Travel postcard: 48 hours in Kaohsiung

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters Life!) - Got 48 hours to explore Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city and one of the world's busiest ports? Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors make the most of this centre of traditional Taiwanese culture.

FRIDAY

5 p.m. - You're going to be doing a lot of shopping, so start on a high at the new Dream Mall (www.dream-mall.com.tw). Large, not crowded and easy to navigate, it stands out for being the only place in metropolitan Kaohsiung to get your hands on clothes made by ultra-cool Taiwanese designers Booday (www.booday.com).

7 p.m. - Dinner at New Tainan Tan-tzai Noodles in the mall's basement. The interior is supposed to look like a Taiwanese school from the 1950s or 1960s, with lots of retro cinema posters and adverts from the era plastered on the walls. The stewed pork on rice, with fish-ball soup and blanched Taiwanese-style greens topped with minced garlic, are recommended.

SATURDAY

8 a.m. - Begin the day with breakfast on the street, Taiwanese style. Typical fare includes fried radish cake with a sweetish sauce, egg pancakes and soy bean milk.

9 a.m. - If you only have time to go to one part of Kaohsiung make sure it is Yancheng. Once salt fields, today Yancheng is full of funky little shops, cafes and temples. The Kaohsiung Museum of History (w5.kcg.gov.tw/khm/index.asp) is a must see, to trace the city's rise from swamp to metropolis.

11 a.m. - Just round the corner from the museum is Bag, otherwise known in Chinese as "King of Satchels" (33 Da-ren Rd). This shop is famous nationwide for the old-style school bags it sells emblazoned with the names of schools in large Chinese characters, and which are now worn as a stylish accessory.

11:30 a.m. - Not far from Bag is Shanghai Wan-long Sauce Garden (137 Sin-Sing St). Opened in 1948, this family-run business is still cranking out quality soy, chili and sesame sauces and pretty much any other sauce-like condiment that can accompany Chinese cuisine.