Guningtou Quemoy B&B

Really good!

The owners are warm and welcoming, and they have lots of ideas about Kinmen. If you want to get to know the island better or have a deeper trip with time to talk things through, ask them for tips at Yangwanyi. Staying here feels a bit like chatting with neighbors, since the owners live in the house too. It’s an old, two-story Western-style house, now a cozy place for visitors to Beishan. During the Battle of Guningtou, the National Revolutionary Army used it as a military command post. The owners have brought a lot of fresh ideas to the place while keeping its traditional character. They don’t provide toothbrushes, toothpaste, or towels as part of their effort to be environmentally conscious, but shampoo, shower gel, and hair dryers are available. The one inconvenience in my room was the lack of electrical outlets, which comes with the building’s design. If you use lots of electronic devices, that could be a bit of a hassle. Still, it’s a good chance to put your phone aside and have a proper chat with the owners.

I only saw the outside and didn’t stay, though it seems to be a guesthouse now. Even from the street, the building’s beauty and unmistakable quality lifted my spirits, and I found it hard to leave. Taiwan’s National Cultural Heritage Network lists it as Li Sen-mao Mansion, built in 1924 by Li Sen-mao, who made his fortune in the Philippines. Its records describe a five-legged mansion with a dragon guardian on the right, a water-shaped curve in the wall, and a facade with regional and folk-art features. They also call it an important work of the overseas Filipino community, built during a transition between Chinese and Western methods and unique in architectural history. Those descriptions seem right to me, but they don’t capture all the beauty I see in it. The mansion looks even lovelier under the lights at midnight. I can only imagine how delightful Shostakovich’s Second Waltz would sound there. Above the gate, the words "Longxi Yanpai" probably refer to the prestigious Li family, said to have included members of the Tang imperial family. The drama of their family’s journey across the continent over generations, finally ending up here, makes the building even more impressive alongside that elegant, melancholic melody.

Beishan is a good base for seeing the Broadcasting Wall, where you can listen to Teresa Teng, as well as the Guningtou Battle History Museum, Shuiwei Pagoda, Sanyan Well, and the old houses and Western-style buildings. Learning about the battle at the museum made our hotel stay feel more meaningful. Shuiwei Pagoda was a sight I hadn’t seen in Taiwan, and comparing Sanyan Well with Penghu’s Siyan Well was interesting. The old buildings let you see traces of the past. We stayed in two four-person rooms and one double room. The double was downstairs. Since it’s an old house, sound carries, but because we were traveling with friends, it wasn’t much of an issue. One four-person room had two large beds, plus a loft that could sleep four more, making eight in all. With eight people sharing, though, everyone would use the same bathroom. There isn’t space in the old house to add another. The owner prepared a thoughtful, nutritious breakfast. Sweet potato leaves grow right outside the guesthouse, and we saw the owner picking some while we looked out from the second floor that morning. It was a slow, careful job. The village is so peaceful from the second-floor balcony in the morning. Western-style houses and traditional dwellings are both worth experiencing in Kinmen, and the Western-style gadgets are my favorite. The guesthouse also runs guided oyster-digging tours during oyster season, but we missed out because we visited in winter.