Living in Taiwan: The British Consulate of Takow

Well, it's been quite a while since my last blog posting. I went to visit my family and friends in the states for the holidays (which was so good for me) and last week was a whirlwind of getting back to the swing of things and settling back in.

The weather has been amazing here, in the high 60's to high 70's, and I'm enjoying every moment of it. I am not missing the subzero temperatures that the states are experiencing right now. Not even a little bit!

Yesterday was a great day. My friend Wendy and I went to the British Consulate, which is located in the southern part of Kaohsiung. Wendy has been there before but I haven't and I'm glad I had her as a tour guide. I biked to her place on Nanping, which is near the MRT subway station. I haven't taken the MRT very often here because I live pretty far from it so it's easier to bike everywhere. We had to switch trains at Formosa and we went upstairs so I could take some shots of the glass ceiling. Impressive isn't it!

We took the train to the last station and walked toward the path leading to the Consulate. As with every walk I've taken in this city, there is some form of artwork that impresses me. This mural is a mosaic. Mosaics always impress me because I know I would never have the patience to make something like this. No way!

Amazing!

This is a mosaic of foliage! It was incredibly beautiful to see in person!

In the midst of modern structures, temples and every form of building you can imagine, you often find a building like this. Pink is very much appreciated in this country!

We walked along a canal that leads to the ocean. The ferry to Cijin Island leaves from here and you can see one of the ferries below.

The bridges that span the canals and Love River are so beautifully designed. We walked toward the entrance to the path.

The brick wall lining the path has chunks of coral built into it.

You see a variety of homes along the path and pretty much every one of them has a multitude of potted plants or a garden.

How smart is this?! A separate path for your bike so you can take it up to the top.

You know how much I love these banyan trees! Glorious!

As you come around the corner from the path, you see this vista...the Taiwan Strait with the cargo container ships in the distance.

All of these wooden "cards" were hanging along this area overlooking the water. I need to find out what they represent.

That's the university built on the hillside in the background in the photo below.

It was a gorgeous, breezy day in the low 70's. Perfect!

That is the lighthouse at the end of Cijin Island in the distance. This is the entrance to Kaohsiung Harbor.

In the late 1800's, Formosa (Taiwan) was forced to open up trading ports and one of the ports was in Takow (the old name for Kaohsiung). The Consulate was built in 1879 to expand British interests in Taiwan. There is a residence down the hill from this building. Under Japanese rule in 1895, this building became a weather station and then was deserted after it was damaged by a typhoon. In 1986 it was restored and became a museum, gift shop and restaurant that serves English high tea and dinner. We are planning on going to one of those teas soon.

There is the heart of Kaohsiung in the distance. As you can see, there is smog that perpetually hovers over the city in the winter.

We walked down a winding path that took us to the boardwalk along the ocean. You can see the consulate high up on the hill in the photo below.

The former British Consular Residence has wax figures (maybe not wax since it's hot here) that depict the life of the first British Consul General in the late 1800's.

This is his wife going on an outing. I can't imagine it was comfortable being carried around in that little box. Yikes! How could you fit a bustle and all of the crap women wore during that time!?