Qualla: East Asia https://qualla.com/east-asia en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla episodic false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: East Asia https://qualla.com/east-asia Lianhuashan Park https://qualla.com/lianhuashan-park/ Photo credit jo.sau from London/Vilnius, UK/Lithuania, CC BY 2.0. A 150-hectare hilltop park in Shenzhen's Futian district, anchored by a six-meter bronze statue of Deng Xiaoping whose five-year journey from warehouse to hilltop mirrors the complicated story of the city he helped create.

Read more: Lianhuashan Park on Qualla

Image: jo.sau from London/Vilnius, UK/Lithuania | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/lianhuashan-park-wp/ws10-lianhuashan-park-combined.mp3 4:37 full Lin Ma Hang https://qualla.com/lin-ma-hang/ Photo credit 方畢可, CC0. A Hong Kong border village beside the Shenzhen River where an abandoned lead and silver mine, ancestral halls, and a now-unused "international bridge" for cross-border farmers tell the layered story of life at the edge of two worlds.

Read more: Lin Ma Hang on Qualla

Image: 方畢可 | CC0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/lin-ma-hang-wp/ws10-lin-ma-hang-combined.mp3 5:41 full Lo Wu https://qualla.com/lo-wu/ Photo credit Wing1990hk, CC BY 3.0. Hong Kong's busiest land border crossing, where 85 percent of all overland departures to mainland China funnel through a single rail terminus — a crossing whose name once meant 'shell lake' and whose tiny 1911 population of eight has grown into one of Asia's most trafficked checkpoints.

Read more: Lo Wu on Qualla

Image: Wing1990hk | CC BY 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/lo-wu-wp/ws10-lo-wu-combined.mp3 5:39 full Lok Ma Chau Loop https://qualla.com/lok-ma-chau-loop/ Photo credit SSDPenguin at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0. A 0.97 km² riverside parcel transferred from mainland China to Hong Kong in 2017 — created by accident when river-straightening engineering work moved the border, leaving a loop of land that spent years in jurisdictional limbo before becoming the proposed site of a cross-border technology park.

Read more: Lok Ma Chau Loop on Qualla

Image: SSDPenguin at English Wikipedia | CC BY 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/lok-ma-chau-loop-wp/ws10-lok-ma-chau-loop-combined.mp3 5:54 full Lung Yeuk Tau https://qualla.com/lung-yeuk-tau/ Photo credit Wpcpey, CC BY-SA 4.0. A cluster of five Tang clan walled villages northeast of Fanling in Hong Kong's New Territories, preserving 600 years of ancestral heritage along a dedicated heritage trail.

Read more: Lung Yeuk Tau on Qualla

Image: Wpcpey | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/lung-yeuk-tau-wp/ws10-lung-yeuk-tau-combined.mp3 5:12 full Minsk World https://qualla.com/minsk-world/ Photo credit BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0. A Soviet aircraft carrier reborn as a Shenzhen theme park — Minsk World brought Cold War hardware to Dapeng Bay for fifteen years before closing in 2016 and leaving the ship's fate uncertain.

Read more: Minsk World on Qualla

Image: BrokenSphere | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/minsk-world-wp/ws10-minsk-world-combined.mp3 4:47 full Nantou Ancient City Museum https://qualla.com/nantou-ancient-city-museum/ Photo credit LAMCACah, CC BY-SA 4.0. Housed inside the former government headquarters of Bao'an County, this small Shenzhen museum interprets nearly 1,700 years of local history across two stories and three exhibition halls.

Read more: Nantou Ancient City Museum on Qualla

Image: LAMCACah | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/nantou-ancient-city-museum-wp/ws10-nantou-ancient-city-museum-combined.mp3 4:10 full Nantou (historic town) https://qualla.com/nantou-historic-town/ Photo credit Iswzo, CC BY-SA 4.0. A walled town in Shenzhen whose history reaches back to 331 CE — once the administrative capital of a region spanning what is now Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau, it survives today as a layered urban village.

Read more: Nantou (historic town) on Qualla

Image: Iswzo | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/nantou-historic-town-wp/ws10-nantou-historic-town-combined.mp3 5:49 full Overseas Chinese Town https://qualla.com/overseas-chinese-town/ Photo credit chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0. Shenzhen's culture-and-tourism flagship, built on farmland that predates the city itself — OCT is home to Window of the World, Happy Valley, and the companies like Konka and ZTE that helped define China's economic opening.

Read more: Overseas Chinese Town on Qualla

Image: chensiyuan | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/overseas-chinese-town-wp/ws10-overseas-chinese-town-combined.mp3 5:52 full Ping An Finance Centre https://qualla.com/ping-an-finance-centre/ Photo credit Lunghaiu Wandloa 12, CC BY-SA 4.0. At 599.1 metres, Ping An Finance Centre lords over Shenzhen's skyline — a needle of glass and steel so tall that its designers abandoned plans for an antenna because it would have disrupted flight paths.

Read more: Ping An Finance Centre on Qualla

Image: Lunghaiu Wandloa 12 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/ping-an-finance-centre-wp/ws10-ping-an-finance-centre-combined.mp3 6:06 full Plover Cove Country Park https://qualla.com/plover-cove-country-park/ Photo credit Simonlo, CC BY-SA 2.5. A vast wilderness of wooded ridges, island-studded bays, and ancient rocks in Hong Kong's northeastern New Territories — where a bride drowned in folklore and pangolins still move through the shadows.

Read more: Plover Cove Country Park on Qualla

Image: Simonlo | CC BY-SA 2.5

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/plover-cove-country-park-wp/ws10-plover-cove-country-park-combined.mp3 5:50 full Robin's Nest (Hong Kong) https://qualla.com/robin-s-nest-hong-kong/ Photo credit Earth100, CC BY-SA 3.0. Known in Chinese as Hung Fa Leng — Red Flower Ridge — this Hong Kong border mountain spent decades as an off-limits military zone before becoming the territory's 25th country park in 2024.

Read more: Robin's Nest (Hong Kong) on Qualla

Image: Earth100 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/robin-s-nest-hong-kong-wp/ws10-robin-s-nest-hong-kong-combined.mp3 4:58 full San Uk Ling Holding Centre https://qualla.com/san-uk-ling-holding-centre/ Photo credit Flag4567, CC BY-SA 4.0. A remote Hong Kong detention facility near the mainland border — built in 1979 to hold illegal immigrants, it gained painful prominence in 2019 when arrested protesters were held there and allegations of mistreatment sparked a controversy the authorities disputed and an oversight body found warranted concern.

Read more: San Uk Ling Holding Centre on Qualla

Image: Flag4567 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/san-uk-ling-holding-centre-wp/ws10-san-uk-ling-holding-centre-combined.mp3 6:55 full Sha Tau Kok https://qualla.com/sha-tau-kok/ Photo credit 李月文, CC BY-SA 4.0. Hong Kong's northernmost town — a closed border settlement where a single street divides the city from Shenzhen, Hakka farmers became the ancestors of a community that has lived between two systems for more than a century.

Read more: Sha Tau Kok on Qualla

Image: 李月文 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/sha-tau-kok-wp/ws10-sha-tau-kok-combined.mp3 6:32 full Shenzhen Museum https://qualla.com/shenzhen-museum/ Photo credit Huangdan2060, CC0. A museum that holds 20,000 relics spanning ancient Cantonese culture and China's most dramatic modern transformation, including artifacts from Deng Xiaoping's pivotal 1992 southern tour.

Read more: Shenzhen Museum on Qualla

Image: Huangdan2060 | CC0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/shenzhen-museum-wp/ws10-shenzhen-museum-combined.mp3 5:47 full Shenzhen Special Economic Zone https://qualla.com/shenzhen-special-economic-zone/ Photo credit Hawyih, Public domain. The policy laboratory that turned a border market town of 310,000 into a megacity of millions — and convinced the world that China's economic opening was real.

Read more: Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Qualla

Image: Hawyih | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/shenzhen-special-economic-zone-wp/ws10-shenzhen-special-economic-zone-combined.mp3 6:06 full Shenzhen Stock Exchange https://qualla.com/shenzhen-stock-exchange/ Photo credit Charlie fong, CC BY-SA 4.0. Born from political controversy in 1990, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange grew into the world's sixth-largest by market capitalization — housed in a Rem Koolhaas building that floats its trading floors above the street like a question mark.

Read more: Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Qualla

Image: Charlie fong | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/shenzhen-stock-exchange-wp/ws10-shenzhen-stock-exchange-combined.mp3 6:06 full Shenzhen https://qualla.com/shenzhen/ A city of 20 million that did not exist forty years ago — where electronics markets sprawl across entire city blocks, Hakka villages survive in the suburbs, and every restaurant serves food from a different Chinese province.

Read more: Shenzhen on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/shenzhen-wk/ws10-shenzhen-combined.mp3 6:16 full Shun Hing Square https://qualla.com/shun-hing-square/ Photo credit Charlie fong, CC BY-SA 4.0. China's tallest building from 1996 to 1997 — completed in Shenzhen at a pace of four floors every nine days, using 24,500 tonnes of steel, as the city raced to prove what it had become.

