Taiwan: Matsu Islands (November
2018)
Maps.
|
|
|
The Matsu
archipelago consists of 8 main islands and many other islets. The main islands
are Nangan, Beigan, Xiju, Dongju, Dongyin,
Xiyin, Gaodeng, and Liangdao. Nangan and Beigan are the largest. Gaodeng
and Liangdao are not opened to visitors. While Nangan is about 200km away from Taipei, Gaodeng
is only 8.5km from the coast of China. Among the islands administered by
Taiwan, only the Kinmen islands are closer to the coast of China.
These islands
were settled in the 14th century by fishermen from the Fujian province of
China. In the 1600s, Manchu invasions from northeastern China led greater
number of Fujianese refugees to settle on the islands
bringing with them religious beliefs and architecture that can still be
observed today. During the 18th and 19th centuries piracy plagued the islands,
forcing many settlers to flee elsewhere. In 1949 the retreating Nationalists
seized the Kinmen and Matsu archipelagos and were able to hold to them, despite
heavy bombardment by the Communist army. While the shelling continued more or
less intermittently until 1978, the islands were transformed into amazing
fortresses. With tensions cooling down (somewhat), martial law on the Matsu
islands was lifted in 1992 and the military presence was progressively scaled
back.
I did this
trip with my friend Tsai-Yen Li, a
computer science professor at the National Chengchi
University in Taipei. We only visited Nangan and Beigan. We had planned to visit other islands, but bad
weather led to ferry cancellations. Nangan and Beigan, though quite small, boast a great diversity of
scenery, beautiful seashore, impressive former military installations, many
temples, nice villages, and interesting traditions. Moreover, their ″remote
frontier atmosphere″ cannot be missed. Our trip occurred in early
November, a low season for Taiwanese tourists. Despite bad weather most of the
time, we enjoyed the fact that there were relatively few visitors.
|
|
|
