August 23 Artillery Battle Museum

This memorial museum on Kinmen is dedicated to the 1958 artillery conflict between Taiwan and China. It contains 12 exhibition areas displaying military artifacts, documents, photographs, and scale models related to that period.

In 1958, the Kinmen archipelago faced an intense bombardment from mainland China that lasted 44 days. This conflict fundamentally changed the military and political landscape of the region.

The memorial honours those who died during the bombardment through inscribed names at the entrance. Local residents still speak about how the conflict shaped the island's identity and its relationship with the mainland.

You can reach the island by flying to Kinmen Airport from major cities like Taipei or Kaohsiung. Once there, public buses and rental vehicles provide access to the museum.

The shelling intensity during the conflict reached four shells per square meter across the island. This extreme concentration of fire remains one of the highest densities recorded in modern warfare.