About Kinmen
Kinmen is an outlying island in the Taiwan Strait . After being caught up in the civil war between the Communist and the Nationalist forces, the island was once a forbidden ground to visitors. As a result, Kinmen maintains its old-world charm and there are no McDonalds to be found here.
What Kinmen does offer are an ecosystem that attracts hundreds of species of migratory birds, rich cultural heritage, traditional Minnan style architecture, sandy beaches, vast intertidal zones, friendly people and, last but not the least, the famous Kaoliang, a strong distilled liquor made from fermented sorghum.
About my story
If life is a journey, then Otter’s Home is an unexpected turn on my journey.
An unplanned trip to Kinmen led to my operating two homestays.
One is a restored traditional Minnan Style house and the other is a restored old Western-Style house. These are my two homes on the island, located in Guningtou near Ci Lake (Cihu) and at the Shuangli lakeshore. The willows growing around the lake makes the scenery resemble beautiful Jiangnan riverside in China .
Here you can find otters keeping you company on your evening stroll. You will be neighbors with hundreds of thousands of cormorants ,who never failing to keep their promise to Kinmen, fly from Siberia every year in October to winter here until departing in March. I often bump into ring-necked pheasants on my daily drive, who occasionally, but unintentionally, disrupt the traffic! In time my unplanned visit became a long term
commitment. I forgot about my next planned destination and instead discovered the place where I belonged. I found my Shangri-la at the Shuangli lakeshore. I invite you to see the beauty of Kinmen through your own eyes!
Otter’s Home Inns
-Traditional Minnan Style House
-Traditional Minnan Style House
Address: 5-6 South Hill, Jinning Township , Kinmen County
We invite you to travel back to simpler times through the comforting smell of the old cedar wood in this fully restored century old traditional house.
Built in 1815 during the Qing Dynasty, the house was one of the first buildings constructed in Guningtou. The Kinmen National Park restored it to its original grandeur in recent years. The building is a traditional Minnan style three-courtyard siheyuan (Chinese quadrangle), built entirely with cedar wood. The exterior and interior details as well as the luxuriant Koji pottery ornamentation attract photographers and travelers alike.
The house is located near Ci Lake (Cihu) and Shuangli Lake .
Ci Lake is a favorite habitat to returning migratory birds and is Kinmen’s foremost bird watching area. Otter’s Hometion attract photographers and travelers alike. The house is located near Ci Lake (Cihu) and Shuangli Lake . Ci Lake is a favorite habitat to returning migratory birds and is Kinmen’s foremost bird watching area.
Otter’s Home, named by the Kinmen National Park , has six rooms that accommodate two to six people. Some rooms come with lofts, offering plenty of space for a family on vacation. I invite you to come and experience the old-time charm of my house and everything Kinmen has to offer!
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-Old Western Style House
Address: 23-3 North Hill, Jinning Township , Kinmen County
Come discover the tales of Kinmen natives by experiencing the Western-style houses they built upon their return from successful business ventures abroad in Southeast Asia.
This is a building that faithfully documented the history of Kinmen as the hometown of many expatriates who lived and worked overseas for better opportunities at the turn of 20th century. The original owner moved to Luzon in the Philippines for business and returned to Kinmen after becoming a successful merchant and accumulating the fortune required to build this two-story five-foot-way Western-style house.
The house resembles colonial style buildings found in Southeast Asia . Despite the Western appearance of its facade, the rear of the building is a traditional siheyuan (Chinese quadrangle) with a courtyard. The house has a rich history which includes occupation by the Nationalist forces during the Battle of Guningtou and use as the forward command post. Today, the bullet-riddled walls still serve as the reminder of that bitter battle.
On the terrace of the second floor, one gets a fantastic panorama of Guningtou with views of Shuangli Lake and the sunset over Ci Lake. Fully restored by the Kinmen National Park , this is one of the few inns housed in an old Western-style building on the island.
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About me (The Innkeeper)
Running an inn or a bed-and-breakfast seems to have become a popular thing to do and the industry as a whole is still booming. Some people get into this business to make a buck, for others it is a dream come true, and still others do it for the spirit of sharing their homes to other travelers. For me, it happened almost by chance, a very lucky one. A decade ago, I went on a three-week vacation to Kinmen, a place totally unknown to me at the time, to get away from my hectic work and life in the big city.
Unbeknownst to me, I would end up falling head over heels in love with the island and decide to make it my permanent home.People ask me why? Being an innkeeper is a learning experience for me.
It is my way of experiencing life.
It is my way of making new friends.
It is my way of getting to my next goal in life.
Some people document their life with a camera. Others do it with a journal. I let the people who come to stay at Otter’s Home write my stories for me.
Explore Kinmen
Popular destinations such as the Shuangli Wet Land Nature Center and the Shuangli Lake are mere minutes away by foot. Nature lovers will be happy to find a vibrant ecosystem nearby with the one and only horseshoe crab preserves as well as habitats for animals like otters, cormorants and hundreds of species of birds. The Ci Lake (Cihu) Triangle Fort is a great location for watching sunsets, strolling around at night and marveling the stars and the moon.
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Attractions of Inns
Experience for yourself the stunning beauty of rapeseed fields in spring, the sandy beaches in summer, the harvesting of sorghum in autumn, the arrival of the cormorants in winter, the broadcasting wall in Beishan, the wind lion god in Anqi, dawn and dusk over the Shuangli Lake and the many other splendors the island has to offer.
I welcome you!
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E-mail: vicoo3369@gmail.com