Kinmen Island

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September 30th 2015

Published: October 4th 2015

After a month and a half of school, it was nice to finally get a break. The Moon Festival gave us a long week-end, so we booked a trip to Kinmen Island through Vivien at the school. She booked our flights, 60 hours of scooter time and a homestay in a typical Fujian B&B. We left for the airport Saturday around 7:30AM and landed in Kinmen at 10AM. We made our way to the Visitor Information Desk in ... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

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Land Entrance

Men, tanks, and supplies would enter or leave via this 50 meter access down to the underground waterway.

Boat Landing

Boats would enter and unload and reload here. The entrance tunnel is 100 meters long, 6 meters wide and 3.5 meters high. There are seven rooms inside that served as barracks.

Waterway Entrance

The tunnel features a U-shaped waterway 357 meters long, 11.5 meters wide and 8 meters high. Boats would enter here, dock, then continue around to the exit on the other side.

Military Brothel Museum

Kinmen was at one time, the most heavily militarized spot on the planet, with over 100,000 active soldiers stationed there. This was one of 11 "Tea Houses" serving the military, and is now a museum.

Serving Only The Military!

"Guests" at these "Tea houses" were served by "waitresses". The brothels were established to prevent the raping of the local women by lonely young and scared soldiers.

Rates in 1989

The brothels usually had 10 rooms to provide services. The girls were allowed a maximum of 30 minutes per client. Notice the high rate for teachers! They were abolished in 1990.

Bunkers All Over

All over the island, there are bunkers. Heavy bombing occurred during the Japanese occupation of WWII, then 1949, again in 1954, in 1958, and then in late 1958 on odd days for the next 20 years.

Bomb Casings

Between the First and Second Taiwan Crises of 1954 and 1958, then the propaganda bombing that lasted till the 1970's, it is estimated that some 980,000 bomb shells fell on Kinmen Island.

Maestro Wu

Out of these steel bomb casings, Maestro Wu creates world famous high quality knives. We visited the factory and made a couple of purchases because we've never had good quality knives.

Display in the Maestro Wu Factory

They have a huge showroom in the front, then a display area for guests to watch where they create the knives in the rear of the shop.

Our Maestro Wu "Wandering Dragon" Knives

Hand crafted with repeated forgings, these are world renowned knives. It's time we had some high quality knives in our kitchen.

Fine Food

We found the most fascinating local little restaurants to eat at. This is sweet and sour whole fish. We found the food delicious!

North East End

Surrounded on three sides by China, there are military outposts on all sides. There is still a manned post here.

Tunnel To Observation Post

This long tunnel had a little U shaped post where one soldier could defend the whole tunnel. It led to a firing bunker which is now an observation post equipped with stationary binoculars.

Binoculars on China

We could see the fishermen's faces on the Chinese coast, that's how close the mainland is.

That's Mainland China

This photo was through the binoculars, and we can easily see that they are busy dredging a canal on the mainland.

Celebration

We came upon these festivities, we weren't sure if they were for Moon Festival or some other occasion.

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc.

We drove all over the island and even found the Kaoliang Liquor Factory, makers of the famous Kinmen 58. We found that the prices varied, depending on the age of the product.

Fishing Dock

We had time to pull into the fishing wharf and have a look around. Because of the Moon Festival Holiday, it was mostly deserted.

Banyan Forest Park

We came upon this lovely park, and strolled around the scenic gardens. There were families barbequing and children playing everywhere.

Taking a Break

We found the whole island well manicured, the roads were lined with flowers and trees, and there was greenery everywhere.

4th October 2015

Joanne
non-member comment

Historical trip
Thank u for sharing ... Namaste

4th October 2015

Judy Baker
non-member comment

You guys are now traveling to places I've never even heard of. Thanks for the fascinating history lesson.

5th October 2015

wayne tamke
non-member comment

me too
I think you two should take me next time :) hope you two are doing well. hope to see you when you're home the next time.

5th October 2015

Diane Selby
non-member comment

Fantastic trip!! Love reading about all your travels. You will have a tough time returning to reality here!! Or not !! Weather here is turning. Colors are amazing!! Enjoy the rest of your time. Call whan you get home!! Keedp smiling!! Cheers Diane

5th October 2015

Annette
non-member comment

Makes me want to travel!
What an awesome experience! Good for you, venturing out and becoming more educated! Hilarious the odd and even day propaganda thing. Sad about the brothels, that always is.. Great pictures and very interesting! Talk to you sooon!

28th November 2015

jone
non-member comment

http://www.vacancesohsoleil.com/
The is regarding the tour place… which is much useful for booking a villas with a very low cost…so please visit this site.... http://www.vacancesohsoleil.com/

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