The Matsu Islands (馬祖列島 or mazu liedao) are a fascinating frontier region of Taiwan.
Of the 36 islands in the archipelago, one of them is a mere 9 kilometers off the coast of Fujian province in China, while not one of them is less than 150 kilometers from the mainland of Taiwan.
Visitors to the Matsu Islands today can enjoy a variety of highlights in this former battlefront, including military forts, traditional liquor distilleries, fine beaches, quaint fishing villages, wild sika deer, unique foods, and unusual temples.
In recent years, Matsu has been trending for its “Blue Tears” (marine phosphorescence) phenomenon, but it still remains more off-the-beaten-track than most of Taiwan’s other offshore islands.
In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know for planning a memorable visit to Matsu Islands, based on our recent family visit.
We took my Taiwanese father-in-law to Matsu. Decades ago, he lived on Matsu Islands for two years as a part of his military service. This trip brought back a lot of memories for him, even though things had changes incredibly – so much so that on this trip, I was the tour guide, and he followed me around as we rode scooters around the islands.
Below I’ll also discuss some challenges we faced on this trip, including a canceled flight and disappointment with the Blue Tears.
Matsu Islands Introduction
The Matsu Islands are formally Lienchiang County (連江縣 or lian jiang xian). They are the smallest and least populated of Taiwan’s 14 counties. Taiwanese usually refer to the islands simply as “Matsu” (媽祖).
There are two “main” islands, Nangan (南竿) and Beigan (北竿), either of which you are likely to arrive at and stay on. I’ll tell you later why we chose to stay on Nangan and day trip to Beigan.
Fishermen from Fujian province have been inhabiting the Matsu Islands since the 13th century. By the late Qing dynasty, they had developed a distinct style of stone houses on the islands. Today, some people even compare villages on the Matsu Islands to the Mediterranean.
The islands are named after the goddess Matsu, who is extremely popular on the southern coast of China and in Taiwan. She is the deified form of Lin Mo-Niang, who lived on Meizhou Island, which is also off the coast of Fujian but not part of today’s Matsu islands.
Legend has it that Lin saved her fishermen family members while they were at sea during a typhoon. Today, she is considered the patron goddess of Taiwan, with an extremely popular birthday pilgrimage.
Locals in Matsu Islands believe that Lin Mo-Niang’s remains washed up on the shore of Nangan Island, which is why the islands adopted this name. Her supposed remains are interred there at Matsu Tianhou Temple.
The Matsu statue on Nangan was the tallest Matsu statue in the world, that is, until they built one even taller on Taiwan’s Penghu Islands in 2022.
When the nationalist KMT army lost the Chinese Civil War in 1949, they first fled to Matsu Islands, which are so close to the Fujian coast that you can see the Mainland from them.
Matsu Islands (along with Kinmen, another group of Taiwan-owned islands just off the coast of China) then became a major battlefront between Taiwan and China, with regular bombings between the two sides for the next decade.
The bombings subsided after then US became involved in 1958, but tensions remained high until the 1970s and martial law was not lifted until 1992.
In 2001, tensions relaxed as cross-straight travel was permitted. Today, Matsu Islands still have some active military bases, while some coastal military forts are now tourist attractions.
Matsu has also gained a reputation within Taiwan for its lao jiu (老酒 or “old liquor”), which is similar to the Kaohliang (高粱 or sorghum liquor) produced on the Kinmen islands.
Seeing the Blue Tears
In recent years, Matsu Islands’ marine phosphoresce, which the locals have dubbed Matsu’s “Blue Tears” (藍眼淚 or lan yan lei), have received a lot of media attention.
My father-in-law, who was stationed on the islands for two years, said no one even talked about it in those days.
We visited Matsu Islands at the best time for seeing Blue Tears (April to June – we were there in May). I planned our trip during the new moon (less light from the moon means it will be easier to see), and we tried multiple beaches every night we were there.
But despite all that, we were totally disappointed.
On most beaches we saw nothing. On our second night of trying, we heard from other Blue Tears chasers that one beach had it, so we rushed over. Even there, it was pitiful. We could only just barely see it if we splashed around in the water.
The phosphorescence was not bright enough to photograph, even using long exposure time on my camera, and we definitely couldn’t see it from far away.
What we saw was nothing like the photos of Blue Tears we had seen before and were expecting. I honestly think this just boils down to luck, and we were not lucky on this visit.