Read more: Shun Hing Square on Qualla

Image: Charlie fong | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/shun-hing-square-wp/ws10-shun-hing-square-combined.mp3 4:55 full So Lo Pun https://qualla.com/so-lo-pun/ Photo credit Rolf Blauert Dk4hb, Public domain. A near-abandoned Hakka village deep in Hong Kong's northeastern wilderness, where compasses reportedly stop working and more than a thousand years of history quietly crumble.

Read more: So Lo Pun on Qualla

Image: Rolf Blauert Dk4hb | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/so-lo-pun-wp/ws10-so-lo-pun-combined.mp3 6:18 full Splendid China Folk Village https://qualla.com/splendid-china-folk-village/ Photo credit Dmpendse at English Wikipedia, Public domain. A 30-hectare park in Shenzhen where more than 100 of China's most famous landmarks have been faithfully miniaturized at 1:15 scale, letting visitors traverse the entire country in a single afternoon.

Read more: Splendid China Folk Village on Qualla

Image: Dmpendse at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/splendid-china-folk-village-wp/ws10-splendid-china-folk-village-combined.mp3 4:49 full Window of the World https://qualla.com/window-of-the-world/ Photo credit Affablebeef, CC BY-SA 3.0. A 48-hectare theme park in Shenzhen where 130 of the world's most famous monuments stand together — the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, Machu Picchu, and dozens more — drawing over 3 million visitors a year.

Read more: Window of the World on Qualla

Image: Affablebeef | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/window-of-the-world-wp/ws10-window-of-the-world-combined.mp3 5:01 full Wutong Mountain https://qualla.com/wutong-mountain/ Photo credit Mx. Granger, CC0. At 943.7 metres, Wutong Mountain is the highest point in Shenzhen — a forested national scenic area on the border with Hong Kong, where the phoenix of Chinese legend is said to have rested, and where the city's skyline gives way to a green horizon.

Read more: Wutong Mountain on Qualla

Image: Mx. Granger | CC0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/wutong-mountain-wp/ws10-wutong-mountain-combined.mp3 5:01 full Wuwang Club Fire https://qualla.com/wuwang-club-fire/ Photo credit biny86755, CC BY 2.0. On the night of 21 September 2008, a pyrotechnic stunt at a Shenzhen nightclub killed 43 people and injured 88 others — a preventable disaster that exposed what happens when safety codes are ignored and exits are blocked.

Read more: Wuwang Club Fire on Qualla

Image: biny86755 | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/0/wuwang-club-fire-wp/ws10-wuwang-club-fire-combined.mp3 4:32 full 2015 Shenzhen Landslide https://qualla.com/2015-shenzhen-landslide/ Photo credit Wishds, CC BY-SA 3.0. On 20 December 2015, a mountain of excavated soil and construction debris that had been accumulating for two years collapsed onto the Hengtaiyu industrial park in Shenzhen, killing 73 people in a man-made disaster born of negligence and inadequate oversight.

Read more: 2015 Shenzhen Landslide on Qualla

Image: Wishds | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/1/2015-shenzhen-landslide-wp/ws11-2015-shenzhen-landslide-combined.mp3 5:10 full Ap Chau https://qualla.com/ap-chau/ Photo credit 惡德神父, CC BY-SA 3.0. Smaller than many city blocks and home to only three permanent residents, Ap Chau is Hong Kong's tiniest inhabited island — a 0.04-square-kilometre speck in Crooked Harbour where Tanka fishermen once built a community that sent emigrants to cities across Britain.

Read more: Ap Chau on Qualla

Image: 惡德神父 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/ap-chau-wp/ws12-ap-chau-combined.mp3 4:16 full Chek Chau https://qualla.com/chek-chau/ Photo credit Minghong, CC BY-SA 4.0. Known in English as Port Island, Chek Chau earned its Cantonese name — Red Island — from iron-rich sedimentary rocks that colour its cliffs, and in 2024 became the site of Hong Kong's first-ever dinosaur fossil discovery, announced eleven years after the bones were actually found.

Read more: Chek Chau on Qualla

Image: Minghong | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/chek-chau-wp/ws12-chek-chau-combined.mp3 4:25 full Crooked Harbour https://qualla.com/crooked-harbour/ Photo credit 建園春秋, CC BY-SA 4.0. Crooked Harbour — Kat O Hoi in Cantonese — is a sheltered inlet at the northeastern edge of Hong Kong's New Territories, enclosed by a scatter of islands and looking north toward the Shenzhen skyline, a world away from the city it is technically part of.

Read more: Crooked Harbour on Qualla

Image: 建園春秋 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/crooked-harbour-wp/ws12-crooked-harbour-combined.mp3 4:06 full Dapeng Fortress https://qualla.com/dapeng-fortress/ Photo credit Wishds, CC BY-SA 3.0. Built in 1394 on the Ming dynasty's southern maritime frontier to repel pirates, Dapeng Fortress has withstood sieges, endured the Opium War, and survived six centuries — a walled garrison town that still stands 55 kilometres from the heart of Shenzhen.

Read more: Dapeng Fortress on Qualla

Image: Wishds | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/dapeng-fortress-wp/ws12-dapeng-fortress-combined.mp3 4:52 full Dapeng Peninsula https://qualla.com/dapeng-peninsula/ Photo credit Wishds, CC BY-SA 3.0. Shenzhen's wild eastern arm — a rugged peninsula of beaches, ancient fortresses, and mountain peaks wedged between two bays at the edge of the Pearl River Delta.

Read more: Dapeng Peninsula on Qualla

Image: Wishds | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/dapeng-peninsula-wp/ws12-dapeng-peninsula-combined.mp3 5:31 full Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment https://qualla.com/daya-bay-reactor-neutrino-experiment/ Photo credit Roy Kaltschmidt, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Public domain. Buried in the hills above a South China Sea bay, eight detectors quietly cracked one of physics' deepest puzzles — measuring the last unknown neutrino mixing angle and opening a new window on the universe.

Read more: Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment on Qualla

Image: Roy Kaltschmidt, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/daya-bay-reactor-neutrino-experiment-wp/ws12-daya-bay-reactor-neutrino-experiment-combined.mp3 6:29 full Daya Bay https://qualla.com/daya-bay/ A South China Sea bay with a layered past — pirate haven, whaling ground, nuclear power coast, and one of the world's landmark particle physics sites — tucked between Shenzhen and Huizhou.

Read more: Daya Bay on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/daya-bay-wp/ws12-daya-bay-combined.mp3 4:35 full Double Haven https://qualla.com/double-haven/ Photo credit Minghong, CC BY-SA 4.0. A sheltered harbour of deep-red rocks and ancient seagrass beds in Hong Kong's northeast corner, where Jurassic geology meets one of the territory's most quietly protected marine parks.

Read more: Double Haven on Qualla

Image: Minghong | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/double-haven-wp/ws12-double-haven-combined.mp3 4:42 full Horizontal Skyscraper – Vanke Center https://qualla.com/horizontal-skyscraper-vanke-center/ Steven Holl's 2009 LEED Platinum masterpiece in Shenzhen — a skyscraper turned on its side, hovering 35 meters above a tropical garden on eight structural cores, redefining what a tall building can be.

Read more: Horizontal Skyscraper – Vanke Center on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/horizontal-skyscraper-vanke-center-wp/ws12-horizontal-skyscraper-vanke-center-combined.mp3 6:06 full Kat O (Crooked Island) https://qualla.com/kat-o/ Photo credit 姒姓賢寧, CC BY 4.0. Once Hong Kong's gateway to China, Kat O is a Hakka fishing island in Mirs Bay whose crooked shoreline shelters three cannons, a revered Tin Hau temple, and one of the territory's most important marine fish culture zones.

Read more: Kat O (Crooked Island) on Qualla

Image: 姒姓賢寧 | CC BY 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/kat-o-wp/ws12-kat-o-combined.mp3 5:30 full Lai Chi Wo https://qualla.com/lai-chi-wo/ Photo credit Nhk9, CC BY-SA 4.0. A beautifully preserved Hakka walled village in Hong Kong's northeastern wilderness, where 300-year-old clan halls, ancient feng shui woodland, and Hong Kong's only significant seagrass bed survive together at the edge of Mirs Bay.

Read more: Lai Chi Wo on Qualla

Image: Nhk9 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/lai-chi-wo-wp/ws12-lai-chi-wo-combined.mp3 6:12 full Mirs Bay https://qualla.com/mirs-bay/ Photo credit Not identified, Public domain. A large bay shared by Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Mirs Bay has sheltered pirate junks, an American naval squadron preparing for battle, and one of Hong Kong's most ecologically rich island clusters — all within sight of one of the world's busiest ports.

Read more: Mirs Bay on Qualla

Image: Not identified | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/mirs-bay-wp/ws12-mirs-bay-combined.mp3 5:11 full Tung Ping Chau https://qualla.com/tung-ping-chau/ Photo credit Geographer, CC BY-SA 3.0. Hong Kong's most remote and geologically unique island, Tung Ping Chau is the territory's only sizeable island made of layered sedimentary rock — a flat, kidney-shaped reef of siltstones and chert that once held 3,000 people and now stands nearly empty.

