Postcards from Kinmen

Written by Chris Taylor, this article was originally published in Topics, a publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, in May 1996. The article showcases a Western tourist's observation on the "modernization" of island since its return to civil administration in 1992.

The article begins with the following paragraphs:

"After nearly 45 years as an off-limits military secret, Quemoy, now known as Kinmen, is open to tourism. Just 2.3 kilometers from the coastline of mainland China's Fujian province, and Taiwan's front line of defense against the Communists, it is the kind of destination that gives new meaning to the term 'adventure holiday'. Kinmen is one of the few places in the world where sunbathers enjoy mounted machine gun protection."

"On the day I flew in, the mainland Chinese forces were carrying out another round of missile tests around 100 kilometers north of Taipei..."