Ciaozai Village [橋仔村] is located in northern Beigan [北竿]. Despite the small population, Matsu hosts many temples because throughout its history most of its residents made their living on the ocean. Religious faith is strong because of the unpredictability of the sea.
As stated in the previous post, roof tiles are not sealed, however stones are placed on tiles to secure them… this helps keep homes well ventilated and makes for easy maintenance.
The layout of Matsu’s temples is simple and the use of color is very bold. They use exaggerated eaves which are said to prevent the horizontal spread of fires.
I was able to photograph this gem while the rest of my group was busy buying snacks at a local shop up the road.
Biyuan [碧園] is located on the coastal hills of Wusha [午沙]. The road along the park’s entrance is lined with peach trees whose fruit tastes much more soar than the type I am used to.
Most of the butterflies we encountered on the trip had a beautiful orange and black coloration. We saw dozens if not over a hundred of this variety on the trail.
The trail is very well maintained and has all sorts of relics reflecting the island’s former defensive importance.
It’s times like these I want to invest in a super-zoom camera so I don’t have to get so close to my subjects:
Recently my camera has been acting a little funny on macro-mode, so I was a little surprised that the above picture came out as well as it did.
The Daily Bubble Tea 
This is another great shot. Do you know how old these places are? Who lived here – fishermen?
In the past most of the residents relied on fishing for their livelihood… Those that didn’t move after restrictions were lifted are small business owners.
As for the age of the buildings, I was half-paying attention to our guide, I spent most of the tour running ahead to take pictures before the group could catch up. I would put most of the buildings that I posted from the trip as being built before the arrival of the KMT.