Kinmen

Understand

The main islands in the county are Greater Kinmen and Lesser Kinmen (Lieyu/Liehyu). Administratively, Kinmen is split into six townships, four of which are on Greater Kinmen. Another has Lesser Kinmen plus its neighbouring small islands, and the sixth is a couple of more remote small islands that aren't open to visitors. The islands are largely rural, made up of a mix of small towns, farmland, and historical sites. The economy of Kinmen is now based mostly on tourism and the famous Kaoliang liquor (高粱酒). Dried meat from Kinmen is also sold on Taiwan. Kinmen and Matsu remain sensitive areas and both the PRC and the ROC maintain substantial military forces in the area. Travellers should exercise caution, avoid political discussions, and avoid photographing military installations or even pieces of infrastructure (bridges, dams, etc.) which might be military targets. Although administered by the Taiwanese government, Kinmen and Matsu are officially considered to be parts of Fujian province, not of Taiwan, by both the PRC and ROC governments. Unlike the main island of Taiwan, they were never colonized by Japan (except for an 8-year occupation related to World War II), instead being governed by the Qing dynasty, and then the Mainland-based Republic of China, during Taiwan's Japanese period. Local residents often identify as "Kinmenese" or "Chinese" and not "Taiwanese". Politically, Kinmen is a KMT stronghold, with most residents being firmly opposed to formal Taiwan independence. The DPP has made inroads among the younger generation, but most of these Kinmenese end up permanently settling in Taiwan and never go back to Kinmen.

History In 1949, the Communists won the Chinese civil war, defeating the Nationalists (Kuomintang) who had governed (most of) China from the 1911 revolution until 1949. Since then, there has been a Communist government in most of China (the People's Republic of China or PRC) while the Nationalists held onto Taiwan, which is still officially called the Republic of China or ROC. The islands of Kinmen and Matsu are near the Chinese coast — Kinmen is about 10 km (under 6.5 miles) from Xiamen — but held by the Taiwan-based ROC. They are symbolically important, and strategically as well, and were often actively fought over from 1949 into the 1970s. The "Artillery Battle of 823" (part of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis) was one of the key battles that kept the PRC from invading Taiwan. It involved artillery bombardment of Kinmen and Matsu, beginning on August 23 (8-23) 1958. Relations between the two governments improved greatly in the earl

Getting there

By plane

1 Kinmen airport (KNH IATA). Mandarin Airlines and Uni Air fly to Kinmen from Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Magong/Penghu several times a day. One-way tickets cost a little over NT$2000. This is the only way to get to Kinmen directly from Taiwan, unless you have your own boat. (updated Oct 2021)

By ferry There are ferries from the Xiamen in mainland China to 2 Shuitou Pier on the main Kinmen island. There are multiple daily ferries running between 09:00 and 17:30 each way, taking about 30 min in each direction. There is also a ferry from Quanzhou, but it is less frequent than the ferry from Xiamen, with only one ferry per day, taking about 1 h in each direction. There are no public ferries to Kinmen from Taiwan or any other islands under the Taiwan government's control. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was possible to take a ferry from Taiwan to Xiamen (in Mainland China), then take the Xiamen-Kinmen ferry to get to Kinmen. This assumes that you have a visa or visa-free entry eligibility for both China and Taiwan. Since Kinmen is under Taiwanese control, going there from mainland China counts as an exit. Thus, holders of single-entry visas cannot do short trips to from Xiamen to Kinmen and return. So make sure to clarify your visa situation before hopping on a ferry! If you are arriving by ferry, the ferry terminal has a tourist information desk that can help find you an inn. There are also money exchange counters, but they will only exchange RMB to NT$; they will not exchange other currencies. There is also an ATM just outside the ferry terminal (cross the road) that accepts Visa and Mastercard. A UnionPay ATM is in the departure area, where you also find a stall to change RMB to NT$. At the tourist services counters besides Joane Ranch Restaurant, you can rent portable WiFi (NT$250 per day) or get an unlimited data SIM Card (starting from NT$400 for 5 days). Cash only, no cards.

Getting around

By taxi There are taxis on the island, though you need pretty good Mandarin or Minnan skills to negotiate a rate with the driver. They are also concentrated mostly in the city center, so you can't count on finding one just anywhere. If you can speak Mandarin or Minnan, most of the drivers are quite friendly, so one shouldn't worry about bargaining super hard. Most of them aren't looking to rip you off. Taxis from the Shuitou wharf to Jincheng city's downtown are NT$250 flat rate, and roughly NT$200 to return to the wharf. There are a few buses that run around, but they are not frequent and bus stops aren't particularly convenient.