There are other blogs online proving that it is possible to have a better experience than we did. But I think it’s important to manage your expectations before coming.
The best Blue Tears we saw were at the Blue Tears Museum (they are made in a lab, but it was still cool) and on our boat tour in Beihai Tunnel (impossible to photograph from a moving boat). I’ll cover both of these attractions below.
When to Visit Matsu Islands
Like most of Taiwan’s offshore islands, spring (March to June) and fall (September to November) are the best times to visit the Matsu Islands.
Winters are cold and windy, and many hotels and other tourist services close at that time. Summers can be brutally hot, but many locals do visit at that time.
Spring and early summer are tough – it’s the best time to see Blue Tears, but late April to June (generally the best months for it) are also known for heavy fogs which can cause flight cancellations.
This actually happened to us when we went to Matsu in May. We ended up spending a whole day at Songshan Airport in Taipei, waiting for a flight to take off.
It never did, so we lost a whole day of our trip. We weren’t able to extend our trip because all the return flights were sold out.
Looking at the map, you will see that the Matsu Islands are also further north than Taipei. The weather there is usually about 5 degrees colder than Taipei.
Coupled with the wind coming off the sea, it can be quite chilly on the islands. Bring warmer clothes than you are wearing in Taipei at the time.
Find more info in my guide to the best time to visit Taiwan.
Getting to Matsu Islands
There are two options for getting to the Matsu Islands, by air or by ferry.
By Air
Two Taiwanese airlines have flights to Matsu Islands: Uni Air (立榮航空) and Mandarin Airlines (立榮航空). On either airline, you can fly to Nangan (LZN) or Beigan (MFK), the two main islands. I’ll tell you below why we chose to fly to and from Nangan.
Uni Air flies from Taipei’s Songshan Airport (TSA, note this is NOT the same as Taoyuan Airport) or Taichung (RMQ) to Nangan, or Songshan Airport to Beigan.
Mandarin Airlines flies from Taipei’s Songshan Airport to Nangan.
Between the two airlines, there are usually at least half a dozen flying times per day. I recommend booking your flights 2 to 4 months in advance.
One problem with flying is that if there is heavy fog (common in spring), the flight may be cancelled at the last minute. Meanwhile, in fall, the other best time to go, the flight could be cancelled if there’s a typhoon (typhoon seasons is July to October).
When our flight was cancelled at the airport, we exited the departures area and registered at the stand-by counter in the airport’s public area. We then also went to the check-in counter to book a new (cancellable) flight for the next day in case we couldn’t get on any stand-by flights that day.
After waiting many hours at stand-by, we gave up on getting a flight that day and went home. The next day, we were able to fly out. We only had to pay for the flight that we actually got on.
It was still a little foggy when we arrived on Matsu (see above photo), but not bad enough to cancel the flight.
By Ferry
Taking the ferry to Matsu Islands is a slower but cheaper option.
The only option currently is the overnight ferry from Keelung Harbor (see my Keelung guide) to Matsu Islands, on a ship called Xintaima (新臺馬). The 9-hour ferry ride departs Keelung at 10 PM and departs Nangan for the return journey at 9:30 AM. Book the ferry tickets here on KKday.
Star of North South (南北之星) used to be the fastest ferry to Matsu Islands. Before the ferry stopped running in early 2024, it made the sailing from Taipei Harbor (in Bali district of New Taipei City) to Matsu Islands in a mere 3 hours. There are no plans to resume this ferry service.
Getting Around Matsu Islands
Like most of Taiwan’s offshore islands, it will be hard to see everything if you don’t have your own transportation in Matsu Islands.
With lots of hills and distance between attractions, so exploring on foot won’t get you very far. There are no electric scooters or electric bikes like Xiaoliuqiu or Cijin Island.
There are, however, a few handy Taiwan Tourism shuttle buses which do half-day tours of Nangan and Beigan.
By Scooter or Car
Renting a car or scooter is by far the best way to explore Matsu Islands. You will need an International Driver’s Permit or Taiwanese motorcycle license to do this.
We chose scooters rather than car (even traveling with two young kids and two elderly, who know how to ride). Some of the roads in Matsu Islands are so narrow that a car will barely fit (see below pic). And we simply love riding scooters.
You can rent a scooter for Nangan here on Klook or here on KKday. Most guesthouses can also arrange a scooter rental for you.
