KIMEN, Taiwan (Reuters) – On the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, less than an hour’s boat ride from the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou, bar owner Li Baowei is drawing customers by weaving inspiration from the tiny island’s scars of war into his cocktails.
At the height of the Cold War, Chinese and Taiwanese militaries frequently clashed over Kinmen (then known in English as Kinmen) and other islands off the Chinese coast that Taipei controlled.
Kinmen is now a popular tourist destination attracting tourists seeking its endangered otters and rugged natural beauty, but it was in the news again last week after China included the area around the island in its latest military drills near Taiwan.
A Kinmen native, Lee’s cocktails at Bent Bar highlight unique Kinmen flavours, including the local fire water “gaoliang,” made from sorghum grown on the island.
Lee, 31, took inspiration from the massive propaganda campaign that followed the 1958 battle in which Taiwanese forces fended off Chinese attacks on the island of Kinmen, which is just two kilometers (1.2 miles) from China at its closest point.
The cocktail, called “Pick and Eat,” is made with soy milk, ginger, and whiskey and topped with a cookie.
“At the time, both sides were distributing propaganda leaflets, each trying to show their superiority and urging the other to surrender,” he told Reuters.
“One of the things they did besides handing out flyers was to send out supplies like snacks and food to show people they were well fed.”
Taiwan has controlled Kinmen and the Matsu islands off the coast since 1949, when the Republic of China government fled to Taipei after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists. No peace treaty has been signed.
Kinmen, home to about 100,000 people, is still dotted with old bunkers, many of which are now open to tourists, and also has a sizable Taiwanese military presence.
“We want tourists to take home something more meaningful than a run-of-the-mill souvenir. If they can really feel a connection to the place and understand the stories behind it, that will be the best memory of their stay in Kinmen,” Lee said.
These tourists may be Taiwanese or from further afield, but they are generally not Chinese. Normal Chinese tourism to Taiwan has yet to resume post-pandemic amid ongoing tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
Residents said life on Kinmen continued largely normal during last week’s training, with flights to and from the mainland of Taiwan uninterrupted.
Regarding the possibility of conflict, Lee said he hopes there will be no war.
“The pandemic has already caused great disruption and a real war would be far worse than that,” he said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