Your own vehicle Roads in Kinmen are all paved, there are good maps at every village and in every hotel, and navigation apps are mostly accurate. Official road signs are written in both Chinese and English, and are fairly well-placed, but the road network is very extensive and haphazardly laid out, so expect to miss some turns and have to reroute or backtrack. As of July 2022, there also seem to be a lot of road closures that mapping apps don't know about. Some of the "roads" on the mapping apps look more like bicycle paths in real life, but there don't seem to be any strict rules about which vehicles can go where, and locals would presume that scooters (at the very least) are allowed to use them. Beware of high winds, which can strike any time of the year.

By scooter It's easiest to just rent your own scooter. Your accommodations may be able to arrange this for you, or you can get a 150 cc for about NT$550 per 24 hours at a rental shop. There's one in the airport. There is also a rental place in downtown Jincheng near the northern entrance to Mofan St (模範街). Just as in Taiwan proper, it's illegal to ride a scooter without a scooter or motorcycle license. Though locals who know the way and aren't interested in stopping anywhere can ride a scooter from one corner of Greater Jinmen island to the opposite corner in about half an hour, expect your travel times to be much longer. Set aside lots of extra time for missed turns, closed roads, and especially for unplanned stops for interesting scenery and attractions. If you're at all interested in military history or historic Chinese architecture, expect getting from one end of the island to the other to end up taking you most of the day.

By bicycle There are a number of public "K Bike" automated bicycle rental stations (similar to Youbike 1.0 in Taiwan), which are free for the first hour. Previous visitors said there were bicycles free to borrow for the day at various key

See

The Wind Lion Gods of Kinmen are unique statues all over the island, you can either see the originals in the villages (this can take some patience and hunting skills) or just go to the new Wind Lion God Park near the ShangYi Airport. They began as simple stones placed at the northeast corners of settlements to ward off evil coming in with the winter seasonal winds. Over time, they developed into brightly-decorated, and slightly humorous, individual lion statues. One of the later trends is to wrap them in red cloth shawls to give them protection from the cold winds. Republic of China patriotism nostalgia. All around the island are monuments and giant red inscriptions (in Chinese) containing patriotic slogans, mostly from past decades all oriented around pride in the Nationalists' Republic of China as the rightful government of all China, rather than in any separate country of "Taiwan". These may be hard to appreciate if you don't read Chinese though.

Military history sites and museums

1 8-2-3 Artillery battle museum. Small but excellent museum, with a large amount of English signage to help explain the exhibits. A short loop telling the story of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958, in which the Nationalists in Kinmen and Communists on the mainland shelled each other with artillery almost non-stop for months, a decade after the end of the Chinese Civil War. There is also a Virtual War room where you can experience war for 3 minutes. Outdoors there are historic military vehicles on display, including tanks, a fighter plane, and an amphibious landing vehicle. Free. (updated Jan 2018) 2 Juguang Tower (莒光樓) (south of Kincheng on Huandao West Road (環島西路一段); Line A tourist bus). Memorial building with a small military museum and views of surrounding areas, near downtown Jincheng. (updated Jan 2018)

3 Zhaishan tunnels (翟山坑道) (at the southern tip of the western part of Kinmen; Line A tourist bus). Historic underground navy pier, where boats could offload supplies out of reach of Mainland artillery. Artillery guns and boats on display outside. Free. (updated Oct 2021) 4 Siwei Tunnel (四維坑道). On Little Kinmen is even longer and quieter than Zhaishan Tunnel. It's located just to the left of the ferry terminal as you get off. (updated Jan 2018) 5 Triangle Fortress (三角堡), ☏ +886 8 231 3271. 08:30-17:00. in Guning west of Zi lake (滋湖) to the north of Jincheng, overlooking the passage to Jincheng town between Kinmen and small Kinmen island, with a group of M41 tanks on display outside. The adjacent beach is a good place to see views of the Xiamen skyline, as well