For car rental, I can’t find any online booking options, but our guesthouse in Nangan (see below) said they could arrange this for us if we wanted it, and most others can, too.
For Beigan, we just rented the scooter when we got there. There’s a private tour available on Beigan, but I can’t find any equivalent for Nangan.
By Bus
There are actually a few Taiwan Tourism buses on Nangan and Beigan. These buses run mini-tours, meaning that they will take you to a few attractions and wait while you visit.
If you aren’t able to rent a vehicle on Matsu, these will be your best option for exploring the islands. Stay in Jieshou village on Nangan and/or Tangqi Village on Beigan if this is your plan. Both villages are walking distance from their respective airports.
On Nangan, the morning bus goes from this stop in Jieshou village to Baba Tunnel, Beihai Tunnel, Iron Fort, and Jinsha Village before coming back.
The afternoon tour starts from this stop in Magong Village (next to Matsu Tianhou Temple at the western end of the island) and goes to the Giant Matsu Statue, Blue Tears Museum, Yuntaishan, Folk Heritage Museum, Victory Fort, and back to Jieshou.
I’ll introduce all of these sights below.
If you want to see the whole island by bus, take the morning bus tour, but leave the bus from the last stop (Jinsha Village) instead of returning on it to Jieshou.
From Jinsha, you can walk (one hour) to Matsu Tianhou Temple, where you can start the afternoon tour. You’ll have two hours do do this, so it’s enough time to see Jinsha, walk to Tianhou Temple, and have lunch in Jinsha or around Tianhou Temple.
Each bus tour costs TWD 300, but if you take both, you’ll get a TWD 100 discount (total 500).
On Beigan, there’s a similar mini bus tour, with morning and afternoon departures. The two tours are identical and both start and end from this stop in Tangqi Village.
If this links to these tour bus pages don’t work, because Taiwan tourism websites are always changing their URLs and breaking all links to their sites, try the home page, change to English if necessary, then click on Lienchiang county on the map of Taiwan (the islands at the top-left).
Ferries Between Islands
There are regular ferries throughout the day between Fu’ao Harbor in Nangan (南竿) and Baisha Harbor in Beigan (北竿). See the ferry schedule here and purchase tickets at the harbor before boarding.
Additional ferries can be booked here on KKday or here on Klook.
You may also want to visit Daqiu Island, a small island north of Beigan which is full of sika deer. According to this page, a daily ferry (March, April, September October) goes from Nangan Fu’ao Harbor to Daqiu at 9:20 AM, departs Daqiu at 11:50, and stops at Beigan at 12:00 before going back to Nangan 12:20.
In May, June, and July, there’s an additional one leaving Nangan at 1:20 PM, departing Daqiu at 1:40 PM, stopping at Beigan at 3:40 PM, and returning to Nangan at 4:15 PM.
For Dongyin Island, the third largest island in the archipelago, there’s only one ferry every few days in each direction, usually from Nangan to Dongyin on odd days and Dongyin to Nangan on even days. It departs Nangan at 8:30 AM and Dongying at 7:30 AM and takes one hour.
See the full schedule for Dongyin here. Note that 113 = 2024, 114 = 2025, and so on. Click on the month (10月 = October) to see the departure days in each direction.
Ferry times for all islands are subject to change, so it’s best to confirm the times with your guesthouse or at Fu’ao Ferry Terminal one day before.
You must show your passport or Taiwan ID when buying ferry tickets and riding the ferry between the islands.
Where to Stay on Matsu Islands
I could have spent ages researching the various villages and places to stay on either Nangan or Beigan. There are loads of cute options, including many guesthouses in traditional stone houses.
In the end, I went with one that instantly jumped out at me for its waterfront location and sea views from the rooms. This was Matsu Island View Restaurant Bed & Breakfast (see on Booking / Agoda).
My kids loved exploring the shore in front of our guesthouse. They found all kinds of sea critters and non-stinging jellyfish.
It was a short drive from our guesthouse to Fu’ao Harbor, convenience stores, and restaurants, but super quiet at night. The owners picked us up from the airport and helped to arrange our scooter rentals (they can also arrange car rentals). Most guesthouses in Matsu offer these services.
For a hostel, try here in Jieshou Village near the airport or find your way to 55 Hearts Gathering Backpacker (see on Booking / Agoda), an insanely cool hostel inside a former military bunker..