Read more: Tung Ping Chau on Qualla

Image: Geographer | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/tung-ping-chau-wp/ws12-tung-ping-chau-combined.mp3 6:06 full Wong Chuk Kok Tsui (Bluff Head) https://qualla.com/wong-chuk-kok-tsui/ Photo credit Minghong, CC BY-SA 4.0. The remotest point of Hong Kong's northeastern New Territories, Wong Chuk Kok Tsui — once called Bluff Head by British navigators — is a wild cape that guards the threshold between Tolo Channel and Mirs Bay, and holds some of the oldest rocks in the territory.

Read more: Wong Chuk Kok Tsui (Bluff Head) on Qualla

Image: Minghong | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/2/wong-chuk-kok-tsui-wp/ws12-wong-chuk-kok-tsui-combined.mp3 4:19 full Mount Guanyin (Dongguan) https://qualla.com/mount-guanyin-dongguan/ Photo credit Huangdan2060, CC0. A 488-meter forested peak on the Dongguan-Shenzhen border, crowned by a 33-meter seated Guanyin statue and home to China's first ancient tree museum.

Read more: Mount Guanyin (Dongguan) on Qualla

Image: Huangdan2060 | CC0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/4/mount-guanyin-dongguan-wp/ws14-mount-guanyin-dongguan-combined.mp3 4:38 full Huizhou (Guangdong) https://qualla.com/huizhou-guangdong/ Photo credit Zhangzhugang, CC BY-SA 3.0. A mid-sized Guangdong city that surprised the world by transforming from a sleepy Pearl River Delta town into a major industrial hub, all while retaining scenic lakeside streets and a distinctly Hakka character.

Read more: Huizhou (Guangdong) on Qualla

Image: Zhangzhugang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/7/huizhou-guangdong-wk/ws17-huizhou-guangdong-combined.mp3 4:20 full West Lake (Huizhou) https://qualla.com/west-lake-huizhou/ Photo credit Chintunglee, CC BY-SA 4.0. The scenic lake at the heart of Huizhou, shaped by a Song-dynasty poet's exile, immortalized by his verse, and still crossed by the causeway that bears his name.

Read more: West Lake (Huizhou) on Qualla

Image: Chintunglee | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/7/west-lake-huizhou-wp/ws17-west-lake-huizhou-combined.mp3 4:46 full Yuanmiao Temple (Huizhou) https://qualla.com/yuanmiao-temple-huizhou/ Photo credit Cangminzho, CC BY-SA 4.0. A Taoist temple in Huizhou founded in 633 AD, surviving Tang glory, Mongol restoration, wartime destruction, and Cultural Revolution attack to stand once more as one of South China's major Taoist institutions.

Read more: Yuanmiao Temple (Huizhou) on Qualla

Image: Cangminzho | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/7/yuanmiao-temple-huizhou-wp/ws17-yuanmiao-temple-huizhou-combined.mp3 4:30 full Mount Luofu https://qualla.com/mount-luofu/ Photo credit 圍棋一級, CC BY-SA 3.0. A sacred Daoist mountain in Huizhou where the alchemist Ge Hong sought immortality during the Eastern Jin dynasty, leaving behind temples, legend-soaked grottoes, and traditions that survive in both Taoism and Chinese martial arts.

Read more: Mount Luofu on Qualla

Image: 圍棋一級 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/h/mount-luofu-wp/ws1h-mount-luofu-combined.mp3 4:46 full Nanxiong Formation https://qualla.com/nanxiong-formation/ Photo credit PaleoNeolitic, CC BY 4.0. A vast layer of Late Cretaceous red rock in northern Guangdong that has yielded some of China's richest dinosaur fossils — including oviraptorid eggs with embryos still inside.

Read more: Nanxiong Formation on Qualla

Image: PaleoNeolitic | CC BY 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/t/nanxiong-formation-wp/ws1t-nanxiong-formation-combined.mp3 6:02 full Heyuan https://qualla.com/heyuan/ Photo credit 迷失竹林的伐竹人, CC BY-SA 4.0. A city in northern Guangdong where Hakka culture, ancient dynasties, and one of China's richest concentrations of dinosaur fossils converge along the banks of the Dong River.

Read more: Heyuan on Qualla

Image: 迷失竹林的伐竹人 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/1/x/heyuan-wk/ws1x-heyuan-combined.mp3 5:47 full Anping Small Fort https://qualla.com/anping-small-fort/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 4.0. A compact Qing-era coastal battery in Tainan's Anping District, built in 1844 to guard against British warships and layered with nearly two centuries of Taiwan's contested history.

Read more: Anping Small Fort on Qualla

Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/anping-small-fort-wp/wsj6-anping-small-fort-combined.mp3 4:40 full Barclay Memorial Park https://qualla.com/barclay-memorial-park/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 4.0. A three-hectare park in Tainan's East District, reclaimed from neglect by 57 volunteers and named for Thomas Barclay, the Scottish missionary who spent sixty years transforming religious and intellectual life in southern Taiwan.

Read more: Barclay Memorial Park on Qualla

Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/barclay-memorial-park-wp/wsj6-barclay-memorial-park-combined.mp3 5:26 full Bo Yang Museum https://qualla.com/bo-yang-museum/ Photo credit Mx. Granger, CC0. A two-story museum at the National University of Tainan dedicated to Bo Yang — the writer who spent nine years imprisoned on Green Island for translating a Popeye comic strip, and went on to write some of the most uncomfortable truths in modern Chinese literature.

Read more: Bo Yang Museum on Qualla

Image: Mx. Granger | CC0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/bo-yang-museum-wp/wsj6-bo-yang-museum-combined.mp3 5:11 full Former Tainan Weather Observatory https://qualla.com/former-tainan-weather-observatory/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. A distinctive Japanese-era meteorological tower built in 1897 with an unusual eighteen-spoke circular design, now a national historic site and museum in the heart of Tainan.

Read more: Former Tainan Weather Observatory on Qualla

Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/former-tainan-weather-observatory-wp/wsj6-former-tainan-weather-observatory-combined.mp3 4:01 full Grand Matsu Temple https://qualla.com/grand-matsu-temple/ Photo credit Iokseng, CC BY-SA 3.0. Once a Ming prince's residence and the site of a royal tragedy, the Grand Matsu Temple became Taiwan's first official Mazu temple in 1684 — a transformation from palace to shrine that compressed a dynasty's rise and fall into a single building.

Read more: Grand Matsu Temple on Qualla

Image: Iokseng | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/grand-matsu-temple-wp/wsj6-grand-matsu-temple-combined.mp3 4:47 full Hayashi Department Store https://qualla.com/hayashi-department-store/ Photo credit Wpcpey, CC BY 4.0. Tainan's iconic 1932 Japanese-era department store — the city's original 'Five-story Building' — survived wartime bombing, decades of neglect, and careful restoration to reopen in 2014 as a living piece of colonial-era commercial history.

Read more: Hayashi Department Store on Qualla

Image: Wpcpey | CC BY 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/hayashi-department-store-wp/wsj6-hayashi-department-store-combined.mp3 3:57 full Kaiyuan Temple https://qualla.com/kaiyuan-temple-taiwan/ Photo credit Author, Public domain. Built on the ruins of a defeated dynasty's private retreat, Kaiyuan Temple in northern Tainan holds the oldest bronze bell in Taiwan, a tradition of literary resistance, and more than three centuries of layered history within a single rectangular compound.

Read more: Kaiyuan Temple on Qualla

Image: Author | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/kaiyuan-temple-taiwan-wp/wsj6-kaiyuan-temple-taiwan-combined.mp3 4:42 full Koxinga Ancestral Shrine https://qualla.com/koxinga-ancestral-shrine/ Photo credit Fcuk1203, CC BY-SA 3.0. Built in 1663 by Koxinga's son to honor his father, this quiet ancestral shrine in Tainan's West Central District preserves the memory of Zheng Chenggong — the half-Japanese, half-Chinese military commander who expelled the Dutch from Taiwan — through spirit tablets, a 1771 wooden tablet, and a sculpture of him as a child with his Japanese mother.

Read more: Koxinga Ancestral Shrine on Qualla

Image: Fcuk1203 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/koxinga-ancestral-shrine-wp/wsj6-koxinga-ancestral-shrine-combined.mp3 4:25 full Tainan Canal https://qualla.com/tainan-canal/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. A man-made waterway linking Tainan's city center to the sea, the canal has carried goods, survived colonialism, and reinvented itself as the city's stage for dragon boat racing and boat tours.

Read more: Tainan Canal on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/tainan-canal-wp/wsj6-tainan-canal-combined.mp3 4:39 full Tainan Judicial Museum https://qualla.com/tainan-judicial-museum/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 4.0. A stately Baroque courthouse built in 1914 under Japanese colonial rule, the Tainan Judicial Museum survived occupation, renovation, and partial collapse to become one of Taiwan's finest preserved examples of colonial-era institutional architecture.

