places in Kaohsiung?

This is just on the way to the MRT from St. Paul’s Church, there’s street art all over! 

Blue skies, empty streets, that was early morning this past weekend in Kaohsiung…

My very favouritest place in Kaohsiung is the area around Weiwuying MRT Station 衛武營 on the MRT Orange Line (exit 5, turn right onto Jianjun 建軍 Road) , where the street art is at its best. On my previous visit in February / March, we had visited that area late in the afternoon and the sun was perfect for viewing the whole road of street art, seems like almost every building is covered in bright colours (see my post from March for those photos).  Go in the late afternoon for that view.

In the early morning, there’s plenty of other art on walls of buildings where the light is good. And new ones too that I hadn’t seen before.  And people just wandering around buying things in the street market, surrounded by all this amazing street art. Love it!

Weiwuying is in Kaohsiung’s Lingya District 苓雅, and the name ‘Lingya’ is painted here in Chinese on the side of a large wall, by street artist ‘Silks’… 

The area’s old military base is now becoming the new ‘Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts‘…

And nearby, across the road is where all the street art is concentrated.  Now there’s a QR code that you can scan and it brings up Google Maps showing exactly where all the individual artworks are.  Brilliant.  So I could walk all over the area of Lingya District following the map and taking a few photos. Much painting is still going on… works in progress.

Some of it is quite a unique style…

And then yesterday I visited the Pier 2 area, where early in the morning there was hardly anybody about.  Lots of huge murals…

And lots of quirky street art, decorating things like wall fans, or electrical boxes with fun art…love it too! 

There’s lots of these ‘people’ everywhere, some are huge… 

Yes, must-go, must-see Kaohsiung, it’s changing all the time.  Love this crocodile below.  Kinda sums up Kaohsiung, you never know what you’re going to see next!  I stared at this close up for ages before walking away and looking back and suddenly realizing what it was.  Surprise, surprise, it’s a crocodile, holding a spray can of paint!

Check out this great blog post,’Street Art in Kaohsiung‘ from the blog, Kathmandu and Beyond 

This is the Google map locations of the street art in Lingya District…. 

And come and see it all for yourself!