To stay in a traditional stone house in the prettiest village on Nangan, try Jinsha Vanilla Guesthouse (see on Booking / Agoda). For something more luxurious, Dayspring Inn (see on Booking / Agoda) stands out.
On Beigan, it would be most convenient to stay in Tangqi, the town next to the airport, such this hostel or this guesthouse. If you want to stay in a traditional house in the prettiest village on Beigan, Qinbi, try here, here, here, or here.
How to Plan Your Matsu Islands Itinerary
In my opinion, you need three nights (two full days) to properly explore Matsu Islands.
After considering the two main islands (Nangan and Beigan), we decided it made more sense to fly into and stay on Nangan the whole time, because it has more attractions.
I recommend the following itinerary:
- Day 1: Arrive at Nangan (the earlier, the better) and check in to hotel.
- Day 2: Breakfast at Jieshou Market then drive a car or scooter around Nangan (or Taiwan Tourism bus tours), seeing all the small sights along the way.
- Day 3: Take a morning ferry from Nangan to Daqiu Island to see the sika deer. Then take a ferry to Beigan Island and rent a scooter to explore the island. Return to Nangan Island. (If you don’t care about the deer or want a simpler day, just do a day trip to Beigan only).
- Day 4: Check out and fly out.
Some travelers may choose to do the opposite from us: Stay on Beigan and visit Nangan as a day trip. Others may choose to spend 1-2 nights on each island.
Note: there is one more Matsu Island with flights from Songshan Airport and ferry connections to Keelung: Dongyin Island (東引島). Dongyin is more remote and we never made it there. I’ll describe Dongyin at the end of the article.
Things to Do on Nangan Island
Nangan (南竿, literally “south pole”) is the seat of the Lienchiang County government and the largest island in the Matsu Islands chain.
Due to the many sights on Nangan Island, including the a liquor distillery, giant Matsu statue, Jieshou Morning Market, Beihai Tunnel, Blue Tears Museum, and several coastal military forts, we chose Nangan as our base in Matsu Islands.
From Matsu Nangan Airport, at the eastern end of the island, the below attractions are roughly in a clockwise direction around the island.
Baba Tunnel
One of the most recognizable images of Matsu Islands is Baba Tunnel (八八坑道), which is just up the road from the airport. You’ll pass by it shortly after you leave the airport, no matter where you are headed on the island.
The long tunnel used to be a civilian bomb shelter. Later, the army took over it and named it 八八 (88) on former president Chiang Ching Guo’s 88th birthday.
Later still, the Matsu Liquor Company (馬祖酒廠), which is walking distance away, began using the tunnel to store huge vessels of liquor, specifically, the island’s specialty, lao jiu liquor, during fermentation.
See the “Matsu foods and drinks” section at the end of the article for more info about this local firewater.
Today, the low rows of liquor lining either side of the entrance and tunnel are an iconic Matsu sight.
Visitors can enter for free – it smells fermenty, and there are spiders…But it’s free to visit!
After, you can walk 150 meters to Matsu Liquor Factory to taste a free sample of lao jiu or buy a bottle to take home. Warning: lao jiu can be difficult to enjoy for the uninitiated. And watch out for the alcohol percentage, which can be up to 60%!
You could walk to these two attractions from Jieshou Village, but note that it’s an uphill walk.
Jieshou Shizi Market
The main town on the island, Jieshou (介壽), is home to the Jieshou Shizi Market (介壽獅子市場). You could walk to Jieshou village and market from the airport in about 20 minutes.
Open from 6 to 10 AM, the market is the best place on the island to get breakfast. It’s better to come earlier, as supplies often run out.
Here are some stalls I recommend in the market:
- Qiu Feng Breakfast (秋楓早餐店, here, on the street just outside the market): For jiguang buns, oyster omelets, sweet potato dumplings, and green onion cakes.
- Auntie’s Ding Bian Cuo (阿妹的店鼎邊糊, here, 2F on the right just inside the market) for ding bian cuo (鼎邊銼) and pork dumplings (燕餃)
- Chen Family Oyster Cakes (陳家虫弟餅, here, 2F of market, a row or two in): for oyster cakes (蠣餅), open Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun
- Xiao Qi Café (小柒咖啡, here, 2F back left side): For the best (or rather, the only) coffee in the market.
Read more about these foods and see pictures of them in the “Matsu Foods and Drinks” section at the end of the article.
