Canadian YouTuber Nurlan Karimov had high praise for the Matsu Islands after visiting the Taiwanese archipelago just off China’s coast, singling out their history and a small village that bore a resemblance to an iconic Greek destination.
Karimov, founder of the popular history-oriented YouTube channel Kings and Generals, visited Matsu after being selected as a participant in the government’s “Spending a Night @ Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building” campaign.
The campaign selects non-Taiwanese nationals to travel on an assigned itinerary and spend a night in the Presidential Office Building before sharing their experiences in an online video.
Photo: CNA
Karimov visited the islands from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25 and drew the Matsu Biennial, an artistic event spread out across four of the Matsu islands, which showcases art by Taiwanese artists with a slant toward the islands’ history as a former military outpost, saying he was not disappointed by his visit.
The experience, he said, offered him a chance to interview seniors on Matsu and ask them what it was like during the conflict between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which fled China in 1949, and the Chinese Communist Party.
That insight, he said, was something his channel of more than 3 million subscribers had been lacking.
Attending the festival was “unique” as he was able to see former military installations repurposed into an art-related roles, which was “eye-opening,” he added.
He said he was especially taken with Cinbi Village (芹壁) on Beigan (北竿) island and its well-preserved traditional stone buildings, a place locals have called a “Greek” village.
Saying the area reminded him of the Greek island of Santorini, Karimov was impressed by the munitions shells stuck in walls from the 1958 crisis, which have been preserved to the present day, which he felt was “very important” and for which he praised the local government.
To Karimov, the peaceful people on the Matsu Islands and the art transformation of former military installations sent an important message: “We don’t have to fight, we can communicate in different ways.”
“We can communicate using art, we can communicate using visuals, we can communicate using sound,” he said. “Art is universal. Art can be understood by everybody and anybody.”
After leaving Matsu, Karimov arrived in Taipei to spend the night in the Presidential Office Building.
“I think that Taiwan has huge potential to be the hub of tourism in Southeast Asia and in Asia in general. I don’t know why people are going to Thailand but not coming to Taiwan, because I think it [Taiwan] is as beautiful, perhaps even more beautiful,” he said.
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