BUNKER BOUNTY

Built at a time of war, disused military installations are being repurposed across Taiwan.

Dotted around Taiwan lie the remains of abandoned bunkers originally built to repel an invasion from China, during a period in the island’s history when it was under martial law and fear of attack was part of daily life. The threat from China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own to be brought under Beijing’s rule by force if needed, has not gone away but the ageing bunkers are no longer needed for defence purposes.

Today, farmers use some of the bunkers as storage rooms for tools. Some have become part of local parks and others along the coast are sought-after spots for photo opportunities by Instagramers seeking “likes” for their sunset views.

“I find it very bizarre — across Taiwan there are numerous bunkers, a mark of war, but if you ask residents what is it, when was it built and for what purpose, no one knows now,” said Chen Kuo-ming, 49, a military site enthusiast who has been mapping the old bunkers since 2002.

Some of the bunkers actually date back to when Taiwan was a Japanese colony, before and during World War II, and were upgraded when the Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists, Chen said.

Clam farmer Ding Long-kai says he remembers as a child the pillboxes along the beaches of Yunlin on Taiwan’s western coast, which lies on the Taiwan Strait facing China.

“We were restricted from going to the beach and getting close to the pillboxes,” Ding said.

But as the coastline has changed and maintenance lapsed, many of the old pillboxes are merging back into the sand or being encircled by clam farms.

“I remember seeing slogans such as ‘kill the communists’ and ‘reclaim the mainland’ on the pillboxes. But this is the only one left; the rest have been removed by other farmers,” Ding added, pointing to the one remaining on his clam farm.

Up the coast from Yunlin in Hsinchu, local official Lin Zi-xing, 72, is trying to protect the bunkers that remain near his home.

Recalling how he used to try and sneak into the bunkers as a child to play, Lin said it would be a shame to lose this part of Taiwan’s history.

He has turned one of the bunkers into a climbing frame for children, and another into an exhibition hall for tourists to learn about the history of the area.

“I got into a lot of trouble with the residents because of this, partly because of land issues but also because it reminds the older generation of war which no one wants to talk about,” Lin said.

Military enthusiast Chen said the bunkers also serve as a reminder that tensions between China and Taiwan still exist.

I remember seeing slogans such as ‘kill the communists’ and ‘reclaim the mainland’ on the pillboxes

DING LONG-KAI Clam farmer

Tourists gather at a former military observation post in Leidishan Natural Park in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

FROM FAR LEFT TO FAR RIGHT A former air-raid shelter built by the Japanese army near Tainan airport, an old air-raid shelter behind a family grave in Kaohsiung, a Taiwanese military bunker now used by a farmer to grow dragonfruit in Kaohsiung, and a shelter that has become part of a playground in Hsinchu.

A child looks at an information sign inside a former artillery bunker in Kaohsiung.

Lee Kuo-Jia, 90, a Chinese veteran who arrived in Taiwan with the Kuomintang army in 1947, poses for a photo inside a former artillery bunker in Shuang Lian Po Park, a former military zone, in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Chen Kuo-ming explains the interior structure of an old pillbox in Nantou, Taiwan.

Overgrown plants surround a former artillery bunker in Leidishan Natural Park.