While you’re in Jieshou, notice how there’s a huge garden right in the middle of the village.
Beihai Tunnel Boat Tour
Heading out from Jieshou village, we’re going in a clockwise direction on the island’s central road (中央大道).
The first major stop, and another of the most popular attractions on Nangan is Beihai Tunnel (北海坑道). This 640-meter tunnel filled with water was built in 1968. Up to 120 boats could hide in it during an attack.
Today, it is one of the most reliable ways to experience Blue Tears on the island. To do this, you must take one of the 30-minute guided boat tours, which only take place in the evening only.
During the tour, which is in total darkness, we got to splash our paddles in the water, which makes the blue tears light up. I couldn’t get a usable photo of this due to the movement of the boat and the dark conditions.
How to reserve a spot on the Beihai Tunnel Boat Tour
Using the LINE app, search the following account and add it as friend: 北海坑道 – 藍眼淚 (just copy-paste it). It will automatically send you a message in Mandarin (you can GoogleTranslate it).
The message I got showed the sailing times (when we went, they were 18:30, 19:00, 20:00, or 21:00) and it asked me to send my desired date, time, number of people, the name and birthdate of each person, one contact phone number, and our arrival date and flight to Matsu (so they can check for any canceled flights).
After you send that info, you’ll receive a confirmation message. Ask your guesthouse for help doing all this if you need it.
You can also visit Beihai Tunnel in the daytime. You’ll be able to look into the entrance of the tunnels, but how far you can go in will depend on the tide, and you won’t be able to see the Blue Tears. There’s also a nice view of the sea from outside the tunnels.
Note that it’s a steep downhill drive from the main road to the attraction. Make sure to arrive a little early for your reserved time, drive carefully, and dress warm for driving at night.
Iron Fort
Moving along the south coast of Nangan, Iron Fort (鐵堡) is the most picturesque fort that we visited in the Matsu Islands. It’s a bit of a detour from the main road, on a narrow road, but I highly recommend it.
From the small parking lot, a trail descends down to the coast and across a bridge to the rocky island on which the fort is located.
You can walk through the various rooms, peer through the lookouts, and try to imagine what life would have been like for soldiers stationed there.
There is no entry fee for the fort.
Jinsha Village
The small village of Jinsha (津沙) at the western end of the Nangan is the prettiest village on the island (but not quite as pretty as Qinbi village on Beigan).
The drive from the main road down to the village is especially steep – you’ll be white-knuckling the brakes on your scooter the whole way down. You’ll know when to stop for the best view looking down at the village.
The road naturally leads down to the shore, where there is a flood wall with a tiny military cave hideout in it.
Right next to it, a staircase ascends to some of exceptionally picturesque stone houses, characteristic of the Matsu Islands (see pic below).
There are a handful of guesthouses in traditional stone houses (see the “where to stay in Matsu” section above). They would be a fantastic place to stay, if you don’t mind being a little far away from everything.
To leave the village, there’s a narrow coastal road to the next attraction, or you can return to the main road (the way you came). For the latter, it will be a very steep uphill ascent on a scooter. Don’t hesitate – just crank the gas the whole way and you’ll make it up!
Yuntaishan Lookout
Returning to the main round-island road, you can continue uphill on another small road to Yuntaishan (雲台山), the highest point on the island.
There you’ll find a military station and jaw-dropping lookout platform. From there, you can clearly see the coast of China and several neighboring islands, with detailed signs to tell you what’s what.
A cool fact: this is #98 on Taiwan’s list of xiao baiyue (小百岳 or “Little 100 peaks”). (Read more fun facts about Taiwan here).
The road up is steep, but again, you can do it by scooter. Drive up here for awesome sunrises and/or sunsets.
Matsu Tianhou Temple
Returning to the main road and going north, the next major stop is Matsu Tianhou Temple (馬祖天后宮). “Tianhou” or “Heavenly Mother” is another name for Matsu. The temple is the most sacred place in the Matsu Islands.
Supposedly, when the relic of Matsu’s body washed up on the shore of Nangan, it was interred at this location. Locals come here to pray to Matsu for safety at sea or other wishes.
From the temple, you can see the Matsu Statue towering on a hill up the coast. When we visited, there were some military landing crafts (for transporting soldiers or tanks to shore) docked on and just off the beach.
The street leading to the temple, Magong Food Street (馬港美食街), is lined with small restaurants serving local specialties like lao jiu mian, sweet potato dumplings, and jiguang buns.
