Casting a new image
From the heights of Mt. Dawo on Beigan, one can see huge rocks in spectacular shapes and sizes at the foot of the mountain, and beyond, the calm diamond-studded sea. With its burdensome reputation as a place of battle gradually fading, Matsu is free to show off its unique beauties—and to contemplate its new future as a casino resort.
The runway of Beigan Airport seems almost to tread water as it crosses the sandbanks of the bay. Stretching to the south is the Luoshan Peninsula, where eventually a casino resort will be built into an arc of land reclaimed from the sea.
Luoshan Peninsula boasts a range of impressive attractions including a long coastline with soft white sand and spectacular mountains. The promise of development with resort hotel, shopping malls, exhibition and entertainment centers—all of which facilities are planned for the future—combined with the natural beauty of the area, creates a stunning image of the future in the minds of Matsu residents.
“You won’t recognize the place once the resort is built,” says Liu Te-chuan, director of the Lienchiang County Tourist Bureau, standing on a cliff overlooking the sea. According to plans drawn up by US-based Weidner Resorts, the whole of eastern Beigan will become a resort, serviced by the nearby airport and boat harbor. Tourists will be able to enjoy the recreational facilities of the resort, take a stroll on the beach, or visit the surrounding attractions by road; Nangan will become Beigan’s backyard, with eco-resorts and a number of premium villas, creating an atmosphere similar to that of Monaco.
The initial phase of the resort development project is expected to cost NT$75 billion, including infrastructure such as an airport upgrade, a cross-sea bridge that will connect Nangan and Beigan, and ferry wharves. It’s little wonder that Matsu’s residents are so looking forward to the changes.
Under Weidner’s plan, the first phase will encompass a 3,700-room hotel that is expected to attract 3.5 to 4 million visitors a year—larger, in fact, than the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel.
Things started moving in July 2012 when Matsu residents passed a referendum in support of a casino resort development on the island, with 54% voting in favor.
The Executive Yuan Council approved a draft version of the Tourist Casino Management Act in May this year, which will be sent to the legislature for deliberation. If all goes smoothly, Matsu will soon gain the nation’s first license for a legal casino.