In 1898 he decided to go to the mainland with his father Kao Hsuan-feng. Then he returned to the island briefly when his father asked him to retrieve the ashes of his grandparents.
光緒廿四年隨父親高選鋒返回大陸的高銘鴻，曾受父命來台偷偷將祖父母的骨骸運回大陸改葬，而回到台灣短暫一遊。