HOMESICK 2000 METERS

Kinmen, a small island between Taiwan and mainland China: 　 Although only 2000 meters from the city of Xiamen, China, Kinmen is politically... More

Kinmen, a small island between Taiwan and mainland China: 　 Although only 2000 meters from the city of Xiamen, China, Kinmen is politically controlled by Taiwan. It is the \"first line of defense\" in the \"Anti-Communist Front\" against the People\'s Republic of China. 　 In 1992, Kinmen finally ended a forty-year period of martial law--the longest duration of martial law in world history. Fishermen on both sides of the 2000 meters of ocean separating Kinmen from Xiamen were the first to resume unofficial contact. It was not long before these contacts blossomed into a series of marriages consecrated on the open sea between people of both sides. 　 Hong Meiyu, a bride from Xiamen, was introduced to her husband by fishermen: The documentary begins its record with Hong Meiyu leaving her Xiamen home. Although Kinmen is clearly visible from the seashore near her home, she has to leave a day in advance of the wedding in order to travel via Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, she has to obtain a Taiwan Area Travel Permit, go back to H.K.\'s Kai Tak Airport, and then head for the airport in Taipei. Once she has arrived in Taipei, she has to change to a domestic flight before she can finally arrive at her destination in Kinmen. It takes her a full two days to make a journey of just 2000 meters! After such a long trip, Meiyu begins to really appreciate the distance separating Kinmen from her native home. In her new home in Kinmen, Meiyu is surprised to learn that she has a clear view of her family\'s home in Xiamen. The combination of incurable homesickness and inability to adapt to life in Kinmen is overwhelming. But given the length of the journey home and its exorbitant cost, how could Meiyu, a bride who came with the payment of a generous betrothal gift, ever ask to go back home? The ever present visibility of her home exacerbates her predicament. A simple two-kilometer stretch of water presents a seemingly insuperable barrier for the current age. Meiyu takes the habit of marking time by strolling down to the seashore every day to have a look at her old home. The homesickness of a Xiamen bride in Kinmen accentuates the absurdity of the distance between the two places. In order to control the number of mainlanders entering Taiwan, the Taiwanese authorities do not easily give permanent residency to mainland brides. Hong Meiyu will have to wait ten years for her chance to obtain the right to live in Taiwan. Before then, she can only spend three months of every year in Kinmen. If she applies for an extension, she can only remain for a total of six months. In other words, every six months she has to go back to mainland China. For her husband, this is another difficult to swallow part of reality. He says: \"it\'s impossible to develop our love for each other with her coming and going every six months.\" 　 His older brother voices a scathing critique of the damage done to this family by politics. If the two sides were in direct communication, the bride would not feel so homesick. If it were not for political reasons, this family would not have to be broken apart every six months. Why should average people have to suffer because of ideological opposition? 　 Nevertheless, it is still not yet possible to pass directly between Kinmen and Xiamen. One can only look into the distance. The bride from Xiamen can only stand on the shore in Kinmen and look back at her inaccessible home. 　 Since the completion of this film, Hong Meiyu gave birth to her first child. Now she is starting to worry that when she has to go back to the mainland in six months\' time, leaving her little baby behind in Kinmen, will she be sitting on the shore in Xiamen feeling homesick for the home of her baby? