Pier-2 Art Center (駁二藝術特區) is a long line of old harbor warehouses turned into galleries, shops, cafés and outdoor art, and Kaohsiung's busiest sight. Walk it end to end, from the Dayi warehouses to the railway park at Hamasen, and pay only for the exhibitions you want. Take the light rail to Dayi Pier-2 (C12) and work your way west.
- Hours Mon to Thu 10:00 to 18:00; Fri to Sun and national holidays 10:00 to 20:00
- Closed Lunar New Year's Eve
- Entry Grounds free; ticketed venues only
- Address No. 1 Dayong Rd., Yancheng District
- Station Light rail Dayi Pier-2 (C12), Penglai Pier-2 (C13) or Hamasen (C14); MRT Yanchengpu (O2) or Hamasen (O1)
How it started
The warehouses once stored fishmeal and sugar. In 2000, people preparing the National Day fireworks rediscovered them; artists formed a development association in 2001, and the city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs has run the site since 2006.
The three zones
- Dayi (大義區), at the east end by light rail C12: warehouse C7 holds the Memories of Pier-2 Warehouses and the Animation Warehouse. The Great Harbor Bridge is here.
- Dayong (大勇區), in the middle: warehouse C5 is the main home of the Pier-2 Contemporary Art Museum.
- Penglai (蓬萊區), at the west end toward Hamasen: the railway warehouses and the railway park.
Tickets
- Pier-2 Contemporary Art Museum (駁二當代館), in C5 and C7: all exhibitions NT$120 (students NT$100, 65+ NT$75), one exhibition NT$80. Last tickets 17:00 Monday to Thursday, 19:00 Friday to Sunday.
- Pier-2 Tower (駁二塔): NT$10 in coins, to 17:30 on weekdays and 19:30 at weekends.
- Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway (哈瑪星台灣鐵道館), in Penglai warehouses B7 and B8: a model railway exhibition and a mini-train. Daily 10:00 to 18:00, closed Wednesdays from September 2026. Warehouse B8 is closed for rebuilding from 1 September 2026, so the model exhibit and train are running at NT$99 each (NT$169 for both) until it reopens.
Public art
The art is free and everywhere: the giant Labor and Fishwoman, the 3D Train Station mural that Pier-2 calls Taiwan's biggest 3D mural, the Steel Worker mural, a white humpback whale, the Mayday "DNA Transformer", the rainbow KAOHSIUNG lettering, and Poyu Road, a 500-metre painted pedestrian street. Big Tree Universe, a walkway around a banyan, opens Monday to Thursday 14:00 to 18:00 and Friday to Sunday 16:00 to 20:00.
The railway park and the Hamasen train
At the west end, the Hamasen Railway Park lies on the site of the old Takao Station, with locomotives and carriages on display. The little Hamasen train runs on weekends and holidays, every half hour from 13:30 to 17:30: NT$99 (NT$69 concession). On the first Saturday of each month a "steam" edition runs at 13:30, 14:15 and 14:45 (NT$150); Pier-2 points out it isn't really steam-powered. Tickets are sold on site only.
The Great Harbor Bridge
The 110-metre Great Harbor Bridge (大港橋), by the Dayi warehouses, is Taiwan's first horizontally swinging bridge. It turns at 15:00 every day and again at 19:00 at weekends, but has been stopped several times in 2026 for repairs and events. Light rail: Dayi Pier-2 (C12).
KW2
Next to Pier-2, KW2 (棧貳庫, Kaohsiung Port Warehouse No. 2) is a Japanese-era sugar warehouse, bombed in the war and rebuilt in 1962, that reopened in 2018 with shops, restaurants, exhibitions and a white carousel. Open Sunday to Thursday 10:00 to 21:00, to 22:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and holiday eves. MRT Hamasen (O1), exit 2, or light rail C13 or C14.
→ The harbor · Pier-2's shop and other souvenirs · LIVE WAREHOUSE and Megaport
Sources: Pier-2 Art Center (hours, history, map, zones, tickets, getting there, public art, railway park); Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway; bridge: UDN and Liberty Times; KW2. Checked October 2026.