We stopped here for lunch during our round-island drive.
Giant Matsu Statue
The 28.8-meter statue of Matsu is an unmissable attraction on Nangan. She stands on a deck shaped like a ship’s prow, on top of a hill, facing the sea.
If you want it to feel like a bit of a pilgrimage, you can park at the bottom and walk up several hundred stairs to the statue. Even better, you can take a series of stairs all the way from Tianhou Temple (you can see these stairs in the cover image of this article).
If stairs aren’t your thing, the narrow road continues all the way to the top (the base of the statue).
Matsu Blue Tears Ecological Museum
For a guaranteed Blue Tears experience, you can always see them at the Blue Tears Museum (藍眼淚生態館). The museum is run by National Taiwan Ocean University (南竿西尾境天母宮).
When we visited, we first watched an introductory 3D film shown on the walls and floor of a room. It was visually fun but we didn’t really learn anything.
Then we got to enter a dark room with large petri dishes containing blue tears. Each person gets a dropper – when you use it to make drops in the water, the Blue Tears appear.
The price is a little steep, at TWD 350 per person (250 for kids), but this was the best Blue Tears experience we had on the island, so it was worth it for us.
You’re supposed to make a reservation by phone (08-362-3338) before coming, and they are closed from 12-1:30 for lunch.
There’s also a café on site and some cute Blue Tears stuffies for sale. The beach next to the museum is where we saw a hint of Blue Tears one night. It’s a steep drive from the main road down to the museum.
Furen Café
We had a lovely stop at Furen Café (夫人咖啡館) in a secluded spot on the northwest coast of the island.
The café is in a traditional house overlooking the coast and run by a lovely old couple. There are some interesting mementos and military photographs inside and a resident dog and several cats.
We enjoyed some tasty drinks here and a few local specialties like Buddha’s Hand barnacles. There’s a minimum charge of TWD 150 per person.
Victory Fort
Driving back along the north coast of Nangan, there’s another military bunker just before Fu’ao Harbor. Called Victory Fort (勝利堡), it is a smaller version of Iron Fort.
It’s not quite as impressive as the latter, but it’s also easier to visit, as it’s right on the main road, and still worth a stop.
It’s only marked in Mandarin on GoogleMaps.
Qingshui Archway
The Qingshui Archway (清水牌樓) at the entrance to a small alley next to 7-Eleven is one of the most iconic scenes of the Matsu Islands.
The historical archway is topped with the KMT symbol and has the characters 建設第一、民生至上 (buildings first, people’s livelihood first), referring to the way era and need to rebuild things for people to live.
It is a photo hot spot, and the alley has several local restaurants.
Zhenge Daidian Memorial Park
There are a few other possible stops around here which I didn’t bother with:
Victory Lodge (a military structure for visiting VIPs built into the mountain), Matsu Folklore Museum (closed when I went), and Chiang Ching-kuo Memorial Hall (meh…) The latter two will require a brief detour from the main road.
But you can’t help but notice Zhenge Daidian Memorial Park (枕戈待旦紀念公園). The park includes a set of staircases up to a Chiang Kai-shek statue (above pic) and a large monument facing the sea (below pic).
Facing the harbor, the monument has the red characters 枕戈待旦 (be ready for battle) emblazoned on it for all arrivals to see. The characters are written right to left, as they are traditionally done.
The main round-island road passes right beside the CKS statue, with a small parking lot if you want to visit it. To visit the monument with the red characters, there’s a smaller side road going up to it from behind. There’s a restaurant with sea view on site (visible in the above photo).
Fu’ao Harbor
Even if you aren’t taking a ship from Nangan to Keelung or any of the other islands nearby, you may still want to visit Nangan Fu’ao Harbor (南竿福澳港) for a couple reasons.
One would be to visit Starbucks Coffee Matsu, one of the most beautifully located Starbucks in Taiwan. The café overlooks the harbor and has the shape of a ship. Starbucks fans will note that it’s the northernmost Starbucks in the country.
Outside the port ticket office and ship boarding area, you’ll see a long string of Mandarin characters along the road here. Again, these are telling people to be ready to fight and take back the Mainland.
Niujiao Temple
Coming full circle, there’s a small village and bay just north of Jieshou village and Nangan Airport called Niujiao (牛峰). Right on the little bay, there’s a vibrant red temple called Niujiao Bay Wuling Temple (牛峰境五靈公).
