Kinamen Cultural Travels
Michella Jade Weng, Presenter:
Hi everyone, I��m Michella and this is my friend...
Corey
Sanderson, American Expat:
Corey! I��m from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United
States of America. Today we are in Kinmen.
Michella
Jade Weng, Presenter:
That��s right, we��re in Kinmen today, a place that
was very recently voted one of the top ten small
town destinations you must visit when you��re in
Taiwan.
Less
than an hour away by plane, the island of Kinmen
is similar to and yet different from Taiwan. The
traditional Minan houses look familiar, but when
it comes to foreign influence, instead of Japanese,
there are European characteristics, which were brought
back by migrant workers who had struck it rich in
Southeast Asia.
Shi Siao-fang,
Guide:
Since much of Southeast Asia was colonized by European
countries, there were European style buildings.
So when they returned home, they built houses that
were mainly Chinese in style, but incorporated European
designs as well.
For 20
years from 1958, Kinmen was bombed by the People��s
Republic of China first every day, then every other
day. This unexpectedly gave birth to the island��s
famous cutlery industry.
Wu Zengdong,
Cutlery Craftsman:
Over 970,000 shells landed in Kinmen. Usually steel
of the highest quality is used to make artillery
shells. When we first started using the steel from
these, we made farming tools out of them. Then people
from the local markets started ordering knives made
from these shells too.
Some
60 to 80 knives can be made from each shell, and
most knives are made from the ones that didn��t explode
into a million pieces, but rather carried and released
into the air propaganda from the PRC once they reached
the skies above Kinmen.
Corey
Sanderson, American Expat:
I found that along with the history, the culture
is very extensive. People say things like Taiwan
is a small island, so you can see it all in a week.
That��s definitely not true. Even Kinmen, it��s very
small but I don��t think you can discover everything
just in a few days.