Qimei

— My next trip, by private fishing boat, was to the island of Qimei, some 25 miles from Magong harbor. My companions on the trip out included a pig, a goat, several chickens, and a wide assortment of foods, household articles, and building supplies. This was because almost everything used in the outer islands has to be shipped in from Magong and Taiwan. Qimei, which means literally "Seven Beauties," is the southernmost island of the Pescadores. Two miles long by 2 miles wides^([sic – meaning wide]), it has a population of about 5,500 people living in its six villages. A few days before I arrived there, a refugee boat from mainland China had landed on Qimei. In such cases, the government usually gives the people a propaganda tour of Taiwan and, if they decide to stay, settles them in Magong or Taipei.