Taiwan travel
Kinmen Qionglin Village

Qionglin

Qionglin (瓊林) is one of the Cai Family’s settlement, formerly known as Pinglin (平林).
The Cai clan moved into Kinmen around the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (五代十國) (about 10th century). They have been living here more than thousand years and have developed the settlement in a enormous village. There were six Jinshis(進士, the highet certificated persons in the imperial examinations) in Ming Dynasty. At present, Qionglin Village has a considerable number of ancient houses which makes it the largest traditional village for Minnan houses.

How to get here?

From Jincheng by bus 5A, Lan 1 (about half an hour) or Taiwan Haoxing D line

Recommended Tour

• Recommended time: about 3 hours

• Ancient house
• Ancestral Hall
• Wind Lion Grandpa
• Tunnel
• Yigu Tang School
• Yangzhuo Lou Building
• Yi Men San Jie Paifang
• Note: 1. Many attractions are private property, please respect the residents. 2. Please do not make noise in the old streets and alleys

Qionglin Ancient House

Qionglin Village has about 400 traditional buildings and all the forms of the Kinmen Ancient House layouts, which can be considered as an open-air museum of Minnan folk houses.

Qionglin Ancestral Hall

In ancient China, every family has its own ancestral hall. Kinmen is not an exception. Almost every Kinmen village is based on a single family, each has an ancestral hall. However, Cai family is so giant that there are seven existing ancestral halls in Qionglin Village.

Qionglin Wind Lion (瓊林風獅爺)

Tunnel

The Tunnel is the largest onein Kinmen, with a total length of 1355m. Its entrance is in the Qionglin Office and the exit is around the biggest Qionglin Wind Lion. Opening hours: 08:30 – 17:00 daily (cleaning fee 10 yuan)

Yigu Tang (怡穀堂)

Built around the 19th century , Yigu Tang was the first private school of Qionglin. Half a century later, it was converted into a primary school and then a military office.

Yangzhuo Lou Building (Cai Jiazhong Memorial Hall) (養拙樓)

Cai Jiazhong rua a soap business in Southeast Asia which was quite successful. He returned to his hometown to remodel his old house into a Western-style building. However, due to the wars, it has been used by the Taiwan military as a office.

Yimen Sanjie Paifang (一門三節坊)

Built in 1831 , Yimen Sanjie Paifang is located at the entrance of Qionglin Village. One of the only three remaining Qing Dynasty Paifang in Kinmen, telling a story of three widows.

During the Qing Dynasty, Chen Shi, the wife of Cai Zhonghuan, was widowed at the age of 29. She raised her young three sons by herself. Among them died when his wife was 21 years old. And his another died at the age of 29, leaving has wife a widow, too. To memorize the devotion of these three widows, the government set up this Paifang.

Tile walls

The tile wall is located near the Baohu temple at the entrance of Qionglin Village. It is a delicate work of the local artist Mr. Wu Dingxin.