Text / photos by David Harrison Horton

Jinmen Islands

If you've been following the current state of affairs between Taiwan and the Mainland, the name of the island will ring a bell. Recently these islands, currently under the jurisdiction of Taiwan, have become a staging point for direct shipments between Taiwan and the Mainland, an initial step in the Three Direct Links (the direct postal, commercial, air and shipping links across the Taiwan Straits). When offered the chance to sail near the islands, my traveling companions jumped at the chance.

It was about 5 pm when we boarded what looked for the life of me like two police boats. As we were being guided by the Xiamen Information Office, I took this in stride and didn't bother to ask for confirmation. The boats were nice and sat 16 passengers a piece; although, most of us chose to stay on the back deck and take everything in.

It's roughly a thirty minute trip to the smaller Jinmen Island. From the deck, you get an excellent view of the city, of Gulangyu Island, the Chinese fishing boats trowelling the harbor, and the small silver fish that occasionally jump to the surface in schools.

When we approached Jinmen, my Chinese traveling companions began to get very excited, snapping tons of similar pictures of each other to capture the moment. The island seemed less impressive than the others in the harbor, so I was more reserved. One companion told me how happy she was about the trip. When I told her she could swim for it, she replied that they would shoot her. I didn't bother to ask from which side, but later saw two small military outposts on the island. It was about this time that I realized that this is as close as most (all?) of my traveling companions will ever get to Taiwan. Thirty minutes and a world away.

Jinmen Island also has a message billboard similar to Xiamen's but carrying a different message. Both signs end with the three Chinese characters meaning "One China," which at least is one small glimmer of hope. On the way back, the statue of Koxinga seemed even more imposing. As a hero to both sides of the Straights, it made me realize just how many common bonds there actually are between both sides.

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