Shanwai only began to be developed some time during the 1960s. It is where the largest cinema, bank, bus station and even hospital in Kinmen are all to be found, and is also the fastest-growing place on the island. Which is why some say the town must have an auspicious location. It backs on to Mt. Taiwu and faces over Lake Tai, and the streams that flow from the mountain into the lake embrace money within them, as it were. But to tell the truth, what we actually rely on to make money is the garrison up on Mt. Taiwu.
A friend of mine says that for Kinmen to be developed, there must first be a large airport and a large harbor. The civil airport is scheduled for completion in l993, and what with the rumor that tourism is to be opened up, land values have begun to rise in Shanwai. Not long ago a three-story building in Chungcheng Road went for nearly NT$10 million, fees included. That is the highest price in Kinmen's history.
But those of us in business are quite clear about this, that we cannot rely on tourists alone. There are in fact already many tour groups coming through every day, but tourists just take one walk around and then they are gone. We would rather l,000 squaddies from the barracks, than 5,000 tourists. For business, we still rely on the soldiers.
I hope that there is no reduction in the number of garrison troops, and not wholly for business reasons. In 1949 before the army was here, Kinmen suffered frequent attacks by pirates coming ashore to plunder and sometimes kidnap people too. So we also worry about the army leaving.
[Picture Caption]
Yang Ying-hsiang, leader of the Hsinshih neighborhood in Shanwai, speaks the feelings of many store owners on the island. (photo by Vincent Chang)
Kuningtou, which has borne the brunt of several battles, is the most desolate region of the island. The house shown here, built with funds from an overseas Chinese and vaguely tropical in style, was seized by the Communists to serve as a command post in the Battle of the Taiwan Straits.
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