Read more: Tainan Judicial Museum on Qualla

Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/tainan-judicial-museum-wp/wsj6-tainan-judicial-museum-combined.mp3 5:11 full Tang Te-chang Memorial Park https://qualla.com/tang-te-chang-memorial-park/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 3.0. A quiet circular park in central Tainan marks the place where lawyer Tang Te-chang was executed in 1947 during the February 28 Incident — a man who spent his final days trying to protect others, and who is remembered today as one of Taiwan's most principled voices for peace.

Read more: Tang Te-chang Memorial Park on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/tang-te-chang-memorial-park-wp/wsj6-tang-te-chang-memorial-park-combined.mp3 5:06 full Temple of the Five Concubines https://qualla.com/temple-of-the-five-concubines/ Photo credit User: (WT-shared) Naplee12 at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 3.0. A first-class national historic site in Tainan's West Central District, the Temple of the Five Concubines stands at the tomb of five women who chose death over an uncertain fate when the Qing Dynasty ended the last Ming holdout in Taiwan in 1683.

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Image: User: (WT-shared) Naplee12 at wts wikivoyage | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/temple-of-the-five-concubines-wp/wsj6-temple-of-the-five-concubines-combined.mp3 4:58 full Ten Drum Rende Creative Park https://qualla.com/ten-drum-rende-creative-park/ Photo credit Al8969a, CC BY-SA 4.0. A former sugar refinery in Tainan's Rende District — built in 1909, closed in 2003 — was saved from demolition when a local percussion troupe moved in; today it is a performance arts park where drum music fills industrial ruins that once processed Taiwan's cane.

Read more: Ten Drum Rende Creative Park on Qualla

Image: Al8969a | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/ten-drum-rende-creative-park-wp/wsj6-ten-drum-rende-creative-park-combined.mp3 4:48 full Tianhou Temple (Anping) https://qualla.com/tianhou-temple-anping/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Kaitai Tianhou Temple in Anping holds one of Taiwan's most storied Mazu statues — said to be over a thousand years old — erected by Koxinga's forces after the Dutch were expelled from Taiwan in 1661.

Read more: Tianhou Temple (Anping) on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/tianhou-temple-anping-wp/wsj6-tianhou-temple-anping-combined.mp3 5:53 full Yeh Shih-tao Literature Memorial Hall https://qualla.com/yeh-shih-tao-literature-memorial-hall/ Photo credit Showing, CC BY-SA 3.0. Housed in the former Tainan Forestry Affairs Office, this memorial hall in Tainan's West Central District honors Yeh Shih-tao, the writer who gave voice to Taiwan's postwar literary conscience.

Read more: Yeh Shih-tao Literature Memorial Hall on Qualla

Image: Showing | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/6/yeh-shih-tao-literature-memorial-hall-wp/wsj6-yeh-shih-tao-literature-memorial-hall-combined.mp3 5:29 full Luerhmen History and Culture Museum https://qualla.com/luerhmen-history-and-culture-museum/ Photo credit SSR2000, CC BY-SA 3.0. At Luerhmen — 'Deer Ear Gate' — where the estuary once parted for Koxinga's fleet in 1661, rival temples and a cultural museum keep alive the contested memory of Taiwan's founding myth.

Read more: Luerhmen History and Culture Museum on Qualla

Image: SSR2000 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/7/luerhmen-history-and-culture-museum-wp/wsj7-luerhmen-history-and-culture-museum-combined.mp3 5:25 full Sicao Wetlands https://qualla.com/sicao-wetlands/ Photo credit Su-Jean Tsai, CC BY-SA 4.0. The 515-hectare Sicao Wetlands in Tainan's Annan District shelter mangrove forests, salt marshes, and one of Taiwan's most celebrated gatherings of black-faced spoonbills — a vulnerable bird that winters here by the hundreds.

Read more: Sicao Wetlands on Qualla

Image: Su-Jean Tsai | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/7/sicao-wetlands-wp/wsj7-sicao-wetlands-combined.mp3 5:58 full Soulangh Cultural Park https://qualla.com/soulangh-cultural-park/ Photo credit T79979119, CC BY-SA 4.0. Built as the Jiali Sugar Factory in 1906 during Japanese rule, the Soulangh Cultural Park transformed its 14 former warehouses into an arts complex celebrating Tainan folk art and the heritage of the Siraya people.

Read more: Soulangh Cultural Park on Qualla

Image: T79979119 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/7/soulangh-cultural-park-wp/wsj7-soulangh-cultural-park-combined.mp3 6:06 full Taijiang National Park https://qualla.com/taijiang-national-park/ Photo credit Sinjhong0227, CC BY-SA 4.0. Where a 17th-century lagoon once sheltered Dutch trading ships, Taiwan's youngest national park now protects one of Asia's most vital coastal wetlands.

Read more: Taijiang National Park on Qualla

Image: Sinjhong0227 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/7/taijiang-national-park-wp/wsj7-taijiang-national-park-combined.mp3 5:33 full Taiwan Salt Museum https://qualla.com/taiwan-salt-museum/ Photo credit ICEFTP, CC BY-SA 2.0 tw. Where the Cigu salt fields once stretched to the horizon, two gleaming white pyramids of crystallized sea salt now mark the site of Taiwan's great salting tradition — and the museum that tells its story.

Read more: Taiwan Salt Museum on Qualla

Image: ICEFTP | CC BY-SA 2.0 tw

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/7/taiwan-salt-museum-wp/wsj7-taiwan-salt-museum-combined.mp3 5:04 full Chengcing Lake https://qualla.com/chengcing-lake/ Photo credit 阿道, CC BY-SA 4.0. Beneath the surface of this scenic reservoir near Kaohsiung, a Cold War-era tunnel once served as Chiang Kai-shek's nuclear bunker — now repurposed as an aquarium.

Read more: Chengcing Lake on Qualla

Image: 阿道 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/chengcing-lake-wp/wsj8-chengcing-lake-combined.mp3 5:18 full Cijin Memorial Park for Women Laborers https://qualla.com/cijin-memorial-park-for-women-laborers/ On September 3, 1973, an overloaded ferry capsized crossing from Cijin Island to Kaohsiung, and 25 young women on their way to work drowned. This is the park that eventually bore their names with the dignity they always deserved.

Read more: Cijin Memorial Park for Women Laborers on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/cijin-memorial-park-for-women-laborers-wp/wsj8-cijin-memorial-park-for-women-laborers-combined.mp3 5:29 full Cijin Tianhou Temple https://qualla.com/cijin-tianhou-temple/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 3.0. Kaohsiung's oldest temple was built by Fujianese fishermen in the 17th century to house a statue of Mazu, goddess of the sea — and it has been watching over the harbor ever since.

Read more: Cijin Tianhou Temple on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/cijin-tianhou-temple-wp/wsj8-cijin-tianhou-temple-combined.mp3 5:31 full Fengbitou https://qualla.com/fengbitou/ Photo credit 雅婕, CC BY-SA 4.0. At the southern tip of Kaohsiung's Siaogang District, Fengbitou shelters one of Taiwan's richest prehistoric archaeological sites — a 9.7-hectare plateau where human culture has layered itself for more than five thousand years.

Read more: Fengbitou on Qualla

Image: 雅婕 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/fengbitou-wp/wsj8-fengbitou-combined.mp3 5:10 full Fongyi Tutorial Academy https://qualla.com/fongyi-tutorial-academy/ Photo credit SSR2000, CC BY-SA 3.0. Built in 1814 during Qing Dynasty rule, the Fongyi Tutorial Academy in Fengshan is the largest preserved Confucian academy in Taiwan — a 37-room complex where ambitious young scholars once prepared for the imperial examinations that could transform their lives.

Read more: Fongyi Tutorial Academy on Qualla

Image: SSR2000 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/fongyi-tutorial-academy-wp/wsj8-fongyi-tutorial-academy-combined.mp3 4:51 full Former Tangrong Brick Kiln https://qualla.com/former-tangrong-brick-kiln/ Photo credit WEI, WAN-CHEN（魏琬臻）, CC BY-SA 4.0. Established in 1899 in Kaohsiung's Sanmin District, the Former Tangrong Brick Kiln once produced roughly 70 percent of all bricks in Taiwan — a Hoffmann continuous kiln complex that shaped a city, then went silent, and now stands as a protected industrial heritage site.

Read more: Former Tangrong Brick Kiln on Qualla

Image: WEI, WAN-CHEN（魏琬臻） | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/former-tangrong-brick-kiln-wp/wsj8-former-tangrong-brick-kiln-combined.mp3 4:52 full Hamasen https://qualla.com/hamasen/ Hamasen — the name is Japanese for 'beach railway line' — was the first neighborhood of modern Kaohsiung: the place where the city's first paved street, first tap water, first electric lights, and first passenger train stop all appeared, seeding everything that followed.

