Winter vacation - Kinmen and Xiamen

Frankie began her three week winter holiday and we will enjoy winter vacation together.
First, we go to Rebecca's father's birth place, Kinmen, which is an island off the coast of Fujian, mainland China. She has many relatives here, and it is an hour plane ride from Taipei.

We spent our first night at a local B&B which is a 150 year old traditional house, just like those we see in the movies.

Kinmen was and still is a special military base and it is Taiwan's frontier holding off the communists from invading the Taiwan islands. It was only about 15 years ago that Kinmen revoked its martial law and civilians were allowed on and off the tiny island at their own free will.

We drove by a vegetable field......Kinmen, like most Taiwan islands are agricutural.

Known for its 廣東粥, we had some at breakfast. Very good.

Here we visit Rebecca's grandmother's school which is now a tourist attraction.

Beautiful ancient buildings all over the island, with historical importance scarred by evidence of pirateship and wars. Due to the fact that Kinmen was off limits to the outside world until recently, tourism is still at its developing stage while Taiwanese government has begun a slow and painful process of restoration. In due time, Kinmen will undoubtly become a major tourist destination with its incredible history, strategic location between the reds and the blues, its gentle and friendly people, and its unique character carved from years of war weariness and yet showing very little of mental scars by its citizens.

Rebecca's uncle showed us more ancient homes which are now under restoration, and destined to become more B&Bs, which are leased to private operators.

Next stop is Kinmen national park........

Kinmen has many tunnels, built originally for military purposes, and now stops for sightseers.

Fresh oysters! We passed by an elderly woman in one of the villages as she was shucking fresh oysters by the hundreds, getting ready for Chinese new year in a few days. She told us to eat as much as we wanted! Even Frankie decided to try one and they were delicious. These oysters grow among the rocks just off the oceanside and they are quite small but succulent.

Here you see a war tunnel and it was eerie walking thru it. Finally we saw the light at the end of the tunnel..........