Kinmen -- The Hometown of Delicacies (1)

    Last time we introduced the Underground tunnels in Kinmen. For this time, I'm going to introduce the food and delicacies in Kinmen!

    When we talk about foods in Kinmen, the first thing we will think of is sticky candy. There are four main favors of sticky candy which are peanut favor, peanut sesame favor, maltose favor and garlic favor. In my opinion, peanut and maltose favor are the most popular favor among them. There is a tale about the origins of sticky candy. In Ching Dynasty, people from the whole world would go to China with their presents in order to make friends with the emperor. They presented their presents with great respect to the emperor. At that time, some people brought candies for the emperor, and because it was dedicated to the emperor so the candy was named "contribute candy"(today's sticky candy). Why sticky candy from Kinmen is so delicious? The main reason is they are handmade instead of by machine. This is the major reason why sticky candy from Kinmen is so popular.

(the picture of peanut favor sticky candy)

(the picture of peanut sesame favor sticky candy)

(the picture of maltose favor sticky candy)

(the picture of garlic favor sticky candy)

    Second delicacy of Kinmen is thin noodles. Due to Kinmem's special weather, people can produce such delicious thin noodles here. The wind is strong and the temparature is quite medium. If you want to produce good thin noodles, wind and temparature are the most important key factors. The thin noodles from Kinmen tastes more fragrant and smoothe than other thin noodles. Thanks to the strong wind in Kinmen, we can have this kind of delicious thin noodles to eat!

(the picture of thin noodles)

    The third one of delicacies is Cantonese porridge. People may ask there are many kinds of Cantonese porridge why you love the Cantonese porridge from Kinmen? Well, actually, they taste really different. The content of Cantonese porridge in Kinmen is different from other Cantonese porridge. The rice is the major difference. The rice of Cantonese porridge in Kinmen is nearly boiled as soup. They are not taste as a whole round rice. When you eat Kinmen's Cantonese porridge, you will feel like you're drinking soup. You don't even need to chew, and that's good to the old. Kinmen's Cantonese porridge includes meatballs, pork liver, lean meat, fish stick, and an egg. People in Kinmen used to eat Cantonese porridge with deep-fried fluffy dough sticks. That is really awesome!

(the picture of Cantonese porridge)

     The last one is Gaoliang wine. Although I'm a man who don't drink any kind of wine, I still prefer the Gaoliang wine in Kinemn. Why? Because the wine is full of the storng and thick aroma of Gaoliang. In every occasion you can see Gaoliang wine there. As I heard about Gaoliang wine from those who like to drink, they think it's the best wine of the world. But, don't drink too much. The result could be really dangerous and deadful.

(the picture of Kinmen Gaoliang)

(the source of the pictures are from Google research)

Underground Tunnels -- The Masterpiece Left Behind The Wars

    After the brief introducing of Kinmen, now we can dig deep into the island Kinmen.

(The picture of the map of tunnel)

    Just as I have mentioned in the previous article, Kinmen is the hometown of the wars. There were several famous and important wars that happened in the history of Kinmen. If there were not the underground tunnels, maybe Kinmen would be a deadful island now. Why? Because the underground tunnels kept the soldiers and the citizens away from the air attack. Their enemies used bombs and missiles as their primary weapon. In order to decrease the damage of air attack, all the soldiers and citizens in Kinmen started to build the underground tunnels. Well, some people may ask if the tunnels were not stable enough, the damage could only be much more serious. Fortunately, some of the rock under the ground in Kinmen is granite which is really strong, stable and less damaged. But, there comes to a point. The granite is so strong and stable that increases the difficulty of building the underground tunnels. At that time, many citizens and soldiers died of building the underground tunnels. The major cause is they have to use bombs to explode the granite, and that is really dangerous.

(The picture of Jincheng Tunnel)

(The picture of Chongling Tunnel)

   

    In addition to the tunnels for the military purpose, there are other tunnels for the ship and transmit the necessities, like Jhaishan Tunnel. In order to maintain people's living in Kinmen during the war session, they can just transmit the necessities by ship. Furthermore, they started to build the tunnel for shipping and the purpose is to keep those ships away from being attacked.

(The picture of Jhaishan Tunnel)

    Thanks to all those tunnels in Kinmen, people can live happily and peacefully now. If there were not those tunnels, people in Kinmen and both in Taiwan may not be saved from the attack during the war sessions. Underground tunnels are not only sightseeing spots for people in Kinmen but also the great historical sites that let this island keep alive.