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Standing inside a large chamber - one of the few obvious, open indications of the tunnel system. While fun, and easily accessible, this bunker is no longer connected to the tunnels.
Venture deep into the ground - and the past - in this abandoned Taiwanese military jungle bunker system
Join us as we return to the dark tunnels of the Fengqi bunker system... where we discovered so much more than we had imagined!
Looking for your next adventure? How about an abandoned, labyrinthine maze of military bunkers, tunnels, and secret exits in to the high, hilly jungle overlooking the Taiwan Strait?
INDEX
BACK INTO THE DEPTHS
Discovering the lower level of the bunker system in summer 2021
PLEASE DO NOT LOOT HISTORIC SITES! When we returned to the bunkers on our third trip, these WWII era US army helmets had been looted by some VERY unscrupulous people.
On Christmas day, 2020, my girlfriend Alice and I decided to go to a nice, hilltop park and cafe overlooking the Taiwan strait. While most of the world had been consumed by covid 19, Taiwan had been blessed to have stayed free of the pandemic. We had no idea that a lazy, romantic walk would turn into an underground adventure! Fortunately, we were dressed right for hiking (as always), so when we noticed an ominous looking tunnel entrance, we had to go in for a look!
Discarded US military gear in the lower level of the bunker system. Back before the UN seat was transfered from the government in Taiwan to that in Mainland China, the US government helped fund many defense projects like this in Taiwan.
Once we returned, I excitedly published one of my earliest posts for The Map Room (which you can see below). It wasn't long before my friend Anders saw the post. He grabbed his trusty pen and pad of graph paper, headed straight over, and proceded to map out a huge portion of the underground tunnel system! It wasn't long until he published an article all about his adventure.
New sections of the bunker systerm we discovered in the lower levels
Once I saw the map, we decided to grab Johan (from Discover Taiwan with Johan) and head on over to get more details, find any missing sections, complete the map and GPX files, and of course, make a video about the whole adventure!
Exploring the underground artillery emplacements. There were at least five, by our last count, and each would have had two artillery pieces.
Once we got there, we took a left just after the entrance. I had missed this the last time with Alice and hadn't come back because it seemed to be just another minor offshoot. Boy were we wrong! There was an entire lower level below, with corridors big enough to drive trucks through, and massive chambers that once served as underground artillery emplacements! We climbed up into sighting turrents, looked at sighting charts painted on the walls, and imagined what it must have sounded like when one of the great guns went off in those caves.
A literal man cave!
Then we rounded a corner and found something we never, EVER expected to see. We were standing in a very literal man cave! It seems the owner of the cafe has converted part of the tunnels into... well, it speaks for itself. Turrets, artillery tunnels, old helmets and uniforms, spiders, bats, dirt, all of that was one thing - but this? Yes, THIS was something to remember even out of all the rest!
Spiders - both alive and much more than just dead - gave the place a truly underworld-like vibe
