Get to know Maolin District
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- Administrative area
- District · 區
- Part of
- Kaohsiung City
- Chinese name
- 茂林區
- Local areas
- District guide
Butterflies and river bends
The Maolin Purple Butterfly Ecological Park (茂林紫斑蝶生態公園) is a place to see butterflies gathering for the winter. At the Longtoushan Recreation Area (龍頭山遊憩區), Longtoushan (龍頭山) and Shetoushan (蛇頭山) display the hills formed within looping river courses. Duona Village (多納部落) brings together slate buildings, craftwork and Rukai food.
Millet and sausage
Millet (小米) is cooked as a grain dish or porridge and fermented into a sweet-sour alcoholic drink. Bulugu (布魯古), a Rukai sausage, combines pig blood, minced meat and taro flour inside cleaned intestines. It is boiled or fried, cooled and cut into pieces. Duona artisans also make slate coasters and necklaces using stone called longwenshi (龍紋石).
Sources for this guide
茂林區－茂林國家風景區管理處 · Maolin National Scenic Area Administration
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-27.
Explore Maolin District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Maolin District
Maolin Purple Butterfly Ecological Park · Plan your visit
Getting there
Maolin District is about 60 km in a straight line from central Kaohsiung City. Search for 茂林區 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Start with Maolin Purple Butterfly Ecological Park. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Kaohsiung City →More in Kaohsiung City
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Maolin Purple Butterfly Ecological Park · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.