Kinmen Trip: Mount Taiwu

August 17, 2013 — Mount Taiwu, Kinmen

“To call yourself a hero without ever meeting Chen Jinnan would be absurd.” In the same spirit, how could I say I had visited Kinmen without climbing Mount Taiwu?

Does Chen Jinnan have anything to do with Kinmen? I have no idea. It just sounded good, ha~~ (flips table!!)

But Mount Taiwu—I really made it here ^.^

Near the starting point of the Mount Taiwu climb — The climb began near the foot of Mount Taiwu before daybreak.

The military cemetery sits right at the foot of the mountain. Although the number of troops stationed in Kinmen had fallen, there were still plenty of guard posts nearby. Even before daybreak, the area did not feel scary at all XD

A concrete slope rising along the Mount Taiwu route — The slope ahead was only the first test in a route of repeated climbs and descents.

Once we got over this slope, it was time to charge!! The route had three climbs and three descents—three steep slopes up, followed by three stretches down. The catch was that the return journey also meant three climbs and three descents T.T

Fortunately, the entire route was paved with concrete. Even in the flip-flops I was wearing that day, the round trip was manageable ^.^

The paved concrete walking route on Mount Taiwu — The paved concrete route made the walk possible even in flip-flops.

There were plenty of oddly shaped rocks along the way. This one looked like a fierce dragon diving toward the ground. What do you think?!

A Mount Taiwu rock resembling a diving dragon — A roadside rock resembled a fierce dragon diving downward.

Early-morning light streamed through the gaps in the trees. The radar station on the opposite peak marked the direction we were heading.

Morning light filtering through trees on Mount Taiwu — Morning sunlight streamed through gaps in the trees.

A weather-beaten information board stood beside the trail, but its photographs had faded badly in the sun and rain. Another image offered a clearer comparison.

A faded information board beside the Mount Taiwu trail — Years of sun and rain had badly faded the photographs on the information board.

A reference image used to compare with the Mount Taiwu information board — A clearer image offered a comparison with the weathered information board.

After a short rest, we continued uphill and reached Daoying Pagoda, a place also associated with Koxinga observing troops and playing chess.

The area around Daoying Pagoda on Mount Taiwu — Continuing uphill brought us to the area around Daoying Pagoda.

Daoying Pagoda is one of Kinmen’s three ancient pagodas; the other two are Maoshan Pagoda in Shuitou and Wentai Pagoda near the old walled city. Tradition holds that all three were built in 1387, when Zhou Dexing was constructing Kinmen’s defenses, and positioned according to the land and waterways as navigational markers.

It is said that at sunset, the pagoda casts such a long shadow that its reflection can be seen on the sea—hence the name Daoying, or “Reflected Shadow,” Pagoda.

The stone structure of Daoying Pagoda on Mount Taiwu — Daoying Pagoda is one of Kinmen’s three ancient pagodas.

After seeing the pagoda, we set off again. Whew…after another long walk, we finally arrived in front of Haiyin Temple.

In front of the entrance to Haiyin Temple on Mount Taiwu — After another long walk, we finally reached the entrance to Haiyin Temple.

Before entering the gate, I spotted a sign pointing to “Crab-Eye Spring” @.@'" Was this something new that I had missed on my previous visit?! Since we were already there, of course we had to take a look.

A trail sign pointing toward Crab-Eye Spring — A sign near the temple gate pointed us toward the unfamiliar Crab-Eye Spring.

Following the sign led us to a large rock and a dry stone basin behind it—the elusive Crab-Eye Spring. Seriously, even that early in the morning, the tiny black mosquitoes gave me five or six bites while I was trying to see it T.T

The dry Crab-Eye Spring basin behind a large rock — Behind the rock, a dry stone basin marked the Crab-Eye Spring we had come to find.

And finally, we reached our destination: Haiyin Temple.

The exterior of Haiyin Temple on Mount Taiwu — After the detour to the spring, we finally arrived at Haiyin Temple.

Haiyin Temple is an old Buddhist temple with a long history. It was later destroyed during the August 23 Artillery Bombardment. What we saw was the temple rebuilt after 1960; it had lost some of its antique character, but none of its solemn presence.

The solemn architecture of the rebuilt Haiyin Temple — Though rebuilt, Haiyin Temple retained a solemn presence.

After walking through the temple grounds, we reached the stone gateway inscribed “First Between Sea and Mountain.” The calligraphy is said to be by Lu Ruoteng, a Kinmen-born minister of war from the late Ming period.