我在金门的日子, Zhaishan Tunnel & Guningtou Battlefields (12th January 2014)

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Sunday, 12th January 2014

We woke up to a wintry Sunday morning today. It was helpful in that Cantonese Porridge was served during breakfast which provided some respite from the icy air. After receiving some helpful advice from Ann, we were off to the bus station by 9am in the morning.

With three full days in Kinmen, our plan was to purchase a 2-Day Pass that gave us unlimited rides on the Tourist Shuttle Routes across the island. On our final day, we would be spending our time on Little Kinmen, the other island within the archipelago that is opened for tourism.

40 years of confrontation with mainland China made Kinmen a war veteran. The island was littered with war relics - deep underground tunnels, observatories and war museums. Anti-landing barricades which lined the northern coast have remained relatively intact after all these years. They have now become a unique piece of cultural heritage that told their own stories as we tour these sites over the next 3 days.

By and large, the useful Tourist Shuttle Service comprising of 4 different routes helped solved our transportation woes. This was complemented by the relatively easy to use local bus services. The highlights of this morning were the visit to the Juguang Tower which commanded a nice view of Kincheng as well as the majestic 357m Zhaishan Tunnel by the sea.

In the afternoon, the same bus took us across the northern part of the island where the Guningtou Battle Museum and Peace Memorial Park were located. Kinmen offered plenty of opportunities for us to experience "War Tourism" at our own pace. Their well-maintained sites with free admission oftened left us with plenty to cheer about.

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