Kinmen Photo Gallery - The Northwest and Northeast

The northwestern part of Kinmen saw intense fighting during the Chinese civil war. In October 1949, Communist forces crossed the water and attacked Kinmen. Over the next 56 hours, a ferocious battle ensued and the Nationalist forces were finally victorious in repelling the Communists. It is hard to believe traffic to Xiamen only began in 2001.

The Beishan Old Western-style House still retains its bullet wounds from the 1949 battle.

The Beishan Broadcasting Station used to blast its 48 speakers with propaganda messages towards Communist China. Apparently, they had a range of 25km and was one of several stations waging psychological warfare over the years.

The Battle Museum has a good film, albeit a bit dated, explaining the chronology of events. Their ultimate conclusion is we are all the same family, just separated by a small body of water.

After visiting the museum, take the tunnel towards the observation posts that face the sea, then head upstairs and explore around the various military fortifications that were designed to keep an eye on the sea. Not far away is a slope down towards the ocean, where you can see the various methods that were designed to stop enemy boats from landing.

Military fortifications also line the northeastern coastline, which is even closer to mainland China. Mashan Observation Post is still a military facility although they have opened the broadcasting station where propaganda messages were also blasted across to the Communist side.

Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng was one of the speakers that broadcasted a message out of here.

Plenty of underground tunnels and chambers keep the occupants safe during the intense standoff between Taiwan and Communist China over the years.

The other side is less than 2km away from here. Free binoculars give a good view of just how close they are from Taiwan.

As I was taking this, a friendly local official reminded me not to get too close to take photos. This is still a military area.

I had more luck taking photos of this renovated military observation post facing the sea.

The wind lion controls the winds and the land's fertility. These figures were born after Kinmen was cleared of its forests during the Qing Dynasty to build the imperial fleet. With crops failing after, these lions started populating the island hoping for a change in luck.