Read more: Hamasen on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/hamasen-wp/wsj8-hamasen-combined.mp3 4:12 full Holy Rosary Cathedral, Kaohsiung https://qualla.com/holy-rosary-cathedral-kaohsiung/ Photo credit WEI, WAN-CHEN（魏琬臻）, CC BY-SA 4.0. Founded by Spanish Dominican missionaries between 1858 and 1860, the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Kaohsiung is the oldest Catholic church in Taiwan — a Minor Basilica that has survived colonial rule, war, and a century of transformation to remain the seat of the Diocese of Kaohsiung.

Read more: Holy Rosary Cathedral, Kaohsiung on Qualla

Image: WEI, WAN-CHEN（魏琬臻） | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/holy-rosary-cathedral-kaohsiung-wp/wsj8-holy-rosary-cathedral-kaohsiung-combined.mp3 4:44 full Hongmaogang Cultural Park https://qualla.com/hongmaogang-cultural-park/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 3.0. A memorial park in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, that preserves the memory of a fishing village displaced to make room for the Port of Kaohsiung's container expansion.

Read more: Hongmaogang Cultural Park on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/hongmaogang-cultural-park-wp/wsj8-hongmaogang-cultural-park-combined.mp3 5:20 full Kaohsiung Lighthouse https://qualla.com/kaohsiung-lighthouse/ Photo credit AngMoKio, CC BY-SA 3.0. A Baroque-trimmed lighthouse on Cijin Island's hilltop, built first by British engineers in 1883 and rebuilt by Japanese colonists in 1916, now offering sweeping views over one of Asia's busiest ports.

Read more: Kaohsiung Lighthouse on Qualla

Image: AngMoKio | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/kaohsiung-lighthouse-wp/wsj8-kaohsiung-lighthouse-combined.mp3 4:25 full Kaohsiung Mosque https://qualla.com/kaohsiung-mosque/ Photo credit Chongkian, CC BY-SA 3.0. Taiwan's second mosque, established in 1949 by Muslim Nationalist soldiers and officers who crossed the strait after the Chinese Civil War, now housed in a three-story Middle Eastern-style building in the Lingya District.

Read more: Kaohsiung Mosque on Qualla

Image: Chongkian | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/kaohsiung-mosque-wp/wsj8-kaohsiung-mosque-combined.mp3 4:42 full Kaohsiung Music Center https://qualla.com/kaohsiung-music-center/ Photo credit MiNe, CC BY 2.0. A sweeping harborfront complex at the mouth of the Love River, designed by a Spanish architecture team and opened in 2021, that puts Kaohsiung at the center of Asia's pop music industry with an open-air auditorium for 10,000 and a waterfront park planted with over a thousand trees.

Read more: Kaohsiung Music Center on Qualla

Image: MiNe | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/kaohsiung-music-center-wp/wsj8-kaohsiung-music-center-combined.mp3 5:35 full Kaohsiung Wude Hall https://qualla.com/kaohsiung-wude-hall/ Photo credit Classicnukacola, CC BY-SA 3.0. A 1924 Japanese-era martial-arts hall in Gushan District, now the first ancient monument in Taiwan to be revitalized for its original purpose, where kendo and judo are still practiced in a brick building that has outlasted two colonial administrations.

Read more: Kaohsiung Wude Hall on Qualla

Image: Classicnukacola | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/kaohsiung-wude-hall-wp/wsj8-kaohsiung-wude-hall-combined.mp3 5:43 full Liudui Hakka Cultural Park https://qualla.com/liudui-hakka-cultural-park/ Photo credit StevenK234, CC BY-SA 4.0. A 30-hectare park in Pingtung County celebrating the Hakka communities of southern Taiwan, built on land donated in 2009 from a 1961 tobacco barn estate.

Read more: Liudui Hakka Cultural Park on Qualla

Image: StevenK234 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/liudui-hakka-cultural-park-wp/wsj8-liudui-hakka-cultural-park-combined.mp3 5:28 full Pier-2 Art Center https://qualla.com/pier-2-art-center/ Photo credit SSR2000, CC BY-SA 3.0. A sprawling waterfront arts district in Kaohsiung's Yancheng District, built from former port warehouses that artists rescued from demolition and transformed into one of Taiwan's most vibrant creative hubs.

Read more: Pier-2 Art Center on Qualla

Image: SSR2000 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/pier-2-art-center-wp/wsj8-pier-2-art-center-combined.mp3 5:37 full Sanhe Tile Kiln https://qualla.com/sanhe-tile-kiln/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang This file was uploaded with Commonist., CC BY 3.0. The last surviving kiln in what was once Taiwan's most prolific tile-making district, a historic factory in Dashu, Kaohsiung, founded in 1918 and now reinvented as a cultural hub producing eco-friendly bricks.

Read more: Sanhe Tile Kiln on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang This file was uploaded with Commonist. | CC BY 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/sanhe-tile-kiln-wp/wsj8-sanhe-tile-kiln-combined.mp3 5:54 full Shoushan Zoo https://qualla.com/shoushan-zoo/ Photo credit Brian0918, CC BY-SA 2.5. Kaohsiung's municipal zoo on Monkey Mountain, founded in 1978, which overcame a crisis of neglect and a NT$150 million renovation to become a diverse collection spanning Africa's savannas to Taiwan's own endemic wildlife.

Read more: Shoushan Zoo on Qualla

Image: Brian0918 | CC BY-SA 2.5

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/shoushan-zoo-wp/wsj8-shoushan-zoo-combined.mp3 6:13 full Sizihwan Tunnel https://qualla.com/sizihwan-tunnel/ A 260-meter tunnel through Kaohsiung's Shoushan ridge, built by Japan in 1927–28, used as a WWII command bunker, and reopened in 2017 as a pedestrian passage connecting the city to Sizihwan Bay.

Read more: Sizihwan Tunnel on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/sizihwan-tunnel-wp/wsj8-sizihwan-tunnel-combined.mp3 6:07 full Sizihwan https://qualla.com/sizihwan/ Photo credit Pilzland, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sizihwan is Kaohsiung's legendary sunset bay — a black-sand crescent tucked between Shoushan mountain and the open Taiwan Strait, where poets have compared the view to one of China's great beauties.

Read more: Sizihwan on Qualla

Image: Pilzland | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/sizihwan-wp/wsj8-sizihwan-combined.mp3 5:14 full Takao Railway Museum https://qualla.com/takao-railway-museum/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The Takao Railway Museum preserves Kaohsiung's original harbor railway station — a Japanese colonial-era landmark where two veteran steam locomotives still stand on the tracks outside, rust-streaked and magnificent.

Read more: Takao Railway Museum on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/takao-railway-museum-wp/wsj8-takao-railway-museum-combined.mp3 5:38 full Takao Shrine https://qualla.com/takao-shrine/ Photo credit ​哈瑪星文化協會, CC BY-SA 4.0. On the forested hillside of Shoushan, a Shinto shrine that served Japanese colonial-era Kaohsiung was dismantled after 1945 and rebuilt as the Kaohsiung Martyrs' Shrine — a layered site where two distinct traditions of remembrance now occupy the same ground.

Read more: Takao Shrine on Qualla

Image: ​哈瑪星文化協會 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/8/takao-shrine-wp/wsj8-takao-shrine-combined.mp3 5:41 full Dragon and Tiger Pagodas https://qualla.com/dragon-and-tiger-pagodas/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. At Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung's Zuoying District, the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas invite visitors to enter through the dragon's open mouth and exit through the tiger's — a walk-through ritual meant to transform bad fortune into good.

Read more: Dragon and Tiger Pagodas on Qualla

Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/9/dragon-and-tiger-pagodas-wp/wsj9-dragon-and-tiger-pagodas-combined.mp3 5:26 full Gangshan Water Tower https://qualla.com/gangshan-water-tower/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Gangshan Water Tower served the bustling commercial district of Gangshan for over fifty years before its 1992 decommissioning — a survivor of the Japanese colonial water infrastructure that made modern urban life in southern Taiwan possible.

Read more: Gangshan Water Tower on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/9/gangshan-water-tower-wp/wsj9-gangshan-water-tower-combined.mp3 5:33 full Kaohsiung Museum of Shadow Puppet https://qualla.com/kaohsiung-museum-of-shadow-puppet/ Photo credit 阿文, CC BY-SA 4.0. Taiwan's only museum dedicated to shadow puppetry, preserving a centuries-old theatrical tradition that once flourished across southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung region.

Read more: Kaohsiung Museum of Shadow Puppet on Qualla

Image: 阿文 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/9/kaohsiung-museum-of-shadow-puppet-wp/wsj9-kaohsiung-museum-of-shadow-puppet-combined.mp3 5:45 full Republic of China Air Force Museum https://qualla.com/republic-of-china-air-force-museum/ Photo credit David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 3.0. An open-air museum at Gangshan preserving the aircraft and history of Taiwan's Republic of China Air Force, set within the grounds of the Air Force Academy.

