Kinmen National Park, located in a former Chinese civil war battlefield, offers a rich cultural heritage, fascinating examples of traditional Chinese architecture, and wildlife rarely seen in Taiwan.
October 24, 1949. As Communist forces continue to mop up diminishing enclaves of Nationalists on the Chinese main land, an obsolete M-3 light tank commanded by ROC Sergeant Tang Shih-liu (湯世柳) has just broken down again on the island of Kinmen (also known as Quemoy). The tank is his responsibility, and he just can't get it running. Waiting through the night, he curses his bad luck and worries about the punishment that awaits him.
At dawn, mainland Chinese artillery batteries just a few miles away from Kinmen open fire from Xiamen (Amoy). The People's Liberation Army (PLA) plan is simple: capture Kinmen, which is blocking Amoy harbor, then go on to liberate Taiwan. After fifty-six hours of hand-to-hand fighting, the seventeen thousand invading PLA troops are either killed, captured, missing or drowned. The ROC army's victory at Kuningtou provided the ROC with the precious time necessary to consolidate and strengthen its forces.
Sergeant Tang's antique tank, nicknamed "the Bear of Kinmen," now stands outside the Kuningtou War Museum, as a silent reminder of heroism; but most people in Taiwan now either do not remember or simply do not care about Sergeant Tang and his crew. Looking at this antique tank today and thinking back to the Battle of Kuningtou, a person can't help but consider how different Taiwan's history would be, had the sergeant simply abandoned his position.
Times have changed for Kinmen with the relaxation of cross-strait relations. At least for the moment, peace has come- -and with it, tourists. In 1992, the ROC government decided to demilitarize parts of the island, and the Kinmen island group was thus opened to the public. Only three years later, Kinmen National Park was established as the ROC's sixth national park. Covering 9,340 acres, equivalent to one fourth of the former military reserve, Kinmen National Park is divided into five zones: four on Kinmen island and one on Little Kinmen island, which lies to the southwest.
Lacking the beautiful rivers and expansive mountainous areas that usually characterize Taiwan's national parks, Kinmen National Park concentrates on its military history, battlefield relics and museums. One example is the August 23 Bombardment Memorial Hall in the southeast part of Kinmen island, commemorating a forty-four-day war between Chinese Nation alists and Communists on Kinmen in 1958. Other historical preserves include the Huchingtou War Museum on Little Kinmen island and the Kuningtou War Museum in the northwest of the main island. These facilities give visitors an understanding of the struggles of Kinmen's past. At the Huchingtou War Museum, powerful binoculars allow visitors to see the PRC's current slogan on the coast of the mainland city of Xiamen: "Unify China under the policy of 'One Country, Two Systems.'" Times have changed, indeed.
The Mashan Hill Broadcasting and Observation Station in the northeast of Kinmen island is the nearest point to the PRC, which is only one and a quarter miles across the sea; therefore, it was chosen as the spot from which to broadcast the ROC's own political propaganda to the mainland. Although people from Taiwan have been officially allowed to visit mainland China since November 1987, tourists still line up at Mashan Hill and at Huchingtou to peer curiously into the mainland through binoculars, and to think about the past.
Certain military tunnels that played important roles in the defense of the island fortress have been opened to the public. Best known are the subterranean passages in the model "combat village" of Chiunglin, formerly one of seventy-three combat villages, which is located in the center of Kinmen. Measuring about five feet wide and six and a half feet high, the tunnel was constructed in order to shelter villagers from attack. Not far from the entrance of the tunnel is an exhibition hall where visitors can learn how Kinmen civilians, women and men alike, were trained to fight as militia members in the past. Although Kinmen militia units were demobilized in 1992, it is not difficult after visiting the hall to imagine how hard life was in Kinmen.
A more impressive tunnel is the one at Chaishan, originally used as a supply station for military boats, in the southwest of the island. Walking the path alongside the waterway, one cannot help imagining the set of a James Bond movie, where such grand, clandestine spaces are not uncommon: the waterway is thirty-eight feet wide, twenty-six feet high, and nearly twelve hundred feet long. Like other military works on the front-line base, the Chaishan Tunnel was excavated in the 1960s, right through the bedrock of granitic gneiss. About twelve years ago, the Chaishan Tunnel fell into disuse after the waterway was choked with silt and mud, so last year the tunnel was transferred from the military to the national park to become the newest item on the tourist's itinerary.
Most visitors to Kinmen look at it primarily as a military base, but this doesn't mean there is nothing else for them to see. Geographically close to mainland China, Kinmen was developed much earlier than Taiwan, and traditional southern Fujian architecture is very much in evidence. Ancestral halls, where one can see exquisite architecture as well as sculptures on the roofs, windows and beams, are usually the focus of attention, since they are the most important buildings and the spiritual centers of clan life. The Tsai family ancestral hall at Chiunglin has been rated a Grade Two historical monument.
Kinmen has a total of twenty-one listed historical monuments, of which eleven are within Kinmen National Park. Among the ungraded sites are the traditional houses of the Folk Culture Village in the northeast of Kinmen island, a must-see tourist spot. Completed in 1900, the village was built by the wealthy Wang family from fortunes made in international trade. Today, there are still about fifty members of the Wang family living in the village. Also, the Teyueh Tower at Shuitou, built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Kinmen merchants who traded overseas, is one example of architecture that combines Western and Chinese styles, lending diversity to Kinmen's architectural landscape.
