View Image Details Outside the north gate to the old walled city. This gate is formally known as Gongchen Gate 拱辰門 .

A month ago I embarked upon a day trip to Zuǒyíng 左營 to check out the famous temples and pagodas of Lotus Pond 蓮池潭, one of the main tourist attractions of greater Kaohsiung 高雄. Afterwards I wandered over to have a look at the old city of Zuoying 左營舊城, originally built in 1722 by the ruling Qing Dynasty in response to the many uprisings that regularly plagued Taiwan Prefecture 臺灣府.

This project did not go according to plan as rebels broke through the fortifications on several occasions. Consequently the county seat was moved further east and the walls were eventually rebuilt with stone in 1825. Many residents were evicted from the walled city under Japanese rule when Zuoying became a military district. Finally, in the post-war era, the incoming Kuomintang designated the area within the walls a military dependents’ village, the remains of which can be seen today.

View Image Details Textures of the old city walls.

The old walled city is one of only a handful of national monuments in Kaohsiung, a fact that would not be obvious from a perusal of the English language blogosphere. Were it not for browsing around on Wikipedia in search of things to see and do near Lotus Pond I would not have heard of it. A cursory search for more information in English turns up little more than this entry on roundTAIWANround (an excellent index of things to see and do in Taiwan) and this blurb on a random travel blog. Occasionally it appears almost as an afterthought in Lotus Pond travelogues. Am I that unusual in having an interest in the old walled cities of Taiwan?

View Image Details Inside the old walled city. This view is looking south from on top of Gongchen Gate. The slope of Turtle Mountain 龜山 can be seen on the left side.

There seems to be some confusion about the names of the walled cities of Kaohsiung 高雄. Most of Taiwan south of Tainan 台南 (including Kaohsiung) was administered as Fèngshān County 鳳山縣 by the Qing. As such, the walled city in modern-day Zuǒyíng 左營 is known as Fèngshān County Old City 鳳山縣舊城 (with Fengshan sometimes appearing as Fongshan in the older Wade-Giles romanization system). In the late 18th century the administrative seat of the county moved east to another walled city: Fengshan County New City 鳳山縣新城, the remains of which can be found in the modern district of Fèngshān 鳳山. Can you see where this is going? Not everyone who writes about these places seems to be aware that there are two walled cities with almost identical names in Kaohsiung 高雄.

View Image Details An old shrine immediately outside the old northern gate.

Aside from the walls themselves (and a small shrine outside the north gate) I didn’t see many signs of Qing era Taiwan inside the old city. The Japanese appropriated the land inside the old city walls for military purposes due to the proximity to modern-day Zuoying Naval Base, the nation’s largest, and the KMT settled many soldiers and their families here after coming to Taiwan.

View Image Details On the main street in the old military dependents’ village inside the walled city.

Zìzhù New Village 自助新村 is perhaps the most well-known of Zuoying’s military dependents’ villages as it was taken over by artists and transformed into a minor attraction much like the fabled Rainbow Village of Taichung 台中. The village I wandered through, East Zìzhù New Village 東自助新村 (if Google Maps can be trusted), was neither covered in art nor abandoned and left to the elements. Actually, the north end of the village was very lively, with children running through the streets, old people meandering down laneways with soft smiles on their faces, and the fragrant scent of home cooking in the air. Overall it felt like a neighbourhood that still had a bit of life in it yet, totally unlike many of the military villages I have visited in Taiwan.

View Image Details A makeshift shelter on the hillside. The couplets suggest someone makes a home here.

The south end of the village had not fared so well. The main road was lined with fenced-off lots with broken tile floors where houses used to stand. I turned down a side road that ran along the hillside and passed by many abandoned homes in various states of disrepair. Along one small laneway I noticed the ruins of an old water tower or gun turret—it wasn’t obvious what it was in the gathering gloom. There were few people around and most of those were scowling as I passed. The energy had clearly been drained from this half of the community.

View Image Details One of several abandoned homes in the old village.

View Image Details The window of an abandoned building at the south end of the village.

View Image Details The south end of the old village looks to have endured forced eviction and partial demolition. View Image Details The south end of the military dependents’ village. The red placards feature some statements about preserving the community (if I am not mistaken).

Eventually I reached the end of the village. Here there was a path leading up Turtle Mountain 龜山 and some military structures that may or may not have been abandoned. It was getting dark so I opted to cut the tour short and head off in the direction of the eastern gate. Immediately the mood changed as much of the land to the south of the small mountain has been cleared and turned into open parkland. Taiwanese dog owners were out in full force with their pets and whole families were having picnics on the grass.

View Image Details Inside an abandoned building next to Turtle Mountain.

The eastern gate of the old city of Zuoying, formally known as Fèngyí Gate 鳳儀門, was a most impressive sight. Both sides have their own character and differing inscriptions. The extent of the city walls in this section rival those of Héngchūn 恆春, another great place to visit if you’re interested in Qing era fortifications.

View Image Details The inside of Fengyi Gate 鳳儀門 is simply marked East Gate 東門 . View Image Details Immediately outside Fengyi Gate, the eastern gate to the old walled city.

View Image Details Here you can see the eastern gate, the moat, and one of several big housing projects just outside the old city walls.

The old city of Zuoying is unusual in that its walls were also ringed by a moat, something that I haven’t seen elsewhere in Taiwan with the exception of the Eternal Golden Castle 億載金城 in Tainan 台南. I suppose this is probably why some Taiwanese refer to Zuoying’s old city as a “castle”.

View Image Details One of the most well-preserved city walls in Taiwan.

There was much more to see of the old walled city than I had time for that late into the afternoon. With daylight fading I left the old city behind and forged on to Kaohsiung’s twin night markets, supposedly the largest in all Taiwan.