Kaohsiung’s waterside cultural hub which bustles at the weekend with flea markets, craft stores and food stalls, Pier 2 Art Center is a must-do when in Taiwan’s third largest city.
Pier 2 Art Center is free entry and a huge outdoor park full of old industrial warehouses that were once used to store imports and exports – these are now all transformed into bars, restaurants, museums and more, along Kaohsiung Pier 2.
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Similar to the cultural parks in Taipei like Huashan 1914 Creative Park, this one is one of the biggest such art centers in Taiwan and better still, Kaohsiung Pier 2 Art Center has stunning waterside views plus sublime street-art across the whole site – we are talking massive murals.
We last visited Pier 2 Art Center in early 2024 on a Saturday afternoon and it was a hive of activity, with several street food and flea markets – shopping heaven.
From creative installations to craft beer bars, viewing towers to toy museums, here is our guide to Kaohsiung Pier 2 Art Center in Taiwan in 2024.
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How to get to Pier 2 Art Center in Kaohsiung
Located in Kaoshiung’s Yancheng District, Pier 2 Art Center is connected to the Kaohsiung Light Rail network.
Alight at Dayi Pier 2 stop for the KW2 Kaohsiung Warehouse and Kaohsiung Music Center, or get off at Penglai Pier 2 stop for the Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway and the Railway Art District.
Alternatively, take the Kaohsiung MRT to Yanchengpu station and walk 5 minutes to the park – Yanchengpu Station is also close to Yancheng, the trendiest Kaohsiung neighborhood where old and new Kaohsiung combine.
If you do come from Yanchengpu Station, look out for the huge new Kaohsiung street art installation near to the Eslite Spectrum Pier-2 Store, unveiled in 2024 by a European street artist – it is on the left hand side as you walk from the station to Pier-2.
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Pier 2 Art Center opening hours
The port and park itself is open 24 hours a day – however most shops (such as Eslite Pier 2) are open between 11am and 9pm.
Please note some of the museums in and around Pier 2 Art Center close on Mondays and / or Tuesdays – for instance, Takao Railway Museum is closed on Mondays and the Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway.
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The best time to visit Pier 2 Art Centre
Although it is open 7 days a week (it is a huge outdoor park and port with a lot of warehouses crammed with shops, bars and restaurants), if you can, try to visit at the weekends.
We’ve been to Pier 2 Art Center several times and whilst it is quieter in the week (especially the Railway Art District), at the weekends, you’ll find a large of number of outdoor markets, selling everything from food and fashions to even a dedicated anime, manga and kawaii flea market near Dayi Pier 2.
To get your bearings, there is also a nice tourist information and gift shop located on the ground floor of the actual Pier 2 Arts Center. It has free toilets plus maps and literature for Pier 2 itself and Kaohsiung Park. Find it on Google maps here >
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Pier 2 Art Center directory
There are lots of things to do in and around Pier 2 Art Centre. We’d recommend at least half a day to explore it, more if you’d also like to visit the various museums and walk the full length from the historic Takao Railway Museum to the more modern Kaohsiung Music Center.
Some of the things to do at Pier 2 include:
Pier 2 flea markets and weekend markets
If you happen to be in Kaohsiung at the weekends, you’ll likely notice it is one of the busiest places in the city.
Locals love it because there is lots of outdoor space plus it has a huge range of permanent warehouse shops plus pop-up markets.
Based on our last visit in spring 2024, we spotted at least four different flea markets in and around Pier 2 Art Center including:
- Pier-2 Art Center Edgeman Market – a super cute food, fashion and crafts market outside the courtyard in between the Pier 2 Art Center and Eslite Spectrum Pier-2 Store. This sold everything from cup-cakes to dog costumes!
- A Taiwanese street food market in front of the Pier 2 Art District, DaYi C9 Warehouse and next to Dayi Park.
- A smaller crafts and gifts market in the park area by Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway – just watch out for the miniature railway that goes past occasionally!
- A comic book and manga/ anime craft market near to the Pier 2 Tower.
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Pier 2 Art Center street art and installations
Given all the old warehouses in the area, these act as colossal canvases for local artists so you’ll see sublime street art on practically every corner.
As well as a huge Transformer style robot (not so much in ‘disguise’), keep an eye for the Chores of Guan Gong (2013), a rather risque red statue that some tourists love to pose with – who knew alien monsters have such huge….well, you just got to look at the photo below!
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KW2, Kaohsiung Port Warehouse No.2 / Kaohsiung Port Depot
A relatively new addition to the Kaohsiung Pier 2 complex, the KW2 / Kaohsiung Port Depot complex opened up in 2018 and is a series of small malls with various fashion outlet shops, pop-up shops, restaurants and a food court.
We found everything here from a Snoopy pop-up shop to a kid’s theme park, Holo Park. There is also a small train carriage ride you can take around the Kaohsiung Pier 2 area and Port Depot.
