Dadan Island (大膽), one of the smaller islands in Kinmen County that was a front-line battleground against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during the Cold War, is to officially open as a tourist destination in March following a trial run earlier this year.
Military and county officials decided to open the 79 hectare island after an evaluation of its tourism trial from July 26 to Oct. 31.
Dadan was opened to visitors for 59 of the 98 days, drawing 3,061 people and earning NT$4.9 million (US$158,859) in revenue, the Kinmen Department of Tourism said.
Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times
Department Director-General Chen Mei-ling (陳美齡) said that tourism operators in Kinmen, and particularly Lieyu Township (烈嶼), which administers Dadan, are hopeful that the opening will boost tourist arrivals.
She promised that measures would be taken to improve the tourism environment of the island, which lies less than 45km from Xiamen, China.
Three-hundred tourists would be allowed to visit per day, up from 100 during the trial run, but Chinese visitors would not be permitted initially, the department said.
From this month to February, military retirees, schools and public agencies can apply to visit, with applications handled on a case-by-case basis, it added.
Dadan was bombarded by the PLA during the Aug. 23 Artillery Battle of 1958, with more than 100,000 Chinese shells hitting the island.
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