TAIWAN (Kashmir English): Built during the Cold War to shelter supply boats from Chinese shells, one of Taiwan’s most well-known tunnels last weekend echoed with a different sound – cellos and violins for the annual Kinmen Tunnel Music Festival.
Originally designed for military purposes, the Zhaishan Tunnel on Kinmen, which sits on the Chinese coast next to the cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou, was hewn by hand out of tough granite in the 1960s and sitting right on Taiwan’s frontline with China.
Kinmen, now a popular tourist destination, has been controlled by Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, and was regularly bombarded by the artillery of China’s military.
Over two days last weekend, the tunnel hosted six shows with 200 people attending each one, the 17th year in a row the festival has been held.
“Music tells the story of the tunnel”
“The music tells the story of this tunnel, music that speaks of the preciousness of peace, and music that carries its message to the world,” festival art director and cellist Chang Chen-chieh said.
Tickets for this year’s festival, in one of Kinmen’s most dramatic locations, sold out in just two minutes, said the organisers.
Martial law in Kinmen was lifted in 1992, five years later than Taiwan itself.
The city retains a heavy military presence, though many sites, like the tunnel, have long since been retired and made part of the national park which makes up much of the island.
One of the audience members, Cheng Kai-hsiang said he was moved by the performance. “Not only by the sound and the echo from the tunnel, but also because I could hear the waves coming from outside,” Cheng said.
“That powerful, overwhelming feeling is really hard to put into words. It’s something you can only experience by being there in person.”
