Pingtung City

The word “Pingtung” means “east of Mount Banping.” This low mountain is just off the coast in Kaohsiung City’s urban core, one of the south’s earliest areas of Han Chinese settlement. Small Pingtung City sits on the wide Pingtung Plain, an important commercial-farming region.

Craftsman Residential District

This young attraction is about six blocks northwest of Pingtung Railway Station. A cultural-creative platform for young local entrepreneurs, with over 30 start-up ventures, this was once a neighborhood of Forestry Bureau dormitory residences. Reflecting the quest of elevated life aesthetics pursued by today’s resident creative teams, the neighborhood itself has been enchantingly re-imagined as a single integrated work of art, each individual building exterior a dynamic 3D mural canvas.

The colors and air of exotic European city-style romance become especially vivid at night when the mini-community glows with strategically positioned lighting. The public has artfully dubbed the enclave “little Paris.” The bohemian backdrops have brought an explosion of popularity and steady streams of photo enthusiasts, especially selfie-takers: circular stairs climbing a thick cypress tree up to treetop mini-houses, a wall of giant pink flowers rendered as a finished jigsaw puzzle, a Volkswagen Beetle parked in a garage for repairs….

There’s a diversity of retail enterprises, with numerous spots to sit down for a drink or bite, notably at cafés. Outside the Changan Noodle restaurant entrance you’ll be greeted by a thick “screen” of pulled noodles. Much of the white-ceramic tiling and terrazzo flooring of this site’s original dormitory residence has been retained, complemented by stylish modern materials. The noodles are made with high-gluten flour, no additives used, slow-dried naturally in the traditional south Taiwan manner using sun and breeze. The food is “traditional Taiwan country,” the signature dish being noodles with spring onion oil.