The first European-style building erected in Taiwan, completed in 1879 as the British consulate for the port of Takao (the old name for Kaohsiung). The red-brick complex sits on a small cliff at the harbour mouth, with arched verandahs and outstanding views across the bay and Cijin Island.
Inside, exhibits cover the consulate's role in 19th-century Taiwanese trade — opium, sugar, camphor, tea — and the period when the small foreign community in Takao numbered fewer than a hundred. The terrace cafe is worth the climb for the view alone. Reach it by a steep stone staircase from the Hamasen area at the foot of the hill.