A large sign that reads “Always on the Alert” (枕戈待旦) greets the ferry as it arrives at Nangan’s main harbor of Fuao (福澳). Larger than its northern neighbor, Nangan is the seat of the county government and home to more restaurants and guesthouses.
With the arrival of the KMT in late 1940s, the names of many fishing villages were changed to reflect the islands’ militarization. For example, what was once Nioujiao (“Cow Horn,” 牛角), a village on the northeast coast, became Fuxing (復興) Village, which means “restore” China to KMT control. Similar to Cinbi, Nioujiao’s houses are built in the rustic east Fujian architectural style using cut rock, timber and tile.
Located a few minutes up the road from Nioujiao is the Tunnel 88 (八 八坑道) distillery, a large factory operated by the military during the Martial Law era and today run by the county government.
Like its northern neighbor, Nangan retains a hidden and complex network of tunnels carved into the mountains, many of which are now open to the public. One of these, a quick ride from Tunnel 88, serves as the distillery’s storage facility for kaoliang (高梁) and laojiu (老酒).
The Beihai Tunnel (北海坑道) on the southern coast is an underground quay carved from rock and a supply route that protected ships from enemy artillery fire. Facing Beihai’s entrance are more tunnels, their long, damp passages interspersed with rooms decorated with propaganda and pictures of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) that open up to turrets mounted with large coastal artillery guns pointing towards the sea.
Although the military carved out so much rock under Matsu’s mountains, it also planted considerable foliage on the island as a means of providing natural cover. The most common species of planted trees are acacia, Chinaberry tree and white popinac.
Ferries depart Nangan to Beigan starting at 7am and return from Beigan at half-past the hour. The last ferry is at 5:30pm.
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