I was intrigued by Kinmen when I first got to know it from a documentary. Thus it was a good opportunity to try out Fen's Kinmen yoga retreat tour ๐.
Kinmen
We arrived Kinmen on a rainy day after an hour flight from Taichung.
The airport staff handed an umbrella to each alighting passenger from the plane [A nice gesture indeed ๐]. AhYi the tour guide was waiting for us at the airport greeting area.
Sightseeing
Kinmen Bridge ้้ๅคงๆฉ
The bridge links Greater Kinmen (ๅคง้้จ） to Lieyu ็ๅฑฟ (Lesser Kinmen - ๅฐ้้จ).
It is 5km in total length and was completed in 2022. It is the first major sea-bridge in Taiwan. Now, the Lieyu residents do not need to worry about boat trips being cancelled due to bad weather.
Shanglin Coast
The beach has many anti-landing spikes near Shi Islet. Xiamen can be seen from in the distance, about 5km away.
Western Old Street (่ฅฟๆน่่ก)
The Western Old Steet used to be a busy street during the cross-strait conflict in the past. It has since been transformed to a tourist attraction visited by tourists and local alike.
Dessert Shop - ๅๅนด่ฏๅฐ่ๅฎค
The shop used to be a hair salon/provision shop owned by the current owner's grandparents. It is a dessert and sovnenir shop now. The varieties of dessert were innovative and tasty.
JiuGong Tunnel (ไนๅฎซๅ้)
It is located on a coastal area at the southeast of lesser Kinmen. It spans over a length of 790 meters and a height of 11.5 meters.
Jiangong Islet ๅปบๅๅถผ
It sits at the estuary of Wukiang River and is about about 500square metre. At low tide, the slab path (causeway) connecting the islet to Kinmen Island emerges from the sea. [We timed our visit so that we could walked over to the Islet ๐]
Oyster farms are one side of the causeway. There are four giant oystermen scuptures to pay tribute to this traditional occupations (which is still nourishing). A stone statue of Zheng Chenggong stands on the Islet. The walk on the pathway along the intertidal mudflat zone was interesting.
Jincheng Old Street (้ๅ่่ก)
There are many old local heritage buildings in the Jincheng old street vicinity.
The Mofan Street has attractive red brick houses on both side of its street. Souvenir shops, local cafes and local product shops could be found here.
Beishan Old Western Style House (ๅๅฑฑๅคๆดๆฅผ)
The houses and bullet holes on the wall bear witnessed to battles that had been fought before. Now, some of the houses have been converted to tourist lodgings.
Beishan Broadcasting Wall (ๅๅฑฑๆญ้ณ็)
The hive-like reinforced concrete wall of 48 speakers faces the sea and has recorded broadcasts of popular singer Deng Li-Jun played at periodic interval daily. It was part of the cross-straits psychogical warfare effort in the past. [The broadcast is no longer at full volume]
Others
It rained for the 3 days when we were in Kinmen. However, we still managed to have brief stops at tourist attractions and two sessions of yoga, In addition, I enjoyed seeing the island's landscape as we drove around Kinmen to the various locations.
(1) Tanks' museum (2) ็พ
ๅๅชฝ็ฅๅ
ฌๅ （3）823 monument (4) baby sharks sold at ShanWei (ๅฑฑๅค) town market (5) a tree trimmed in the shape of a helmet along the road (6) Kinmen Aquarium Educational Centre.
Wind Lion Gods ้ขจ็
็บ
Wind Lion Gods(symbol of Greater Kinmen) at different locations and a cockerel (the symbol of Lesser Kinmen).
๐ Artillery Shell steel Knives shop that made various type of knives from the remains of the thousands of artillery sheels that landed on Kinmen during the past conflicts. [I bought a bread knife... in case the island eventually runs out of shells and at least I still have my bread knife?! ๐]
๐(1) Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc for Kaoliang Liquor/Sorghum Wine (Gaoliangjiu), (2) JiuXiang Inc for Kaoliang Liquor and souvenirs (3) Yi Tiao Gen ไธๆกๆ น medicated products (5) peanut candy (Kong Tang) and (4) two yoga sessions.
Food
First Day: Breakfast - Guangdong porridge, Youtiao xiaobian, bao. Lunch - beef noodle, dinner - seafood, Family Mart to buy snacks.
Second day lunch ๐
Dinner and supper (packed soy milk )
Hotel - HaiYuanZi (ๆตท ้ขๅญ）
All the rooms have sea views. There is a walking path at the front of the hotel.
I was surprised by Kinmen's pleasant island lifestyle, and that there are many interesting sights and food to try. It has its distinguished characters that made it a unique trip for me. Maybe, I will visit it again. ๐๐
The tour guide, Ah Yi was friendly, knowledgeable and thoughtful. [Thank you for the keychain]
Taichung
We had dinner at the Taichung train station's food court. I walked to the ZhongXiao Road night market after dinner. It was an interesting street with many food stalls lining the road as well as within the shop houses.
Sightseeing
National Taiwan Museum of Comics
The museum was opened in December 2023, and is one of Taiwan newest attractions. The ground used to be the former Taichung Prison.
Others
(1)Shun Sei Green Waterway with the the stone tortoise (2) ShenJi new village(ๅฏฉ่จๆฐๆ) is a former dormitory area in the west district (3) one of Taichung roads ๐. We also had two yoga sessions.
Food
Taichung second Market
More food at Taichung second market after the breakfast in the hotel.
More and more food
๐(1)&(2) Vegetarian cuisine at Boiled Bodhi vegetarian cuisine ๐ (3) herbal eggs in a convenience store ๐ (4) & (5) taichung meatball ๐ (6) coffee and ice cream at ShenJi New Village ๐
The ๐Miyahara (ๅฎฎๅ็ผ็ง) Ice cream and cookies ๐ shops are housed at a former ophthalmological clinic. The ice-cream was tasty and reasonably priced.
I am pleased to visit Taichung and to take in the city sights and tried its popular food.
Taipei
We arrived in Taipei in the evening to catch our flight for the next day. The hotel was at XiMenDing area.
Food
The dinner at JinManYuen (้ๆปกๅญ）was delicious, and the after-dinner the smelly-toufu（่ญ่ฑ่
) was good. ๐
We also had milk tea (ๅนธ็ฆๅ ）and AhZhong rice noodle (้ฟๅฎ้ข็บฟ).
Shopping
We walked around XiMenDing (่ฅฟ้จ็บ) with its many shops and food stores.
A few of us went to DiHua Street to do more shopping. ๐
Thoughts
Thanks to the friendly and considerated group members(especially Fen, the organiser), the trip was enjoyable and interesting. Probably, the quotations from a book in bookstore summed it up ๐.
Other information
Taiwan - Taichung and Kinmen Yoga Retreat itinerary
Lodging
Taichung - 53 Hotel
Kinmen - HaiYuanZi
Taipei - Hotel Riverview Taipei