Do

Beaches and water sports. In the hot summer months, tourists and locals flock to the Kinmen's beaches, either to play or to dig for clams. One of the major destinations is Oucuo Beach (歐厝沙灘) in the southwest, a huge, wide-open beach of soft, warm-brown sand. There are lots of areas for kids to play in the sand or shallow pools of water, at least during low tide. At low tide you can also see the rusted-out remains of a scrapped battle tank half buried in the sand a ways to the west of the main beach access. Swim at your own risk. Much of Kinmen's coastline is restricted, with no water activities allowed, so check before getting in the water at other sites. Some water sports may be available from tourism operators, such as standup paddleboard (SUP) or windsurfing. There are also swimming competitions in the ocean during the summer. Birdwatching: Birders from Taiwan come to Kinmen to see bird species that are rare in Taiwan proper but common in Mainland China. Besides the county mascot Eurasian Hoopoe, other specialties include Blue-tailed Bee-eaters in the summer, Great Cormorants in the winter, and Pied and White-throated Kingfishers year-round. For beginners, a fun thing to note is that Kinmen's myna birds (visible everywhere) are all indigenous Crested Mynas, while in Taiwan this species has been almost entirely replaced with introduced Javan Myna's and Common Mynas. If you can find all 63 "official" wind lion god statues, the ones that are represented in the park, and present proof to the park office, they will give you a special gift (as of July 2022, there are now over 100 of them on the official map, and we didn't check whether there's still a prize.

Buy

Cleavers are Kinmen's best-known tourist product. They are famous for making excellent quality cleavers; the steel is said to be obtained from the hundreds of thousands of shells that the Communist forces fired at Kinmen, in a failed attempt to take the island away from the Nationalist troops. The most authentic knives and the best place for a factory tour is Maestro Wu's Knives. It is claimed that a single shell casing can make approximately 60 blades; this is doubtful. Also doubtful is the claim that current blades are made from shell casings, since shelling stopped in the late 1970s. Finishing quality for cleavers has dropped a lot since the mid-1990s. Even for Maestro Wu's Knife's top selling special-designed cleavers, the words "Made in Kinmen" are barely visible and/or badly engraved. Salespersons were taught to toe the line that "its because the steel's quality is so good that the engraving machine cannot carve the words properly". This is a bad sales tactic and a sorry excuse for a once famous knife brand that was built on quality.

Eat

While Kinmen lacks the high price fancy fare of more populated locales, cheap delicious snack shops are everywhere in the downtown area of Kincheng. Taiwanese favorites such as fried chicken cutlets, fried oyster balls and chow mein can be found without much trouble. Prices average around NT$50 per item which is quite reasonable considering the quality.

Drink & nightlife

Kinmen is the home of Kaoliang liquor (高粱酒), a tequila-like hard liquor that popular all over Taiwan and widely considered to be its national liquor. The factory is located right in the middle of the island, not far from the airport and is hard to miss with its distinctive smell and two two-story liquor bottles guarding the front gates. This is one of the upmarket brands of the widespread Chinese liquor bai jiu, and is often served to visiting foreign dignitaries at state banquets; see Chinese cuisine#Alcoholic for background.

White Lion, jincheng. 18:00-24:00. A nice Canadian/Taiwanese owned pub beside temple.

Sleep

Prices for stays in Kinmen start from about $600 per person per night in the summer high season. Most of the accommodations are minsu (民宿), something in between a B&B and a small, independent hotel (often misleadingly labeled "homestays"). Many of the mid-range and upper-range ones are located inside beautifully-restored historic houses in Kinmen's outer villages.

Da Jhai Men Homestay, ☏ +886 82-320008. Actually a rather tumbledown hotel, not a homestay, the management is nevertheless very friendly and the location convenient. Double room NT$1200 regular days and NT$1500 weekends and holidays. Location No. 84 Jhushan Village, Jincheng Township, Kinmen. Visit Kinmen Guest House is a traditional Kinmen old house restored by Kinmen National Park in Shanhou Village, the north east side. Visit Kinmen Guest House provides a place where travelers can stay with a relaxed atmosphere after exploring the beautiful scenery of Kinmen. The guest house has three double rooms for two people and one family room with twin bed that is good for group of four people, rates from NT$1400–2400. Please find us on web for further information. IN99 (near Jincheng bus station, new building), ☏ +886 82 324851. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. nice new business hotel in Jincheng NT$1800.

Go next

There are two choices; Taiwan is easily reached by plane, and Xiamen in mainland China is accessible by ferry. To go to Xiamen, holders of most passports need to already have a Chinese visa; there is no office to issue them on Kinmen.