Kinmen's Kuningtou area attractions commemorate important battle

This article was published by the Taiwan News on March 9, 2006. It features the small offshore islets of Kinmen, in Taiwan's southwestern coast, which boast a series of unique tourist attractions. These sites are not known in Taiwan for their natural scenery, but for their important role in battles between Taiwan and the Chinese Communists in the late 1940s.

A major battle took place in Kuningtou, where the Kuningtou War Museum, the Martyr's Shrine and the General Lee Kuang-chien Temple stand today. Local and international visitors come here to pay tribute to those who died in the battle.

In the evening of October 24, 1949, the Chinese Communists mobilized over 28,000 troops in 200 boats and came onshore in the Kuningtou area under the cover of night. A fierce battle later took place, and the fighting lasted for 56 hours. The two sides engaged in man-to-man combat throughout the alleys of Kuningtou, and the walls of every village house in the area were covered with bullet marks. More than 7,000 Chinese Communist soldiers were killed or captured. History refers to the fighting as the Kuningtou Battle.

In 1958, the August 23 artillery war took place in which the Chinese Communists bombarded Kinmen with shells for 44 consecutive days. Many of the village houses in Kuningtou were partially or totally destroyed. Remnants of these ruins can still be seen today.

Because Kinmen was constantly under fire, bunkers were established throughout the island as part of its defense system. The island's shoreline was also covered with dense amounts of barbed wire. Vast embankments of discarded railway tracks were put slightly off the shoreline to prevent any attack from coming onshore. These interesting sights have become a unique selling point for Kinmen in its efforts to attract local and international visitors since Kinmen was opened to tourists.

The Kuningtou War Museum displays the various weapons used by the ROC forces and Chinese Communist weaponry that was captured. It also contains 14 oil paintings made by 13 Taiwanese artists, depicting the various battles that took place in Kuningtou. Outside the museum there are two M5A1 tanks, which are also known as the "Kinmen Bears" and were instrumental in securing the island.