Read more: Republic of China Air Force Museum on Qualla

Image: David Bjorgen | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/9/republic-of-china-air-force-museum-wp/wsj9-republic-of-china-air-force-museum-combined.mp3 4:34 full Wanchin Basilica of the Immaculate Conception https://qualla.com/wanchin-basilica-of-the-immaculate-conception/ Photo credit Chen-Pan Liao (shifted by Rabanus Flavus), CC BY 4.0. Taiwan's first basilica, a small Spanish fortress-style Catholic church in rural Pingtung that has stood through earthquakes, typhoons, and a century and a half of island history since a Dominican priest first raised a mud chapel here in 1863.

Read more: Wanchin Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Qualla

Image: Chen-Pan Liao (shifted by Rabanus Flavus) | CC BY 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/b/wanchin-basilica-of-the-immaculate-conception-wp/wsjb-wanchin-basilica-of-the-immaculate-conception-combined.mp3 6:16 full Maolin National Scenic Area https://qualla.com/maolin-national-scenic-area/ Photo credit Taiwankengo, CC BY-SA 4.0. A mountain scenic area straddling Kaohsiung and Pingtung where the western foothills of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range shelter the Rukai people's homeland and one of Asia's most spectacular butterfly wintering sites.

Read more: Maolin National Scenic Area on Qualla

Image: Taiwankengo | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/c/maolin-national-scenic-area-wp/wsjc-maolin-national-scenic-area-combined.mp3 6:04 full Sandimen https://qualla.com/sandimen/ A Paiwan and Rukai indigenous township in Pingtung County where the name itself has been claimed, translated, renamed, and reclaimed across a century of colonial and postcolonial history.

Read more: Sandimen on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/c/sandimen-wp/wsjc-sandimen-combined.mp3 6:17 full Meinong East Gate Tower https://qualla.com/meinong-east-gate-tower/ Photo credit Peellden, CC BY-SA 4.0. A 270-year-old Qing Dynasty gate in the heart of Hakka Meinong — from frontier defense post to air-raid bell tower to protected heritage landmark.

Read more: Meinong East Gate Tower on Qualla

Image: Peellden | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/d/meinong-east-gate-tower-wp/wsjd-meinong-east-gate-tower-combined.mp3 4:45 full Meinong Hakka Culture Museum https://qualla.com/meinong-hakka-culture-museum/ Opened in 2001, Meinong's Hakka Culture Museum draws on tobacco sheds and courtyard architecture to tell the story of one of Taiwan's most enduring Hakka communities.

Read more: Meinong Hakka Culture Museum on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/d/meinong-hakka-culture-museum-wp/wsjd-meinong-hakka-culture-museum-combined.mp3 4:02 full Museum of Archaeology, Tainan Branch of National Museum of Prehistory https://qualla.com/museum-of-archaeology-tainan-branch-of-national-museum-of-prehistory/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 3.0. Built on the site of ancient discoveries unearthed during science park construction, Tainan's Museum of Archaeology preserves six thousand years of Taiwan's prehistoric past.

Read more: Museum of Archaeology, Tainan Branch of National Museum of Prehistory on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/e/museum-of-archaeology-tainan-branch-of-national-museum-of-prehistory-wp/wsje-museum-of-archaeology-tainan-branch-of-national-museum-of-prehistory-combined.mp3 4:29 full Taivoan Language https://qualla.com/taivoan-language/ Photo credit Kwamikagami, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Taivoan language of the Taiwanese Plains indigenous Taivoan people — a distinct Austronesian tongue with deep roots in southwestern Taiwan, documented by Dutch records and kept alive today through revitalization efforts.

Read more: Taivoan Language on Qualla

Image: Kwamikagami | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/e/taivoan-language-wp/wsje-taivoan-language-combined.mp3 5:40 full Wushantou Reservoir https://qualla.com/wushantou-reservoir/ Photo credit Koika, CC BY-SA 2.0. Built between 1920 and 1930 under engineer Yoichi Hatta, the Wushantou Reservoir transformed the parched Chianan Plain into Taiwan's rice bowl — and remains the world's sole surviving dam built with the semi-hydraulic fill technique.

Read more: Wushantou Reservoir on Qualla

Image: Koika | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/e/wushantou-reservoir-wp/wsje-wushantou-reservoir-combined.mp3 4:23 full Xinhua Old Street https://qualla.com/xinhua-old-street/ A beautifully preserved stretch of Baroque colonial architecture in Tainan's Xinhua District, built in the 1920s and 1930s when the street hummed with the wholesale fruit trade.

Read more: Xinhua Old Street on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/e/xinhua-old-street-wp/wsje-xinhua-old-street-combined.mp3 4:33 full Yujing District https://qualla.com/yujing-district/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the foothills of eastern Tainan, Yujing carries four centuries of layered names — Tapani, Tamai, Yujing — and a single reputation that has outlasted them all: the mango capital of Taiwan.

Read more: Yujing District on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/e/yujing-district-wp/wsje-yujing-district-combined.mp3 4:51 full Chung Li-ho Museum https://qualla.com/chung-li-ho-museum/ Photo credit Isocyclo, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the Hakka heartland of Meinong, a museum built by ordinary citizens preserves the manuscripts and memory of Chung Li-ho, the novelist who wrote about tenant farmers and tuberculosis and a love the community once called shameful.

Read more: Chung Li-ho Museum on Qualla

Image: Isocyclo | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/f/chung-li-ho-museum-wp/wsjf-chung-li-ho-museum-combined.mp3 5:16 full Baolai Spring Park https://qualla.com/baolai-spring-park/ In the Kaohsiung mountains along the Laonong River, a hot spring that vanished under Typhoon Morakot in 2009 was painstakingly restored, reopening in 2017 as a park where thermal water at 52°C rises through the forest at 550 meters.

Read more: Baolai Spring Park on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/g/baolai-spring-park-wp/wsjg-baolai-spring-park-combined.mp3 4:41 full Xiaolin Village Memorial Park https://qualla.com/xiaolin-village-memorial-park/ Photo credit SSR2000, CC BY-SA 3.0. A memorial park in Jiasian District, Kaohsiung, built on the site where a landslide triggered by Typhoon Morakot on August 9, 2009 buried Xiaolin Village, killing more than 400 people — many of them Taivoan indigenous residents.

Read more: Xiaolin Village Memorial Park on Qualla

Image: SSR2000 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/g/xiaolin-village-memorial-park-wp/wsjg-xiaolin-village-memorial-park-combined.mp3 5:15 full Wude Airfield https://qualla.com/wude-airfield/ A forgotten World War II military airfield on Penghu Island's southwestern tip, built by Imperial Japan in 1937 and bombed by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1944, now locked behind a military garrison and all but erased from public memory.

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/j/wude-airfield-wp/wsjj-wude-airfield-combined.mp3 5:03 full Beimen Crystal Church https://qualla.com/beimen-crystal-church/ Photo credit Alton Thompson, CC BY-SA 4.0. A glittering glass art installation beside a lake in Tainan's Beimen District, opened in 2014 as a romantic landmark and wedding photo destination on Taiwan's southwest coast.

Read more: Beimen Crystal Church on Qualla

Image: Alton Thompson | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/k/beimen-crystal-church-wp/wsjk-beimen-crystal-church-combined.mp3 4:01 full High-Heel Wedding Church https://qualla.com/high-heel-wedding-church/ Photo credit Accord14, CC BY-SA 4.0. A Guinness World Record-holding 17.76-meter blue glass structure shaped like a high-heeled shoe on Taiwan's southwest coast — built for weddings, photographs, and pure spectacle.

Read more: High-Heel Wedding Church on Qualla

Image: Accord14 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/k/high-heel-wedding-church-wp/wsjk-high-heel-wedding-church-combined.mp3 4:36 full Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields https://qualla.com/jingzaijiao-tile-paved-salt-fields/ Taiwan's oldest surviving salt fields, established in 1818 in Beimen District, where workers laid broken pottery shards across crystallizing ponds to keep the salt pure — a 200-year-old technique that still glitters in the Tainan sun.

Read more: Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/k/jingzaijiao-tile-paved-salt-fields-wp/wsjk-jingzaijiao-tile-paved-salt-fields-combined.mp3 4:36 full Taiwan Blackfoot Disease Socio-Medical Service Memorial House https://qualla.com/taiwan-blackfoot-disease-socio-medical-service-memorial-house/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 3.0. A former clinic in Beimen District, Tainan, where Dr. Wang Jin-he spent 25 years offering free medical care to people suffering from blackfoot disease — a devastating arsenic-related affliction that cost many their limbs — now preserved as a memorial to those who endured it and those who served them.

Read more: Taiwan Blackfoot Disease Socio-Medical Service Memorial House on Qualla

Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/k/taiwan-blackfoot-disease-socio-medical-service-memorial-house-wp/wsjk-taiwan-blackfoot-disease-socio-medical-service-memorial-house-combined.mp3 5:19 full Magong Chenghuang Temple https://qualla.com/magong-chenghuang-temple/ Photo credit 舟集工作室, CC BY-SA 4.0. A Taoist City God temple in Magong, Penghu, whose patron deity earned a special imperial title for sheltering islanders during the chaos of the 1885 Sino-French War.

