10 kilometers away from Xiamen City, there is a butterfly-shaped island, which is Kinmen Island. Kinmen was once a forward military island, and at the height of the war, more than 100,000 Nationalist soldiers were sent to Kinmen.
Today, it has become a well-known tourist attraction on both sides of the strait. Most notably, most of the island's popular sightseeing spots are also closely related to military history.
Sorghum wine, tribute sugar, and steel knives are known as the "Three Treasures of the Golden Gate". Among them, the material of the Golden Gate steel knife is very special, and the knife makers on the island make a living from shells...
"Let the shell be a mark of peace"
The Golden Gate kitchen knife is sharp and durable because its metal material comes from the shell shell.
Wu Zengdong selected shell casings
Wu Zengdong, a knife smith at the Golden Gate Knife Factory: "This is the shell fragments that we left behind at that time, so if we usually want to make a knife, we will cut directly on this side." If you think about what kind of knife you want to make, take how much material you want to take, and cut it directly. ”
The war is long over, but shell casings left over from that time can still be found on the island.
Wu Zengdong signed the knife work
Wu Zengdong, a knife smith at the Golden Gate Knife Factory: "We felt that it was just some waste shells left over from the war, and we said waste utilization at that time, because it was not convenient to take materials in that era." After doing it slowly, it felt like we could use this shell to make it into a kitchen knife for our family. ”
The Wu family can make nearly 100 kitchen knives a day. Each knife is cut by hand and then heated, shaped and polished.
It takes about 3 weeks to make a single cutter by hand and costs more than $3,000 each. The patrons come from both sides of the taiwan strait.
Wu Zengdong said: "Some guests sometimes come to buy this knife, they will joke, I am afraid that we (the mainland) sent it." That is to say, this is a history. ”
"We sometimes think about how many weapons have been made in the world, and it would be nice to say that we can use them more as kitchen knives and as a mark of peace."
Lion Hill shelling with stay-at-home moms
The shelling, as part of Kinmen's military history, attracted a large number of tourists. The Golden Gate Lion Hill Artillery Position holds a special performance every day.
Shi Chengmei in the performance
Shi Chengmei played the role of the gunner of the Nationalist Army during the war, responsible for assigning the position of each gunner.
Her troupe underwent a month-long training before the show began. The troupe performs seven times a day.
Tunnel-type howitzer
Lion Hill is the only remaining tunneled howitzer base in Kinmen, and the howitzer is a field gun suitable for attacking both concealed and ground targets.
Actor Shi Chengmei: "The task given to me today is like this, I want to be the same as Brother A Bing, but later we got used to this model, got used to this way, and we were very energetic every time." ”
Shi Chengmei and her Taiwanese husband met in Sichuan, when her husband went on a business trip. They quickly fell in love and started a family.
In 1998, they moved to Kinmen to live.
Shi Chengmei with her three children
Shi Chengmei has three children. She used to be at home for a long time and was a stay-at-home mom.
It wasn't until 7 years ago, when the youngest child was in kindergarten, that she started working.
Shi Chengmei: "After I lived in Kinmen, I found many, many special places, that is, places like the previous wars, and the old houses made a deep impression on me, and I felt very special." ”
"Because I haven't seen it, I've only heard about wars and where wars are fought since I was a child. In fact, I think Kinmen is to maintain such a peaceful life, don't have that kind of war or anything like that, I think it's better to be safe. ”
Handmade noodles with young inheritors
Cai Ziyu's handmade noodle factory is located in Xiao kinmen, one of the twelve islands of Kinmen, only 5 kilometers from Xiamen.
Cai Ziyu checks the handmade noodles in the drying
Cai Ziyu, director of Master Cai's handmade noodle factory: "This is the place where our master Cai handmade noodle factory drys noodles. Now the state of the noodle line is already a semi-finished product, and I have just checked the degree of sun exposure to it, and it can be harvested in about an hour. The daily yield is not necessarily the same, because these things are pure sun, so it depends on the weather conditions. ”
The Tsai sisters attended school in Taiwan for four years.
After graduating in 2014, they returned to Kinmen to help their parents run a family business that has been running for more than 20 years.
The Cai sisters
The reason why the Cai family runs a noodle business is actually related to the "Brother A Bing" of that year.
Cai Ziyu: "In the past, the logic of relying on military consumption has become a cloud, and the people who have lost their main economic resources do not know where to go. As soon as he had the opportunity, his father learned noodle making from others, and then after several years, he slowly found a better proportion on his own. ”
"I will choose to come back because I think my family has a career, after all, my parents are also older and need help from others, and then most of the place in Kinmen is inhabited by elders, in fact, it still needs to inject a lot of hard work."
From the Golden Gate, to the border towns full of gold prospectors, to the Fhoma region, to the dangerous India-Bangladesh border, and finally to Gibraltar, the southernmost tip of Spain, this week we travel to the "border towns" of different regions to take a deep look at those who thrive and struggle to make a living in unique environments!
Watch Phoenix Vision
Bordertown
Editor: Wang Dingyao