TOURING THE TAIWAN-CHINA FRONTLINE

The Matsu Islands are administered by Taiwan but lie just a few kilometers off the Chinese coast. These small islands form a strategic front line in the event of a potential invasion by Beijing. Yet every year, tens of thousands of tourists visit their military bunkers, drawn by the unsettling allure of a frontier shaped by the prospect of conflict

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Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). The military stronghold of Tiebao (Iron Fort) not far from the village of Renai, consists of a tunnel inside the promontory that used to house military amphibious forces.

They are a handful of Taiwanese islands some twenty kilometers from China. Loved and visited by tourists, they are nonetheless one of the most strategic front lines in the world. They are the Matsu Islands, a militarized outpost of Taiwan facing its historic adversary and the first line of a potential war between Taipei and Beijing. “The process of reunifying our motherland is a trend of the times and is unstoppable,” said Xi Jinping in December 2025, during the traditional year-end address. In short: if the Dragon were ever to invade Taiwan, it would begin with the Matsu Islands—where Chinese naval boundary crossings and air incursions have been routine for years. The local population is not afraid. Over time, residents have grown accustomed to military drills—explosions and gunfire are heard daily—and have turned the tunnels and bunkers scattered everywhere into tourist attractions.

Tourists arrive from Taiwan but also from China. They disembark—by ferry or plane—to sample the local kaoliang (sorghum liquor) and photograph the enormous nationalist slogans left from the era of Chiang Kai-shek: “We will retake the mainland,” “We will fight to the end,” “We will kill the traitor Mao Zedong.” Once populated by fishermen, the Matsu Islands—nineteen in total, only five of them inhabited—now survive thanks to tourists and the soldiers guarding the border. The military presence numbers about three thousand, a quarter of the population, and soldiers are occasionally seen jogging or grabbing coffee at the archipelago’s only Starbucks. In recent years, despite the potential danger, several young people from Taiwan have chosen to open cafés and small hotels on the islands. “War? We don’t think about it,” says Ren Huiyun, an employee at a tourism agency. “We focus instead on guided tours, even for our Chinese neighbors. For them too, Matsu holds the allure of a frontier.”

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Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Tourists from Taipei begin a coach tour of the island.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Community vegetable patches in the main village are situated right in front of Lianjiang County hall.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Three children play in bumper balls at the village fair.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Lin Jia Jyun rows through the vast Beihai tunnel that she manages for tourists together with her brother Long. Dug mostly by hand by soldiers between 1969 and 1971, the tunnel is 18 metres high, 10 metres wide and 640 metres long. It was created to shelter military vessels.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A tourist from Taipei walks along an underground tunnel. The island is studded with bunkers, fortifications and kilometres of military tunnels, features that make the Matsu fortresses almost impregnable.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). From the peak of Mount Yuntai it is possible to see Beigan Island (front), which is part of the Matsu archipelago, as well as the coast of mainland China just 12 kilometres away.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). At the "918" restaurant a family has dinner beneath an enormous poster of a warship. For almost 40 years the Matsu Islands have lived under the threat of a Chinese military invasion.

Beigan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), in the small village of Tangq, 90-year-old Chen Xian Mei takes a break from working in her vegetable patch. Widowed 20 years ago, she has sold fish at the market all her life. “I remember many years ago General Chiang Kai-shek came here in person and had his photo taken with me and my youngest son.”

