Cingfan Village

Day Trip to Xiju Island (Matsu Islands, Taiwan)

Part of Juguang Township / 莒光鄉 along with Dongju Island / 東莒 (East Ju), Matsu Islands' / 馬祖群島 / 马祖列岛 ( Xiju Island / 西莒 (West Ju) can be reached by ferry (NTD200 or $6.66 one way - 50 minutes, then 10-15 minutes between the two islands) from Fuao Harbor in Nangan / 南竿鄉 / 南竿乡 or by helicopter which only operates during the winter and priority is given to local residents. Sites visited included:

- Qingfan Village. It is the busiest village on Xiju. Its golden age came before the communists took over mainland China; it was the only place in the Matsu islands designated a “town,” and was known as “Little Hong Kong.” The Marshal Chen Temple, which sits beside the harbor, is the center of worship for the island. At the end of the 1930’s the pro-Japanese “Second Route Army of the Peace and National Salvation Army” was based here. In the late 1940s the East Sea forces of the Republic of China retreated here from the mainland, and in the early 1950s Western Enterprises, a front for the United States CIA, set up operations on Cingfan Mountain and flew the American flag here for a while.
- Snake Mountains. A line of four reef islands winding through the sea like a snake. Another explanation for the name is that the water entering and flowing from the sea-eroded terrain in front of the main peak of Snake Island resembles the darting tongue of a snake. In the old days people could walk into the sea to harvest shellfish at low tide here, but now this area is part of the tern preserve. Birds that nest here include the roseate tern, bridled tern, black-naped tern, and greater crested tern, and the “mythical” Chinese crested tern. When summer comes, from the bird-watching pavilion you can see terns soaring in flocks and bathing on the beach.

Day Trip to Xiju Island / 西莒 (Slideshow)

Part of Juguang Township / 莒光鄉 along with Dongju Island / 東莒 (East Ju), Matsu Islands' / 馬祖群島 / 马祖列岛 ( Xiju Island / 西莒 (West Ju) can be reached by ferry (NTD200 or $6.66 one way - 50 minutes, then 10-15 minutes between the two islands) from Fuao Harbor in Nangan / 南竿鄉 / 南竿乡 or by helicopter which only operates during the winter and priority is given to local residents. Sites visited included:

- Qingfan Village. It is the busiest village on Xiju. Its golden age came before the communists took over mainland China; it was the only place in the Matsu islands designated a “town,” and was known as “Little Hong Kong.” The Marshal Chen Temple, which sits beside the harbor, is the center of worship for the island. At the end of the 1930’s the pro-Japanese “Second Route Army of the Peace and National Salvation Army” was based here. In the late 1940s the East Sea forces of the Republic of China retreated here from the mainland, and in the early 1950s Western Enterprises, a front for the United States CIA, set up operations on Cingfan Mountain and flew the American flag here for a while.
- Snake Mountains. A line of four reef islands winding through the sea like a snake. Another explanation for the name is that the water entering and flowing from the sea-eroded terrain in front of the main peak of Snake Island resembles the darting tongue of a snake. In the old days people could walk into the sea to harvest shellfish at low tide here, but now this area is part of the tern preserve. Birds that nest here include the roseate tern, bridled tern, black-naped tern, and greater crested tern, and the “mythical” Chinese crested tern. When summer comes, from the bird-watching pavilion you can see terns soaring in flocks and bathing on the beach.