Read more: Magong Chenghuang Temple on Qualla

Image: 舟集工作室 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/n/magong-chenghuang-temple-wp/wsjn-magong-chenghuang-temple-combined.mp3 5:21 full Magong Old City Wall https://qualla.com/magong-old-city-wall/ Photo credit peellden, CC BY-SA 3.0. Built under the Qing Dynasty in 1887–1889 to defend Penghu's harbor capital, the Magong Old City Wall survived colonization and war but lost most of its gates to urban development — leaving only fragments and one restored western entrance to mark where the fortifications once stood.

Read more: Magong Old City Wall on Qualla

Image: peellden | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/n/magong-old-city-wall-wp/wsjn-magong-old-city-wall-combined.mp3 4:23 full Magong https://qualla.com/magong/ Magong is the island capital of Penghu County in Taiwan — a harbor city whose name traces back to a goddess, whose streets carry centuries of layered history, and whose subtropical shores sit at the crossroads of every power that ever wanted control of the Taiwan Strait.

Read more: Magong on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/n/magong-wp/wsjn-magong-combined.mp3 5:03 full Penghu Great Bridge https://qualla.com/penghu-great-bridge/ Stretching nearly two and a half kilometers over a seabed of reefs and through some of the most turbulent currents in Taiwan, the Penghu Great Bridge connects Siyu Island to Baisha and has kept the outer islands linked through decades of typhoons and salt-air erosion.

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/n/penghu-great-bridge-wp/wsjn-penghu-great-bridge-combined.mp3 4:30 full TransAsia Airways Flight 222 https://qualla.com/transasia-airways-flight-222/ Photo credit 玄史生, CC0. On the evening of 23 July 2014, a TransAsia ATR 72 carrying 58 people from Kaohsiung to Magong crashed on approach to Penghu Airport during the tail end of Typhoon Matmo. Forty-eight people died. Ten survived.

Read more: TransAsia Airways Flight 222 on Qualla

Image: 玄史生 | CC0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/n/transasia-airways-flight-222-wp/wsjn-transasia-airways-flight-222-combined.mp3 5:46 full Mudouyu Lighthouse https://qualla.com/mudouyu-lighthouse/ Photo credit Mimicat1531, CC BY-SA 3.0. Taiwan's tallest lighthouse, a black-and-white iron sentinel on a remote Penghu island, was the first lighthouse built in Taiwan under Japanese rule and still powers itself from rainwater and generators.

Read more: Mudouyu Lighthouse on Qualla

Image: Mimicat1531 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/p/mudouyu-lighthouse-wp/wsjp-mudouyu-lighthouse-combined.mp3 4:24 full Taixi, Yunlin https://qualla.com/taixi-yunlin/ Photo credit Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0. A small coastal township in Yunlin County whose name was invented in 1941 to fill a geographic gap in Taiwan's naming system — there was a Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Taitung, but no Taixi, 'Taiwan-West.'

Read more: Taixi, Yunlin on Qualla

Image: Outlookxp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/q/taixi-yunlin-wp/wsjq-taixi-yunlin-combined.mp3 4:46 full 2025 Tainan–Chiayi Earthquake https://qualla.com/2025-tainan-chiayi-earthquake/ Photo credit Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0. In the early hours of January 21, 2025, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Dongshan District in Tainan, injuring 50 people and damaging thousands of homes and schools across six counties — a reminder of the geological forces that shape everyday life in Taiwan.

Read more: 2025 Tainan–Chiayi Earthquake on Qualla

Image: Mikenorton | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/s/2025-tainan-chiayi-earthquake-wp/wsjs-2025-tainan-chiayi-earthquake-combined.mp3 5:42 full Guanzihling https://qualla.com/guanzihling/ Photo credit User: (WT-shared) Jpatokal at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Tucked into the foothills above Tainan's plains, Guanzihling is home to one of only three mud hot springs in the world — waters so unusual that visitors come specifically to be covered in warm, mineral-grey silt.

Read more: Guanzihling on Qualla

Image: User: (WT-shared) Jpatokal at wts wikivoyage | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/s/guanzihling-wk/wsjs-guanzihling-combined.mp3 5:03 full Yanshuei District https://qualla.com/yanshuei-district/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 3.0. Once one of Taiwan's five most important maritime towns, Yanshuei is now known for the Beehive Fireworks Festival — a lunar new year tradition born from a cholera epidemic, in which thousands of bottle rockets are fired into a crowd that considers being struck a sign of good luck.

Read more: Yanshuei District on Qualla

Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/s/yanshuei-district-wp/wsjs-yanshuei-district-combined.mp3 5:23 full Chiayi Old Prison https://qualla.com/chiayi-old-prison/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 3.0. A preserved Japanese-era prison that held real inmates for over seven decades, now open as a museum that confronts Taiwan's colonial past with unflinching honesty.

Read more: Chiayi Old Prison on Qualla

Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/t/chiayi-old-prison-wp/wsjt-chiayi-old-prison-combined.mp3 6:24 full Hinoki Village https://qualla.com/hinoki-village/ Photo credit Cpc3711, CC BY-SA 4.0. Twenty-eight Japanese-era cypress-wood dormitories, restored and reopened as a living cultural village in the heart of Chiayi City, where the scent of old hinoki still drifts through the corridors.

Read more: Hinoki Village on Qualla

Image: Cpc3711 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/t/hinoki-village-wp/wsjt-hinoki-village-combined.mp3 6:09 full Kagi Shrine https://qualla.com/kagi-shrine/ Photo credit Husky221, CC BY-SA 4.0. A Japanese Shinto shrine built in colonial Chiayi in 1915, repurposed as a Nationalist martyrs' shrine, lost to fire in 1994, and now a layered public park where stone lanterns and guardian statues still mark where gods were once asked to protect an empire.

Read more: Kagi Shrine on Qualla

Image: Husky221 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/t/kagi-shrine-wp/wsjt-kagi-shrine-combined.mp3 6:33 full Museum of Old Taiwan Tiles https://qualla.com/museum-of-old-taiwan-tiles/ Photo credit 阿道, CC BY-SA 4.0. A private museum in Chiayi City housing more than 4,000 decorative ceramic tiles from the Japanese colonial era, installed in a restored timber-storage building by a collector determined to save a disappearing art form.

Read more: Museum of Old Taiwan Tiles on Qualla

Image: 阿道 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/t/museum-of-old-taiwan-tiles-wp/wsjt-museum-of-old-taiwan-tiles-combined.mp3 6:23 full Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum https://qualla.com/southern-branch-of-the-national-palace-museum/ Photo credit B2322858, Public domain. A 70-hectare museum campus near Chiayi built to bring the National Palace Museum's reach to southern Taiwan, its architecture shaped like the three classical brush strokes of ink painting and set in gardens spanning three cultural worlds.

Read more: Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum on Qualla

Image: B2322858 | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/t/southern-branch-of-the-national-palace-museum-wp/wsjt-southern-branch-of-the-national-palace-museum-combined.mp3 6:45 full The First 228 Peace Memorial Monument https://qualla.com/the-first-228-peace-memorial-monument/ Photo credit Kaishaochen, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1989, residents of Chiayi erected Taiwan's first public monument to the February 28 Incident — more than four decades after thousands of Taiwanese civilians were killed in a violent government crackdown — breaking a long official silence with a quiet act of stone and memory.

Read more: The First 228 Peace Memorial Monument on Qualla

Image: Kaishaochen | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/t/the-first-228-peace-memorial-monument-wp/wsjt-the-first-228-peace-memorial-monument-combined.mp3 5:59 full Tropic of Cancer Monument https://qualla.com/tropic-of-cancer-monument/ Photo credit chia ying Yang, CC BY 2.0. An invisible line runs through a rice field in Chiayi County, and the Japanese built a monument to mark it in 1908 — the first of six generations of markers that have tried, across a century of political change, to pin down the moment the sun stands still.

Read more: Tropic of Cancer Monument on Qualla

Image: chia ying Yang | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/t/tropic-of-cancer-monument-wp/wsjt-tropic-of-cancer-monument-combined.mp3 4:44 full Namasia District https://qualla.com/namasia-district/ In the mountain valleys of northeastern Kaohsiung, Namasia District is home to the Bunun, Kanakanavu, and Saaroa peoples — indigenous communities who have lived in these highlands for generations, survived catastrophic floods, reclaimed their district's name, and built a future rooted in their own languages and governance.

Read more: Namasia District on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/u/namasia-district-wp/wsju-namasia-district-combined.mp3 5:50 full Alishan https://qualla.com/alishan/ Taiwan's most-visited national park is a mountain range where 2,000-year-old cypress trees, a century-old narrow-gauge railway, and a sea of clouds at sunrise have made Alishan the island's most iconic highland destination.

Read more: Alishan on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/v/alishan-wk/wsjv-alishan-combined.mp3 6:30 full Fenqihu https://qualla.com/fenqihu/ A lunch box changed the fate of a mountain railway town: when steam locomotives stopped at Fenqihu to take on coal and water, local vendors fed the passengers, and a tiny settlement halfway up the Alishan line became one of the most visited stops on the most scenic railway in Taiwan.

