Donggang (東港) is a small township in Pingtung county on the southwest coast of Taiwan.
Most travelers know Donggang as the place to catch a ferry to Xiaoliuqiu island for snorkeling with sea turtles.
Once every three years, Donggang is also in the spotlight as the venue for the Wang Ye Boat Burning Ceremony, in which a whole boat is torched in the middle of the night – one of the most incredible festivals in Taiwan.
There’s much more to Donggang, though. When we visited Donggang, we enjoyed cycling on Dapeng Bay, visiting the temple where the famous boat is kept, feasting on seafood (Donggang is famous for bluefin tuna), and spending the night on a this cacao farm.
In this article, I’ll do my best to tempt you to linger in Donggang for at least a few hours on the way to/from Xiaoliuqiu, or maybe even to spend the night!
I have been to Donggang several times, including most recently with my wife and kids to visit a family friend who lives there.
Donggang Introduction
Donggang literally means “eastern port” (even though it is on the southwest coast of Taiwan). There’s two possible reasons for the name: it is east relative to Kaohsiung and Cijin Island’s port and it lies just east of Gaoping River (高屏溪).
Like Kaohsiung, Donggang’s harbor is one of the largest in Taiwan. It has served as a major port since the Qing Dynasty.
Around 300 years ago, local fishermen in Donggang began burning a boat to ward off disease-causing spirits (it’s a similar reason for the dangerous fireworks festival in Yanshui in Tainan).
Seafood has long been the main industry in Donggang. Taiwanese flock to Donggang every spring for the bluefin tuna season. Bluefin tuna is darker and more delicious than regular tuna.
Bluefin tuna was once considered an overfished species but populations have recently been rebounding.
Taiwanese say that bluefin tuna is one of the “three treasures of Donggang” (東港三寶), the other two being little dried sakura shrimp (櫻花蝦) and oilfish roe cakes (油魚子).
Huaqiao Fish Market (東港漁港), which is right next to the ferry terminal for going to Xiaoliuqiu, is THE place to enjoy these delicacies.
In more recent times, a new wave of tourists has been coming to Donggang for reasons other than Xiaoliuqiu, seafood, and boat burning.
These include cycling on Dapeng Bay, and in the last 10 years, to learn about the burgeoning chocolate industry in Pingtung.
Getting to Donggang
The easiest way to get to Donggang is to take bus 9127D from Zuoying HSR station. If you’re coming from the Kaohsiung city center, just ride the MRT to Zuoying station first.
Read my guide to booking HSR tickets in Taiwan and purchase your HSR tickets on Klook or on KKday to get a discount.
The bus leaves Zuoying about once every hour and takes 50 minutes to reach Donggang and 70 minutes to reach the final stop. You can swipe EasyCard to ride it.
If you’re going to Xiaoliuqu, Huaqiao Fish Market, or Donglong Temple, get off at Donggang Ferry Terminal, also called Tungliu Line Wharf Stop, here. Going back to Zuoying, you would board the bus at the exact same stop.
If you’re staying at a guesthouse or hostel in the town center, you may want to get off at the next major stop, Donggang Bus Station, here.
And if you want to go to Dapeng Bay for cycling or stay at Fuwan Chocolate Farm like we did, you will proceed to the last stop, Dapeng Bay Visitor Center, here, which lies a few kilometers east of the Donggang town center.
There are also local trains from Kaohsiung to Zhenan station, which is 5 km east of Donggang. But one reason I don’t prefer this route is because there are no taxis or buses from Zhenan to Donggang.
If you’re coming from Kenting National Park (see my Kenting guide), you can get off the Kaohsiung-bound bus at Fangliao then find a taxi to Donggang (expect to pay around TWD 500). There’s usually one waiting in front of Fangliao train station or you can try Uber.
From Taitung (see my Taitung guide) or other places on the east coast of Taiwan, take the train to Fangliao then a taxi to Donggang.
Where to Stay in Donggang
When we spent the night in Donggang, we stayed at Fu Wan Cafe Villa (福灣莊園), also called Fuwan Chocolate Resort. Find it here on Booking and here on Agoda.
