On Zuoying Boulevard, two rows of old shops only four stories high

Text and photos by Ji Zihong   Excerpted from   *I Love Kaohsiung, and Also Snacks, Strolls, and Killing Time* published by Flying Bird Season Society

If you were to test me on my childhood home address now, I could still recite it to you right away: No. 7, Lane 4, Guofeng Street, Zuoying District, Kaohsiung City — “Yi Ge Shi Yu? Pan Qian 1307,” and I even remember the phone number of my old home. These memories of my childhood home extend to my impressions of the old Zuoying area, which have always stayed in my heart, just like how thinking of my first love still makes me feel, “Ah, so beautiful and nostalgic!” — that kind of sweet and warm impression.

The old Zuoying in my heart refers to the area along the road from Zhonghua Road connecting to Zuoying Boulevard up to Zuoying North Station. It’s not the section of Bo’ai Road where housing prices have now been driven sky-high — that’s the unfamiliar new Zuoying. What I miss is the old Zuoying area where the roadside was lined with five-story standalone family homes. The living atmosphere of old Zuoying combines three elements: the common people, religion, and the military. Facing northward along Zuoying Boulevard, the right side is the Hoklo (Minnan) community mainly made up of native Taiwanese, while the left side is the military dependents' villages and navy base communities, overwhelmingly populated by mainlanders.

Though separated by Zuoying Boulevard, there was absolutely no sense of division between the two sides. Everyone loved going to the Zuoying Market to buy groceries, chat, and compare whose kid ranked highest in school. Everyone also loved going to the dependents’ villages to eat pie, congee, beef noodles, sesame pancakes, soy milk, and deep-fried dough sticks. Every day, you, me, and everyone else crossed paths; every day, there were mix-ups between Mandarin and Taiwanese; and, of course, every day included phrases like “Damn it” and “I’ll remember this, you hear me?” That old Zuoying was like a long-running slice-of-life drama cooked up from a mix of local and military dependents’ village stories.

  

Move a little further to the left and right, and the scenery changes again. Even further to the left is the navy harbor, connected to the sea, but generally off-limits to the public without permission — extremely mysterious. Even further to the right is Lotus Pond, also filled with water, and it’s a favorite spot for locals — where people practice martial arts, lift weights, walk their dogs, and go on dates. The life story of every old Zuoying resident, from childhood to adulthood, is sure to include a chapter about Lotus Pond. Whether it’s the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, the Northern God Xuanwu, Guan Yu the God of War, the Confucius Temple, or the turtles in the pond at the Spring and Autumn Pavilion, or the childhood favorites bought by the roadside — salted snails, grilled fish skewers, and pickled guavas — these are all parts of the old Zuoying that I deeply miss and always want to revisit.