A military tank, half buried in the sand on a beach, is visible at low tide in Kinmen. The island was managed as a military base from 1949 until 1992, when martial law was lifted. KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek stationed a significant portion of his army on Kinmen, planning to retake mainland China from there. At the height of the Cold War, as many as 100,000 soldiers were barracked on Kinmen, outnumbering civilians. Today, there are only about 3,000 troops left on the island.
{"Image Copyright": "Sim Chi Yin / VII"}