The resort is very reasonably priced. Our huge room came with a massive hot tub and overlooked palm trees. There’s a chocolate shop, cafe, small museum, and chocolate factory on site. See the “things to do” section below for more info on our stay.
If you wanted to be in the town center of Donggang, there are several hostels (try here or here), guesthouses like this, and regular hotels like this.
If you’re on your way to Xiaoliuqiu, you may just visit Donggang for a few hours then stay on the island. I highly recommend Ocean Dream (夢海, see on Booking / Agoda), where we stayed.
Things to Do in Donggang
If you’re just passing through Donggang on the way to Xiaoliuqiu, you can easily add Huaqiao Fish Market and maybe Donglong Temple.
If you’re spending the night, add cycling at Dapeng Bay and staying on the cacao farm.
Huaqiao Fish Market
For anyone going to Xiaoliuqiu Island, it’s extremely easy to add Huaqiao Fish Market (東港漁港) to your itinerary. The fish market is right beside the ferry terminal. It is one of the best (and biggest) traditional fish markets in Taiwan.
Spring (April to June) is peak season for Huaqiao Fish Market because that is the bluefin tuna season. The fish will be sold as slices of sashimi from dozens of vendors in the market.
The fish is dark purple in color and quite a bit more expensive than regular tuna. You can also get mixed sashimi trays which include a few slices of it along with some other cheaper fishes.
Besides sashimi, the market has many other kinds of seafood. If you want a full meal, there are several sit-down restaurants, especially at the back (water) side of the market, where you can order noodles, rice, and all kinds of seafood, meat, and veggie dishes.
When we visited one of these restaurants with my father-in-law’s friend who lives in Donggang, he ordered bluefin tuna for us but done multiple ways – deep fried, with rice, as sashimi, and more.
You can still buy bluefin tuna out of season, but there won’t be as much of it and it won’t be as fresh or delicious as when it’s in season.
Besides seafood, you’ll also see a sweet snack called 雙高潤 in the fish market. These are steamed glutinous rice cakes.
The classic version is made with brown sugar and taro, but you can see many other colors and flavors including matcha, red bean, peanut, mango, and more.
Donggang Donglong Temple
Donggang’s Donglong Temple (東港東隆宮) is the temple which organizes the triennial Wang Ye Boat Burning Temple.
The temple is walking distance (we did it in about 15 minutes with young kids) from Donggang Ferry Terminal.
Besides just being a large, impressive temple dating to 1706 (but rebuilt several times since), the coolest thing is that you can view the boat-to-be-burned there.
When we arrived at the temple grounds, we walked through the huge, gold-plated entrance gate here.
We then found the Wang Ye boat inside a dedicated structure here on the left side of the road leading towards the main temple. The boat just barely fits inside of the building.
It was so cool to walk around the boat, admiring the paintings and intricate details up close on every side of it. I had trouble to imagine that they would put some much effort into making what is essentially a gorgeous piece of art and then just burn the whole thing!
We spent quite a bit of time looking at the boat itself before proceeding to the actual temple.
The Wang Ye Boat Burning Ceremony
The Wang Ye deity (王爺神), to whom the boat is burned, is enshrined inside Donglong Temple. The deity is also called Lord Wen (溫王爺), with “wen” sounding similar to “plague” in Mandarin.
The lord was a real price and commander in the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China. He was deified after dying at sea. People on the coast of Fujian later believed he would protect them at sea, so they wrote his name at the front of the ship.
When fishermen from Fujian came to Taiwan, they established Donglong Temple in Donggang for Lord Wen. Not long after, they began burning a boat to welcome Wang Ye from the heavens to tour the earth and cast away plague-causing spirits – a traditional rite that had origins in China.
This ceremony takes place once every three years, with the current one to take place in October 2024.
The ceremony takes place over a whole week (Sept 28 to Oct 5 in 2024, with different stages of the ritual each day, such as welcoming the spirit and taking the boat on a parade tour.