Read more: Fenqihu on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/v/fenqihu-wp/wsjv-fenqihu-combined.mp3 5:00 full Lulin Observatory https://qualla.com/lulin-observatory/ Perched atop Mount Lulin in Taiwan's central highlands, this National Central University observatory made history in 2007 when a student researcher spotted a comet — the first ever discovered by a Taiwanese astronomer.

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/v/lulin-observatory-wp/wsjv-lulin-observatory-combined.mp3 5:30 full Beigang, Yunlin https://qualla.com/beigang-yunlin/ Photo credit Ketchupheinz, CC BY-SA 3.0. Every year, more than a million pilgrims converge on this small Yunlin township to honor Mazu, the goddess of the sea — making Beigang one of Taiwan's most spiritually charged places despite being nowhere near the ocean.

Read more: Beigang, Yunlin on Qualla

Image: Ketchupheinz | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/beigang-yunlin-wp/wsjw-beigang-yunlin-combined.mp3 4:53 full Bengang Shuixian Temple https://qualla.com/bengang-shuixian-temple/ Photo credit Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0. Built in 1739 to protect boatsmen on a once-vital river port, this Chiayi County temple has survived two catastrophic floods and nearly three centuries of history — and still holds Qing dynasty dragon pillars in its rear hall.

Read more: Bengang Shuixian Temple on Qualla

Image: Outlookxp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/bengang-shuixian-temple-wp/wsjw-bengang-shuixian-temple-combined.mp3 5:02 full Bengang Tianhou Temple https://qualla.com/bengang-tianhou-temple/ Photo credit Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0. A Mazu temple whose lineage stretches back to 1713, Bengang Tianhou Temple in Nangang Village carries a remarkable human story: its sacred statue traveled through a potter's migration, survived an earthquake, and spent decades sheltered in a family home before finding its current resting place.

Read more: Bengang Tianhou Temple on Qualla

Image: Outlookxp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/bengang-tianhou-temple-wp/wsjw-bengang-tianhou-temple-combined.mp3 5:18 full Chianan Irrigation https://qualla.com/chianan-irrigation/ Photo credit United States. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations., Public domain. Between 1920 and 1930, Japanese civil engineer Yoichi Hatta oversaw the construction of a canal network that expanded Taiwan's irrigated rice-growing area from 5,000 to 150,000 hectares — one of the most consequential engineering projects in the island's modern history.

Read more: Chianan Irrigation on Qualla

Image: United States. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. | Public domain

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/chianan-irrigation-wp/wsjw-chianan-irrigation-combined.mp3 5:09 full Fengtian Temple https://qualla.com/fengtian-temple/ Photo credit Peellden, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Fengtian Temple in Xingang is one of Taiwan's most revered Mazu temples, sheltering a gold-plated imperial Japanese plaque alongside centuries of Hokkien religious artistry.

Read more: Fengtian Temple on Qualla

Image: Peellden | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/fengtian-temple-wp/wsjw-fengtian-temple-combined.mp3 6:49 full Gukeng https://qualla.com/gukeng/ Gukeng Township, tucked into the eastern foothills of Yunlin County, has quietly become one of Taiwan's most surprising coffee-growing regions, where mountain air, volcanic soil, and agricultural tradition converge.

Read more: Gukeng on Qualla

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/gukeng-wp/wsjw-gukeng-combined.mp3 5:09 full Huwei, Yunlin https://qualla.com/huwei-yunlin/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 4.0. Huwei, Yunlin County's largest urban township, carries centuries of layered identity — from the powerful Babuza people who once dominated this plain to the glove-puppet tradition that still defines the town's cultural life.

Read more: Huwei, Yunlin on Qualla

Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/huwei-yunlin-wp/wsjw-huwei-yunlin-combined.mp3 6:12 full Xingang, Chiayi https://qualla.com/xingang-chiayi/ Photo credit Pbdragonwang, CC BY-SA 3.0. Xingang Township in Chiayi County is a small town punching far above its size — home to the Fengtian Temple, one of Taiwan's most important Mazu shrines, and the birthplace of the choreographer Lin Hwai-min, whose Cloud Gate Dance Theatre changed what Asian contemporary dance could be.

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Image: Pbdragonwang | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/xingang-chiayi-wp/wsjw-xingang-chiayi-combined.mp3 6:38 full Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum https://qualla.com/yunlin-hand-puppet-museum/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 3.0. Housed in a 1931 Japanese-era administrative building that survived colonial rule, police occupation, and years of neglect, the Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum preserves the budaixi glove-puppet tradition at the heart of the region where it flourished.

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Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/w/yunlin-hand-puppet-museum-wp/wsjw-yunlin-hand-puppet-museum-combined.mp3 6:57 full Beidou, Changhua https://qualla.com/beidou-changhua/ Photo credit Foxy1219, CC BY-SA 4.0. A former harbor town on the Zhuoshui River plain that gave Taiwan its beloved ba-wan dumpling and raised the father of an NBA star.

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Image: Foxy1219 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/x/beidou-changhua-wp/wsjx-beidou-changhua-combined.mp3 4:09 full Xiluo Theater https://qualla.com/xiluo-theater/ Photo credit Mk2010, CC BY-SA 3.0. A 1940 Baroque-style opera house in Yunlin County built by a prominent local clan — closed for decades, now declared a historical building, and still waiting for its second act.

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Image: Mk2010 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/x/xiluo-theater-wp/wsjx-xiluo-theater-combined.mp3 4:02 full Xiluo https://qualla.com/xiluo/ A Yunlin township whose name traces back to the indigenous Babuza people, famous for its long bridge over the Zhuoshui River and its role as Taiwan's vegetable heartland.

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/x/xiluo-wp/wsjx-xiluo-combined.mp3 4:03 full Xitou Nature Education Area https://qualla.com/xitou-nature-education-area/ Photo credit 阿道, CC BY-SA 4.0. A misty mountain forest in Nantou County where ancient trees, bamboo groves, and a high canopy skywalk reveal 2,500 hectares of cool, cloud-shrouded wilderness managed by National Taiwan University.

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Image: 阿道 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/y/xitou-nature-education-area-wp/wsjy-xitou-nature-education-area-combined.mp3 4:27 full Chelungpu Fault Preservation Park https://qualla.com/chelungpu-fault-preservation-park/ Photo credit SSR2000, CC BY-SA 3.0. A park in Nantou County that preserves the visible fault scarp of the 1999 earthquake that killed approximately 2,400 people in Taiwan — a place of science, memory, and quiet reckoning.

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Image: SSR2000 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/z/chelungpu-fault-preservation-park-wp/wsjz-chelungpu-fault-preservation-park-combined.mp3 4:32 full Ci En Pagoda https://qualla.com/ci-en-pagoda/ Photo credit Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0. A 46-meter golden-red pagoda built by Chiang Kai-shek on a mountain above Sun Moon Lake as a memorial to his mother — its construction required hauling materials by boat across the lake itself.

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Image: Zairon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/z/ci-en-pagoda-wp/wsjz-ci-en-pagoda-combined.mp3 4:37 full Ershui https://qualla.com/ershui/ Photo credit Saimmx, CC0. A small Changhua township whose name — "Two Waters" — tells the story of the ancient irrigation canals that transformed a mountain frontier into the breadbasket of central Taiwan.

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Image: Saimmx | CC0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/z/ershui-wp/wsjz-ershui-combined.mp3 4:51 full Jiji, Nantou https://qualla.com/jiji-nantou/ Taiwan's smallest township by area carries one of its most resonant histories — a camphor boomtown, an earthquake epicenter, and now a slow-tourism destination where the old railway station still runs.

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/z/jiji-nantou-wp/wsjz-jiji-nantou-combined.mp3 5:45 full Lalu Island https://qualla.com/lalu-island/ A small island in Sun Moon Lake whose Thao name — Lalu — was suppressed for centuries under colonial renaming, only restored after the 1999 earthquake reduced the island further and a growing recognition of indigenous rights finally gave it back its own voice.

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/z/lalu-island-wp/wsjz-lalu-island-combined.mp3 5:38 full Xuanzang Temple (Taiwan) https://qualla.com/xuanzang-temple-taiwan/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. A Tang-dynasty-style Buddhist temple above Sun Moon Lake that holds the sacred relics of the monk Xuanzang — brought to Taiwan after a wartime journey through Nanjing, a Japanese temple in Saitama, and the upheavals of twentieth-century Asia.

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/j/z/xuanzang-temple-taiwan-wp/wsjz-xuanzang-temple-taiwan-combined.mp3 5:55 full 27 Brigade https://qualla.com/27-brigade/ Photo credit 舟集 Boattoad, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the chaos following Taiwan's February 28 Incident of 1947, students, workers, and former soldiers in Taichung formed the 27 Brigade to defend their communities — and paid a devastating price.

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Image: 舟集 Boattoad | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/s/m/8/27-brigade-wp/wsm8-27-brigade-combined.mp3 7:12 full