Kinmen
Taiwan · 30 m
Description
Kinmen (金門) lies two kilometres off the Chinese city of Xiamen and about two hundred from Taiwan, and it spent the Cold War as the front line. It was shelled for forty-four days in 1958 and then on alternate days for twenty years, and the defences are now the main thing to see. The Zhaishan Tunnel was blasted through granite so gunboats could shelter inside, and the Beishan wall of loudspeakers once broadcast propaganda across the strait. Because the island was a garrison rather than a boom town, its Fujianese villages and the ornate mansions built by returning overseas Chinese survived intact, notably at Shuitou and Qionglin. Kinmen is also known for its sorghum liquor, distilled since the garrison years, and for the small stone wind lion gods standing at village edges. Dense sea fog between March and May regularly cancels flights and ferries.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: November – December
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Zhaishan Tunnel
- Juguang Tower
- Guningtou Battle Museum
- Shuitou Village
- Deyue Mansion
- Shanhou Folk Culture Village
- Kinmen Military Headquarters of the Qing Dynasty
- Mashan Observation Station
- Mofan Street
- Jincheng Old Town
- Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor
- Beishan Broadcasting Wall
- Wind Lion God Statues
- Lake Ci
- Kinmen National Park
- Shishan Howitzer Front
- Qionglin Village Tunnels
- Taiwu Mountain
- Oyster Vermicelli and Kinmen Street Food
- Zhushan Village
- Beishan and Nanshan Villages
- Wentai Pagoda
- Kinmen City Old Fort Walls
- Shuangli Wetlands
- Kinmen Steel Knives
- Kinmen Cycling Routes
- Oucuo Village
- Little Kinmen (Lieyu)(Day trip)
Getting there
- Airports:
- KNH
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry