Residences couldn’t be built higher than three stories, air-raid shelters were found in every home, a general curfew was imposed at 10 p.m.… These remain a major part of Kinmen’s collective memories, from back when soldiers and residents alike were denizens of the front lines and had to do their part for the war effort.
From that state of constant vigilance, a miraculous transformation occurred in the early 1990s. With a thaw in relations across the Taiwan Strait, the ROC government in 1991 declared that residents of Kinmen, after living for several decades in a militarized zone, would return to civilian rule, with the right to elect a local government and with the special restrictions lifted.
As Kinmen stood at the threshold of self-rule, Sinorama put out a special report, “Kinmen Changes into its Civvies,” which described in detail Kinmen’s past and future.
Kinmen has enjoyed an elected local government for 25 years now, and the menacing scent of gun smoke has faded—replaced by the aromas of the sorghum liquor and peanut brittle that tourists buy as gifts. Bunkers and military installations can still be found all over the islands, though. In a time when raw materials were hard to come by, locals created the basis for a local kitchen knife industry by gathering steel from the casings of spent artillery shells that once littered the island. For the younger generation, who never experienced war, the knives bear witness to a glorious past.
Having swapped military garb for the colorful clothes of tourists, Kinmen remains on the front lines of the changing cross-strait relationship, bearing witness to history.
Having swapped military garb for the colorful clothes of tourists, Kinmen remains on the front lines of the changing cross-strait relationship, bearing witness to history.
Having swapped military garb for the colorful clothes of tourists, Kinmen remains on the front lines of the changing cross-strait relationship, bearing witness to history.
Having swapped military garb for the colorful clothes of tourists, Kinmen remains on the front lines of the changing cross-strait relationship, bearing witness to history.
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