The temple and its bay-side location is stunning, especially in the late afternoon setting sun.
Things to Do on Beigan Island
Beigan (北竿 or “north pole”) is a 20-minute ferry ride from Nangan Island. Ferries depart regularly from Fu’ao Harbor on Nangan and arrive at Baisha Harbor at the southern end of Beigan Island.
You can see the main highlights of Beigan, including Banli Beach, Matsu Broadcast Station, and Qinbi Village, in half a day. With more time, you could add Tanghou Beach and Luoshan Nature Reserve at the eastern end of the island.
Banli Beach
The first thing we did after arriving at Baisha Harbor and renting a scooter was ride to Banli Beach.
This was the prettiest beach we saw on Matsu Islands (although we certainly didn’t see them all, or even close). My kids enjoyed playing on this beach, but the surf was too rough/dangerous for swimming.
Next to the beach, we parked at Banli Tianhou Temple (坂里天后宮), a small, colorful, toy-like temple dedicated to Matsu. We saw offerings of lipstick and nail polish to her inside it.
Right next to it is a small shrine dedicated to a deceased infant who is believed to abduct local children for companionship.
Across the street, also watch for a string of Qing Dynasty stone and timber houses, including Banli Mansion (坂里大宅).
Matsu Broadcast Station
Just before reaching Qinbi Village, the road passes one of the quirkiest sights in the Matsu Islands.
Matsu Broadcast Station (馬祖播音站) is where the ROC army once placed a huge wall of speakers, which they used to broadcast Taiwanese songs towards the Mainland. Mainly they would do this to piss them off.
Today, the wall still stands but speakers are no longer in it. It survives as a tourist attraction with some fun added statues (see below). There is another such wall but even larger on the Kinmen islands.
Qinbi Village
Qinbi Village (芹壁聚落) is said to be the prettiest village in all of the Matsu Islands, and we agree. Looking down at the turquoise sea from one the patios of its hillside stone houses, it definitely has Mediterranean vibes.
The village is considered the quintessential example of Matsu Islands architecture. The granite houses were mostly built by the Chen family from Fujian, but many were abandoned when the fishing industry declined in the 1970s.
You can park on the main road at the bottom of the village, beside a tiny, secluded beach, and then walk up many stairs into the village.
We had a lunch of boozy lao jiu mian (lao jiu noodles, see the “food and drink” section at the end) at Jingwo Xiaochi (here), one of the only dining options in town.
For a more adventurous approach, it’s possible to drive up behind the village then walk the Qinbi Trail (芹壁步道) down into it.
Qiaozi Village
We rode our scooters all the way to Qiaozi Village (橋仔聚落) at the northern end of the island. The tiny, once prosperous but now largely abandoned fishing village is famous for having more gods than people.
There are eight temples in the village, three of which are connected and facing the sea. A few temples there honor gods that you won’t find anywhere else in Taiwan, including General Lobster (龍蝦將軍) and White Horse God (白馬大王).
You can park at the fountain of yellow croakers (a kind of fish) when you arrive. My kids enjoyed walking down to the small beach next to the harbor.
Tanghou Beach and Luoshan Nature Trail
While we never made it, you can drive through a tunnel under Beigan’s airport to Tanghou Beach (塘後道沙灘) and Luoshan Nature Trail (螺蚌山自然步道).
The trail is said to be one of the best on Matsu Islands. It is 840 meters (one-way) and follows a ridge to the southeastern end of the island.
Expect stairs, windy, and awesome coastal views.
Other Islands in Matsu
While Nangan and Beigan are the main two islands which most people visit in Matsu, you may also consider adding a stop at Daqiu Island on your Beigan day, or an overnight trip to Dongyin, the 3rd largest island in the archipelago.
Daqiu Island
Just north of Beigan, Daqiu Island (大坵島) is mainly known for its resident population of a couple hundred sika deer.
The sika deer were originally raised as food for soldiers stationed in Matsu Islands. The soldiers didn’t like the meat so they sent them to this island.
There used to be some fishing families and soldiers on the island, but today, apparently only one guy still lives there.
In my original Matsu Islands itinerary, I planned to take a morning ferry from Fu’ao Harbor on Nangan to Daqiu and walk around it for a couple hours to see the deer. Then we would take a ferry from Daqiu to Beigan, explore it for a few hours, and take one of the many ferries from Beigan back to Nangan at the end.
