Love River
愛河
A city river running through central Kaohsiung, with riverside cafés, boat cruises and lantern festivals, stretching from the Museum of History down to the Music Center and the harbour.
The Love River rises in Renwu, Kaohsiung, flows through the city centre and empties into Kaohsiung Harbour. It is 12 km long, and about 3 km of its urban stretch has been developed into the city’s most important leisure zone. The river was originally called Dagou River or Kaohsiung River. In 1948 a boat company hung a sign reading “Love River Boat Station” by the water, and after newspapers misreported the name, it stuck. The core section lies between Zhongzheng Bridge and Kaohsiung Bridge. Both banks have walkways, lawns and open-air cafés (such as Riverside Mambo). Visitors can take the “Love Boat,” a solar-powered cruise (about 25 minutes, NT$150), or a gondola. Along the river are the Kaohsiung Museum of History (the former Kaohsiung City Hall built during the Japanese occupation period, in the Imperial Crown style), a film museum and a music museum. Walking south to the river mouth brings you to True Love Wharf, the Kaohsiung Music Center (a complex of wave- and coral-shaped buildings whose lights at night look like jellyfish), and Dagang Bridge, facing Pier-2 Art Center across the water. Each year around the Lantern Festival, Kaohsiung’s lantern festival is held mainly along the Love River. There are dragon boat races at the Dragon Boat Festival, and a Love River Art Festival in October. Entry is free. Suggested itinerary: walk 10 minutes from Formosa Boulevard Station at dusk to the river, watch the sunset from a riverside café, then after dark take a boat or walk the bank to the Music Center to see the lights, and finish with the light rail to Pier-2 or back into the city. The whole outing takes about 2 hours. You can also cycle from Pier-2 along the harbour to the river mouth. Getting there: a 5-minute walk from Exit 2 of City Council Station on the Orange MRT line, or from True Love Wharf light rail stop. Notes: the riverbanks are very hot in summer daytime, so go in the evening; the last boat runs around 10 p.m.; crowds are heavy during lantern festivals.
Opening hours
Open all day (Love Boat approx. 15:00–22:00)
Nearby sights
- Kaohsiung Museum of History
- Kaohsiung Music Center
- Pier-2 Art Center
- Dagang Bridge
- Sanfong Central Street
- Formosa Boulevard Station Dome of Light
- Shinkuchan Shopping District
- Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway