Kaohsiung 2014: Qijin (旗津) part I

Many of my classmates and friends told me to visit Qijin Island when I visit Kaohsiung and so I did.  Took a train to Xizihwan MRT station and walked to the Gushan Ferry Pier, and then a ferry across to Qijin Island. The ferry fare is NT$15 (one-way) for students (yeah, I'm using my student pass to the max). Kinda feel like Pangkor Island to me but bigger and more commercialized. 

the pier in Qijin

The 'famous' temple is less than 5 minutes walk from the pier. Nothing fantastic about it. After seeing so many temples, this one didn't live up to the hype. Small and not that well managed. 

I simply wandered around and unless you are there to eat seafood as there are lots of seafood stalls/restaurants in the area. There's also the usual stores selling dried seafood and also the beach.

one of the junctions.. had a bowl of fruit ice to cool off..

rows of stalls selling dried seafood and snacks.

I wonder how those stalls make a living.. almost everyone sells the same thing.. All the packaging looks the same and I bet the prices would be similar too.. Seriously why have so many stalls? It makes no sense. 

It really surprised me that NO ONE is using the beach. The sand is clean and smooth, although not pearly white. Maybe it's still March and the water is still too cold for swimming, but still... 

The Qihou Fortress also was kinda let-down too.. The structure was cool, but nothing much to see.. Not enough plaques or signage to tell the story of the place. To me, it was a wasted opportunity to tell some interesting stories of the fort. 

We can't go into any of the rooms, we can only walk around the structure. It was good they didn't try to 'beautify' the place, but still more can be do to make it an educational experience. 

Luckily the saving grace of the entire area is the Qihou Lighthouse, in my opinion. I've always like lighthouses, maybe cos of the distance you can see from it. The scenery is really nice. And that shall be my next entry.. :)