Matsu Nangan Airport (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A poster of the island welcomes tourists arriving by plane.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A military vessel is anchored off the western coast. From this point China is around 17 kilometres away. Martial law was abolished in the Matsu Islands in 1992 but until that year 50 thousand soldiers were stationed on the archipelago: today just three thousand remain.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Pupils eat at break time at the Zhongzheng school.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). One of the tunnels with double doors in the Dahan fort, one of many built along the coast of the island in the post-war period (this one in 1975) to respond to attacks and potential Chinese invasions.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Zhenge Daidan Memorial Park: this military slogan facing towards the sea is visible to anyone arriving on the island and is a quote from General Chiang Kai-shek in 1958: ”Sleep on your spears awaiting the dawn”.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Pupils play badminton in the gym at the Zhongzheng school.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A member of the coastguard looks out to see from a ship in port prior to departing for a monitoring mission. A particular problem experienced locally is the theft of sand from Taiwanese waters by Chinese dredgers.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A soldier jogs on the coast road. Martial law was abolished in the Matsu Islands in 1992. Until then 50 thousand soldiers were deployed on the archipelago: today only three thousand remain.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), two tourists at the Ｍatsu Blue Tears Ecological Museum, in which the curious phenomenon of glowing algae is told.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A woman walks on the beach in front of the village of Jinsha.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). The entrance to the stronghold of Dahan, one of many fortifications built along the coast in the post-war period (this one in 1975) to respond to attacks or potential invasions by the Chinese.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Tourists visit a Buddhist temple built recently next to the Liu market.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Local people relax and have fun at a picnic.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). The entrance to a military tunnel not far from the village of Renai.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Taiwanese tourists visit the island’s most revered temple, which is dedicated to the goddess Matsu, or the Queen of the Heavens (Matsu Tianhou), protector fishermen and sailors. Built at the end of the 18th century, it is claimed that the temple houses the tomb of the goddess.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Two tourists at the Matsu Blue Tears Ecological Museum visit the exhibit that explains the curious phenomenon of the local bioluminescent algae.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). An old photo of a canon pointed towards China hangs in the bathroom of the Temple of the White Horse on the western coast of the island. Mainland China is around 14 kilometres away.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Two young men manage the E19 camping area, where it is also possible to stay in a number of Mongolian yurts. The tourism industry in the Matsu Islands has grown substantially from fewer than three thousand visitors in 1990 to 200 thousand before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Jeremy Liu (dx), general manager of the Matsu Liquor Factory Industry, checks on the old jars for aging the rice wine that are stored on the roof of the factory that also produces sorghum liquor.

Beigan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A statue of General Chiang Kai-shek, whose escape from the hands of the communists in China in 1949 led to the foundation of Taiwan, the Republic of China.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A photo in front of the old jars used for aging rice wine at the Matsu Liquor Factory Industry, stored outside and inside military tunnel 88.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Two tourists on a viewing tower not far from the village of Renai.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), statues of soldiers holding a dinghy are displayed along the corridor leading to the vast Beihai Tunnel. Excavated by soldiers mostly by hand between 1969 and 1971, it is 18 meters high, 10 meters wide and 640 meters long, and was a shelter for military boats.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A man looks at his telephone in the back of a shop near the Buddhist temple dedicated to the Queen of the Heavens (Matsu Tianhou).

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). In the village of Jinsha, Zheng Zhan Wei, aged 24, expects to be called up soon for military service. His dream is to become a sommelier.

Beigan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), Taiwanese tourist watches a touristic map of the arcipelago.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A volunteer cleans a poster of a political candidate three weeks before the Matsu Islands hold administrative elections.

Beigan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), in a museum a comic book chronicles China's civil war.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), military-themed bas-relief at Mt. Yuntai Military Intelligence Building.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), inside the Tiebao military stronghold (Iron Fort) not far from Renai village consists of a tunnel running inside the headland and was occupied by amphibious military forces.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Tourists from Taipei on a coach about to tour the island.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). A local fisherman walks back from the beach. Today Matsu relies on tourism but its economy was once based on fishing.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Fish traders work by the roadside in the morning outside Liu Market.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Young tourists from Taipei dine at the Dachung restaurant. The tourism industry on the Matsu Islands experienced substantial growth, going from fewer than three thousand visitors a year in 1990 to 200 thousand prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). The statue of the four gods in the temple of the White Horse on the western coast of the island.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Jeremy Liu (right), general manager of the Matsu Liquor Factory Industry, checks the ingredients together with an employee. The company produces liquor made from sorghum as well as rice wine.

Beigan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), young William, aged 6, plays with a phone behind the counter while his mum, Tsai Yu Jie, and grandma, Chen Bamei, cook in their small family restaurant.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Ren Huiyun works at the Mazu Baba travel agency. “Nowadays the tourists are almost all Taiwanese,” she explains. “But when they reopen the ferries from China after Covid-19, numerous Chinese tourists will return.”

Beigan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan), fisherman Huang Peng Wu, aged 73, takes a break from preparing his fishing nets. Huang has three sons but two live in Taiwan. He goes out to fish every day in his boat but resents the Chinese fisherman “because they use metal cages that continually rip our nets.”

Beigan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). At low tide an old fishing boat stands beached on the sand. Today the Matsu Islands rely on tourism but the local economy was once based on fishing.

Nangan (Matsu Islands, Taiwan). Jeremy Liu, general manager of the Matsu Liquor Factory Industry, checks the work of his staff at the distillery that produces sorghum liquor and rice wine.