A lesser-known historical site is the tomb of Prince Lu, located at the foot of Mt. Taiwu. Prince Lu fled to Kinmen from mainland China at the end of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and lived out the rest of his days on the island. The tomb is not as well known as the large stone monument located in the southwest of Kinmen island, which was inscribed in the style of the Prince's own handwriting.
"Wind lions," a sight peculiar to Kinmen, vary in size, position and expression, and they can be seen all over Kinmen island. At present, there are about seventy such statues, ten of them in the national park. Made of clay or stone, these lion statues were set up by villagers to guard against strong winds, a perennial problem for Kinmen folk in the past. They may be stumbled upon in wild grass or by the roads; in a unique way, the lions give Kinmen a strangely Aesopian sense of cohesiveness.
Whereas Kinmen National Park is richer in historical relics than any other national park in Taiwan, its natural scenery is not as immediately impressive as that of the others. "You may feel bored in Kinmen if you know nothing about its history," observes Lu Ming-chu (呂明珠), a visitor on a three-day tour of Kinmen from Taiwan, who has an interest in war museums and historical relics. Indeed, as the highest point of Mt. Taiwu is just 827 feet above sea level, Kinmen's mountain vistas can hardly be described as magnificent. In some respects, the island's landscape is more artificial than natural: most of the trees have been planted by soldiers serving on the island, and most of the lakes are the result of human design as well.
Even so, several scenic spots will not disappoint visitors to Kinmen. Lake Tze, the largest lake in Kinmen, was formed after the construction of the Tze Causeway at the bay in the northwest of Kinmen island. It is also a lively tourist spot, where one can view broad expanses of the lake and Kinmen Harbor, as well as migratory birds, Kinmen's richest and most typical form of wildlife. The magnificent sight of large flocks of birds flying overhead or resting on the lake during wintertime reveals the peaceful side of Kinmen.
To date, over 240 bird species have been recorded, some of which are rarely seen in Taiwan. The names alone are enough to entice a would-be birdwatcher: collared crow, hoopoe, stonechat, falcated teal, pied kingfisher, blue-tailed bee-eater, Chinese pond heron, magpie robin, Caspian tern and great crested grebe. There are forty-five species of butterflies, and horseshoe crabs and lancelets ply the coastal waters. Eurasian otters can also be found in the park. A total of 426 plant species grow within the park, including seventeen not found in Taiwan. The most popular planted tree here is beefwood, and it flanks the roads that run through Kinmen. Other trees planted by the soldiers, as part of the re-forestation program after artillery bombardments destroyed the trees, include Formosan koa, pine, eucalyptus, and lemon-scented gum trees.
With its abundant wildlife and rich historical heritage, Kinmen National Park sees conservation as its major goal, ac cording to Jhy-ming Lin (林志銘), deputy superintendent of Kinmen National Park Headquarters. "The principle is to keep the original face of the park unchanged. In Kinmen this has much to do with the military presence," Lin notes. Echoing Lin, Li Ming-yi,(黎明儀) acting chief of the conservation section, observes that under military control the development of Kinmen's economy has been slow, and that, therefore, its original appearance has remained intact. Today, some areas of Kinmen National Park are still under military control, like the land-mine fields near the coast, and hence are free from human interference. "Wildlife in these places can live undisturbed, as the land mines are only activated by weights as heavy as adult humans. Wild animals here are not so heavy," Li adds.
War zones throughout the world appeal to tourists for various reasons. Kinmen's mystique as a former battlefield between the PRC and the ROC motivates people to visit the front-line base, now that it is open to the public. Hsu Pei-chan (徐佩真), a college student traveling with two friends from Taipei, is one of the curious visitors. "Kinmen is mysterious to me. I've already been to all the places in Taiwan that I wanted to visit, so I decided to come here," says Hsu.
However, curiosity seldom lasts long, and sooner or later Kinmen's mystique will fade as the island-group and its ways march into the future. Therefore, Park officials today are wondering how they can help people cultivate a taste and appreciation for Kinmen's unique attractions. To achieve this goal, Li says the park headquarters have held activities such as bird -watching, bicycling around Kinmen, and drawing traditional settlements outdoors, to help people see the beauty of Kinmen. "And if you want to know the real Kinmen, you should not join a tour group," says Li. "Rather, you should travel by yourself, walk into a settlement, see the life of the villagers and even talk to them."
Preventing any damage to the park's ecology is another major challenge. "Any plan to renovate old houses and build new ones within the park must be approved by the park headquarters. We've been negotiating with people about these matters," explains Li. Environmental protection often conflicts with attempts to develop Kinmen economically--for example, the Kinmen County government plans to construct a commercial harbor on the southwest coast of Kinmen island, and this will cause damage, so disputes have already arisen.
Further relaxation in cross-strait relations could also have a major impact on Kinmen National Park with the potential for an increased number of visitors, since Kinmen is so near mainland China. "Kinmen is a small place and vulnerable to any changes from outside, so it needs a constant and complete environmental protection program, a project that only a high-level institution like a national park can ensure," observes Hsu Shao-liang (徐韶良), chief of the planning department of Kinmen National Park headquarters. Li Ming-yi adds an unexpected observation: "Honestly, sometimes I miss those days when Kinmen was a war zone. At that time, all lights in Kinmen had to be turned out at ten p.m. Then, I liked watching the stars in the sky, which were so bright," she says.
New times, new problems, new potentials. Kinmen has to change from the old days of seclusion and, despite the challenges ahead, Kinmen National Park must display and simultaneously protect its diverse assets. Who knows? Rather than being a battlefield, the small island group of Kinmen may play a significant role in the cross-strait peace process. Surely, Kinmen has been--and may well again be--a small island with a big impact.