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Railway Art District
A huge park and play area, popular with picnicking local at the weekends, this is the former railway sidings of nearby Hamasen Railway and Takao Railway.
There are now several art installations you can pose with such a huge iron luggage trolley or a giant gramophone record – nearby, there is also a giant workman complete with his massive spanner and toolbox (not a euphemism by the way).
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Takao Railway Museum
Run by local and enthusiastic volunteers, the Takao Railway Museum is free to visit and is a two room museum in the former waiting room and freight office of the once busy station.
Take a step back in time and get up close to old railway artifacts and miniature railways – alas we don’t speak Chinese nor do the volunteers speak English but they were very smiling and beckoning us over to look at things.
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Hamasen Railway Cultural Park
Across from Takao Railway Museum, this area is where you can see lots of old train carriages and locomotives for free, in an outdoor museum. The Hamasen Railway Cultural Park is fantastic if you love old trains and vintage vehicles.
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Eslite Spectrum Pier-2 store
Located next door to Pier 2 Art Center and tourist information, the Eslite Spectrum Pier-2 Store has one of the best bookshops in Kaohsiung, located in an old warehouse.
Inside, you’ll find lots of gorgeous gifts and crafts like pop-up cards and nicely designed stationery.
There is also a Starbucks inside plus lots of English language books (so if you forgot your Taiwan Lonely Planet or vacation novel, you can get it here).
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Pier-2 Tower
For aerial views of Kaohsiung Port or to get a better view of Kaohsiung Music Center, head up several flights of steps to the new Pier-2 Tower. It is free to visit but nothing fancy.
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Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway
Chances are if you’ve ever seen any photos of Kaohsiung’s Pier 2 before, it will be full of families riding the famous miniature train at Pier2. This can be found at the Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway, in the Penglai Warehouse.
Inside, there are lots of dainty dioramas, miniature railways plus a detailed overview of Kaohsiung Port’s rich railway history.
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Pier 2 Wooderful Life flagship store and museum
A quick mention of one of the most beautiful shops in Pier 2, Kaohsiung’s flagship Wooderful Life store.
Wooderful Life is a Taiwanese chain of wooden toy shops that produce the most incredible and intricate gifts such as music boxes, wooden puppets and traditional toys.
As well as a free to visit shop, there is also a playhouse and Wooderful Life activity park where kids can jump around and tinker with trinkets of all types, across 7 different themed zones.
Skip the queue and get your Wooderlife Life play zone tickets in advance here >
Beer Talk Cafe & Bar
There are lots of food and drink places in Art2 Pier Center but as loves of Taiwan craft beer bars, we’d recommend a beer (or three) at Beer Talk Cafe.
It has over 30 Belgian style beers on draft plus European and Taiwan snacks like mussels and frites, grilled squid or even a Belgian waffle. Ganbei!
Visiting Taipei? Check out our guide to the best Taiwan craft beer bars and breweries in Taipei >
Pop ups at Pier-2 Arts Center and immersive experiences
Like Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei and Blueprint Creative Park in Tainan, Pier 2 is the premium place for pop-up shops (in Kaohsiung).
Over the years, we’ve been to a few pop-ups at Pier 2 although our favorite still remains the free Moomins pop-up complete with a Moomin ball pit.
Also next to the Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway, the Penglai Warehouse has several immersive experiences and temporary events like the B9 Kaohsiung Experimental Theatre.
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Sunny Hills Kaohsiung store
See that MASSIVE queue snaking around the block at Pier 2 Art Center? That’ll likely be Sunny Hills pineapple cake and pastry shop.
Popular with overseas tourists (and the odd local), this decadent dessert shop and pastry place offers everything from mooncake to apple turnovers.
The reason for the big queue? Amazingly, Sunny Hills Kaohsiung Pier 2 Store offers up small samples of tea and pineapple cake (likely in a bid to encourage you to buy more). Nice!
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Shops in Pier 2
Pier 2 in Kaohsiung is retail heaven – a nice respite from the more mundane malls, Pier 2 is full of cute craft shops and fashion stores including:
- Summer Art Garage – a retro toy car shop (map)
- Collapse Toys – toys, gachapons and posters (map)
- RITE – bags and accessories (map)
- 禮拜文房具 高雄駁二店 – stationery (map)
- THE D 低階貴婦 香氛保養品 & ASME保健食品 – fragrances and skin care products (map)
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Our final thing to do at Pier 2 and Kaohsiung Port
Kaohsiung Music Center
Like something out of Star Wars, Kaohsiung Music Center looks the part and reflects at night over the Kaohsiung Port waters.
A short five minute walk from the tail-end of Pier 2, Kaohsiung Music Center is a concert hall and event venue that opened in 2021. At night, the center lights up and it is one of Kaohsiung’s most iconic landmarks.
It is free to visit – although if you aren’t going for a concert, there isn’t much to do there but it is a handy free toilet stop!
We visited on a Sunday afternoon and there were a handful of street food stalls and a pop-up tent with a local artist signing CDs and t-shirts but not much else going on.
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