The Kinmen Islands, just offshore of the Chinese mainland, are known for strong winds. We visit their rich culture that has been influenced by the mainland while being nurtured by the winds.
Far from the main island of Taiwan is a group of islands facing the Chinese mainland across a narrow strait.
The islands have experienced a history of constant tension with the mainland.
At the same time, strongly influenced by mainland China, they have developed a rich culture of their own.
We pay a visit to Taiwan's remote frontline islands.
Located 240 kilometers west of the main island of Taiwan, the Kinmen Islands are home to 140,000 people.
The islands are constantly subjected to the strong winds blowing from mainland China.
Statues in the shape of the Wind Lion god, called "Feng-shi-ye," are revered as island guardians.
They are enshrined all over the islands to prevent wind damage and ward off evil.
A local taste has been nurtured by the winds from the mainland.
These are "miàn xiàn," thin rice noodles made of wheat flour.
They're produced by noodle artisan Ma Chih-liang.
Ma's family has handed down the noodle-making tradition from generation to generation.
Born in Fujian Province, Ma's grandfather brought his noodle-making skills with him when he moved to the Kinmen Islands.
By dealing with the military, the family business managed to take root on this island.
The island's strong winds and sunlight are essential factors in the production of these mainland-born noodles.
The sun-drying time is adjusted delicately according to the strength of the wind and the weather.
The wind and sun of the Kinmen Islands
add a unique flavor to the noodles.
They enhance the aroma of the flour.
There is a big difference from machine
drying.
Thanks to the strong winds, these mainland-related noodles have now become a representative flavor of the Kinmen Islands.
In the evening, we visit a popular restaurant on Kinmen Island.
The customers are enjoying delicious seafood dishes, which are specialties of the island.
One delicacy is the crustaceans called goose barnacles
which resemble a turtle's foot and cling to rocks on the shoreline.
The meat inside their shell is exceptionally tasty.
This famous oyster omelette boasts a combination of local oysters and fluffy eggs.
Oyster farming has been passed down from generation to generation on the Kinmen Islands.
Young oysters are attached to the stone pillars laid out in the ocean and harvested when they have grown.
This is a traditional oyster farming method introduced from the mainland.
Oyster farming here has a history of
400 years.
It's been going on since the time of
our ancestors in the late Ming Dynasty.
All these stones were brought from
the mainland by our ancestors.
Oysters have long been a staple ingredient of Kinmen dining.
An oyster farmer's wife serves us a classic home-style dish.
She cooks the oysters with the "miàn xiàn" noodles that are produced on the island.
Oyster noodles is the most delicious dish
on the Kinmen Islands!
The sun-dried noodles perfectly matched with the rich oyster flavor is the taste of the islands.
A special confection recipe has come over from the mainland.
Peanuts, a specialty of Taiwan, are the main ingredient.
First, roasted and powdered peanuts are mixed with sugar and syrup.
After being rolled out thinly, the mixture is shaped by hand into a peanut candy bar called "gongtang."
Gongtang originated in Fujian Province.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was offered as a tribute to the emperors.
It's been over 100 years since it came to the Kinmen Islands.
Gongtang is served with another product from Fujian Province.
This tea is from Wuyi Shan in Xiamen
on the mainland.
Oolong tea goes very well
with sweet confections.
Tea from Fujian Province and gongtang from the Kinmen Islands.
It's a collaboration of flavors across the strait.
"The largest wind lion got on the island: 4 meters high."
"The oldest wind lion god has watched over
the island's history for over 600 years."
Now, there is a woman who is trying to promote interest in the Feng-shi-ye wind lion god with fresh ideas.
Cake Chen is a designer.
She is trying to understand the thoughts of her ancestors that are embodied in the wind lion god statues.
Chen runs a souvenir shop.
Her plan is to create souvenirs incorporating a wind lion god motif
and introduce the island's traditional culture to young people.
I've been familiar with the wind lions
all over the islands
and worshipped them since childhood.
For us adults, they're important gods
that calm down winds.
The wind lion god has been protecting the islanders from the winds that blows from the mainland.
And it will continue watching over them.