Meinong and Qishan sit next to each other in the hills northeast of the city and make an easy day together. Meinong is a Hakka town, known for its flat rice noodles and oil-paper umbrellas; Qishan was a banana and sugar town, with an old street of red-brick shopfronts and a 1915 railway station. Kaohsiung Bus E01B runs from Zuoying HSR to Qishan in about 40 minutes and on to Meinong in about an hour.
- Bus E01B from Zuoying HSR (stop 6): Qishan about 40 min, Meinong about 60 min
- Or E28 from Kaohsiung Main Station: Qishan about 1 h 15, Meinong about 1 h 40
- Fare By distance, capped at NT$60 with an iPASS or EasyCard
- Allow A full day for both
Meinong
The district office names Meinong's most famous dishes as its broad rice noodles (粄條, ban tiao) and pig knuckles: eat them here. The Meinong Hakka Museum (美濃客家文物館), built to look like the town's old tobacco-curing barns, tells the story of Hakka life. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00 (closed Mondays), and costs NT$40. At Meinong Folk Village (美濃民俗村) you can paint an oil-paper umbrella, try pottery and eat Hakka food.
Qishan
Qishan Old Street (旗山老街) is a row of century-old shopfronts in red brick and sandstone, from the days when Qishan shipped bananas and sugarcane; look for banana sweets and banana ice. The old Qishan Railway Station (旗山車站), built between 1913 and 1915 and closed in 1978, is now a visitor centre with banana products and bike rental. It's open Monday and Wednesday to Friday 10:00 to 18:00, weekends 09:00 to 19:00, and closed on Tuesdays.
Good to know: the last E28 back from Meinong to Kaohsiung Main Station leaves at 19:20. The E01B runs later, to about 22:00 on weekdays.
On the way: Moon World
Between Tianliao and Qishan, Tianliao Moon World (田寮月世界) is a landscape of grey mudstone badlands with more than 20 mud volcanoes along Highway 28. The visitor centre opens 10:00 to 17:00. Bus 8012 (Qishan to Gangshan) stops at Moon World.
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Sources: Meinong food: Meinong District Office. Museum hours and fees: Kaohsiung Hakka Affairs Commission; museum, folk village, Qishan Old Street, Qishan Station and Moon World: Kaohsiung Travel. Buses: Kaohsiung Bus E01 and E28. Checked October 2026.