On day 2 of my stay in Kaohsiung, I had recovered from my crazy day just before. I went out in the morning, and decided to go biking to Art 2 pier. Art 2 pier is a place where they have an open air exposition of “modern art”. I am not really a fan of modern art, but since it was a feature of the city, I decided however to take a look.
A lovely biking route
To get to Art 2 pier, you must ride along the harbor tram line. Not a lot of bikers or other people ride over there on a week day, so it was a quite relaxed ride, with interesting views.
For example, they are building right now a sort of “ship” which is supposed to be the center for cruise shipping (yeah, tourism never very far from Kaoshiung’s mind).
A bit further, you come across the Kaohsiung harbor which they transformed into a biking lane. A very nice idea for a lovely place to come and take pics. But construction sites abound, so no real harbor activity to witness.
Meet Hero, the mascot of Kaohsiung
Later, as you are about to take the bridge which can be seen to the right of the picture below, you can meet a statue of “Hero”, the mascot of Kaohsiung. Somehow this bear resembles “Kumon”, the mascot of Kumamoto, in Japan. “Hero” is a way to give a “cute factor” to tourism in Kaohsiung.
These few sights, in themselves, already make the ride worthwhile heading to the Art 2 pier.
What is modern art?
I am a very classical guy in terms of art (see my previous post on the Helsinki museum). So understandably, when I see horrors like the thing below (complete with penis on display), I am bound to question its artistic value.
Of course, other people were trying to take some “funny” pictures in front of the other “artworks” in the area.
I then tried a local specialty, the “Papaya milk” in a little library/stationery shop located close by.
After being done with the Art 2 pier, I headed back towards an MRT station, in order to drop my shopping at the hotel. In the afternoon, I would visiting the Dragon and Tiger Pagoda (which will be the object of an upcoming post!).
I was not too impressed with the Art 2 pier, but it sure has a touristic appeal. Nevertheless, go there only if you are a fan of modern art, otherwise, you may be less than impressed.