The actual burning of the boat will take place from 2 to 5 AM on the early morning of Oct 5. The burning will take place in Zhenhai Park (鎮海公園) on the coast.
For more details about the event and a map of the parades and burning, see the temple’s official site, but it’s all in Mandarin.
There are also smaller versions of the boat burning festival on Xiaoliuqiu and the Penghu Islands.
Cycling at Dapeng Bay
Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣) is a large lagoon just east of Donggang town center. It is protected as the Dapeng Bay Natural Scenic Area, which includes the whole bay as well as Xiaoliuqiu island off the coast.
The best way to explore Dapeng Bay is by bike. You can rent YouBikes here closer to town or here next to the Dapeng Bay Visitor’s Center and Fuwan Chocolate Resort at the eastern end of the bay.
Read my YouBike guide and guide to cycling in Taiwan for more info.
Near the Visitor’s Center, you can also rent bikes from this private shop, which has children’s bikes and toddler seats on adult bikes. It’s only open Thursday to Sunday.
From the Visitor’s Center, follow the cycling path south and then east along the bay. You’ll pass several large art installations, including a huge fish statue, a causeway out to a little church, and Goddess of the sea, which is made of oyster shells.
Eventually you’ll reach the Qifeng Wetlands, after which you can even do a full circuit around the lagoon by crossing Dapeng Bay Bridge.
Heads up that it can be extremely hot in the daytime, even in winter. Try cycling in the early morning or late afternoon till sunset. Some of the art installations are even lit up at night.
Learning about Chocolate in Donggang
On our most recent trip to Donggang, one of our main goals was to experience the blossoming cacao industry in Pingtung.
This industry has only really taken off in the last decade. There are now over 300 hectares of land in Pingtung dedicated to cacao farming.
Taiwanese chocolate produced here is artisanal and high end, with distinctive notes of caramel and berry.
Many producers add unique and local ingredients, such as lychee, oolong tea, and in Donggang, even sakura shrimp.
Fuwan Chocolate Resort
Staying at Fu Wan Cafe and Villa (福灣莊園, see on Booking / Agoda) is the best way to experience local chocolate culture in Donggang.
When we stayed, we had a large room with huge hot tub overlooking palm trees. In our room, we received complimentary pieces of their high quality chocolate and chocolate tea. For breakfast, they also found ways to incorporate chocolate in the meal.
There’s a small chocolate shop, museum, and factory on site. They give daily demonstrations in the factory, while the shops is the perfect place to sample and purchase the various chocolates they make.
The resort was definitely a little ways from town, but it was nice to be near Dapeng Bay for cycling and watching the sunset.
It was also convenient to take bus 9127D from Zuoying to Donggang to the resort and back.
Note: there’s no restaurant for dinner, so you should bring food or you can walk about 20 minutes to the nearest 7-Eleven.
Choose Chius Chocolate Farm and Cafe
Besides Fuwan, we visited one more cacao farm which was a ways out of Donggang. In the most recent edition of Lonely Planet, I had read that Choose Chius (邱氏咖啡巧克力, here) was one of the first cacao producers in Pingtung.
The small farm and café is located in Neipu township, 25 minutes’ drive from Donggang. When we visited, the owner was so kind to give us a little tour of the farm. He taught my kids had to harvest the cacao pods, open them, and taste inside.
Note: I let the café know we were coming and wanted a tour. If you just dropped in, it’s not guaranteed the owner will be available to do this.
After visiting the farm, we enjoyed some of the best hot chocolate and mocha I’ve ever had in their café.
It’s not super easy to get to Choose Chius, unless you have a car (read my guide to driving in Taiwan).
We actually went there before Donggang. From Zuoying HSR station, we transferred to the local train and rode it to Sishih Station (西勢火車站, also spelled Xishi station, 40 minutes).
From the station, it was a 30-minute walk, but we actually tried Uber and were surprisingly able to get one.
After visiting, we ordered an Uber to go to Donggang.
Note: there is also a farm with tons of bunnies not far away from Choose Chius. Unfortunately it was closed on the day we went.
Read about other farm activities we’ve done with our kids in Taiwan here.