However, traveling with young kids and two elderly, I decided at the last minute to skip Daqiu because Beigan already seemed like a big day for us and it was very hot out.
Dongyin Island
We also never made it to Dongyin Island (東引島), the third largest island in the archipelago, as it is quite a ways away from the others.
Dongyin does have flights to Songshan Airport and the ferry from Keelung to Nangan also stops there.
If you’re looking for an even more off-the-beaten-track experience on Matsu Islands, do consider it.
The island has an iconic lighthouse, cliffside lookouts and trails, and Andong Tunnel, a deep tunnel used by the military.
Matsu Foods & Drinks
Eating was one of the major highlights of our visit to Matsu Islands. We found an interesting mix of Taiwanese and Fujianese foods in local restaurants (keeping in mind here that many “Taiwanese” foods actually originated in Fujian!)
A couple examples of Fujianese foods we found in Matsu were ding bian cuo (鼎邊銼), a soup with noodles scrape from the side of a pot, and little pork dumplings called yan jiao (燕餃), with yan meaning “swallow” (the bird).
While Kinmen is famous across Taiwan for its Kaohliang (distilled sorghum liquor), Matsu Islands make a similar firewater called lao jiu (老酒 or “old liquor”).
Besides drinking it directly, they also use it in cooking. Lao jiu mian (老酒麵) is a very common local dish of vermicelli noodles with egg, pork and a hearty splash of the liquor. We also saw lao jiu lattes at FamilyMart there.
One bi-product of the liquor distillation process is lees (紅糟), or dead red yeast. In Matsu Islands, we found they add the lees to their rice, which gives the rice a red color and subtle flavor.
Another unique local dish is jiguang buns (繼光餅), which were once a staple among soldiers on the island. These are very much like a bagel with sesame seeds. They cut it open and put egg and meat or oysters inside. I shared a few pics of these buns above in the article.
Yet another is sweet potato dumplings (黃金地瓜餃). These could be fried and served with sugar like a dessert, but we also found them in some sweet and even savoury soups. In soup, the skin becomes more see-through.
Matsu Islands also have some very interesting seafoods which were all new to me.
These included razor clams (竹蟶), which are in a long skinny tube, Japanese goose barnacles (龜足), which they call “Buddha’s hand” (佛手), long and skinny white hairtail fish (白帶魚), and extra plump mussels (淡菜).
Best Restaurants and Bars
On Nangan, the best place for breakfast is Jieshou Market (see my specific recommendations in the “Jieshou Market” section in this article). In the evening, there’s also this small restaurant-bar next to the market.
For lunch, we tended to eat anywhere we could find while touring around.
We had lunch on Magong Food Street (馬港美食街) near Matsu Tianhou Temple because that’s where we happened to be around lunch. There are multiple restaurants to choose from on the street, and most have pictures of the foods, including jiguang buns, sweet potato noodles, and lao jiu mian.
For dinner, I recommend making a reservation at one of the island’s restaurants. Restaurants on the island are limited and all tourists want to eat out every night, so there is demand for seats.
We had excellent meals at this restaurant near Fu’ao Harbor and this restaurant in Niujiao Village. I chose these two restaurants after reading lots of reviews on GoogleMaps.
Both restaurants offered set meals with multiple dishes. We just told them how many people we had. They decide the menu every night, so what you get is kind of a surprise.
For both, we had to choose from three price levels – if you choose a higher one, it will just have a few fancier (usually seafood) dishes. It wasn’t clear on the phone exactly what dishes these would be, so we just randomly chose a level. Ask your hotel to help you call if needed.
On Beigan, we only had a quick lunch of lao jiu mian at this restaurant in Qinbi village. If you spend the night on Beigan, there are a few barbecue restaurants in the main town next to the airport.
(My wife was slightly annoyed that I chose to stay in Nangan, because it doesn’t have any barbecue restaurants. Taiwanese always like to have barbecue when they visit the offshore islands of Taiwan…)
In the evening on Beigan, try this small cocktail bar near Banli beach.
There are a handful of convenience stores (7-Eleven and FamilyMart) on Nangan, and only three on Beigan.
There are a few ATMs on Nangan and Beigan, but your foreign card may or may not work. Always bring enough cash for your whole trip when visiting Taiwan’s offshore islands, including to pay for your guesthouse.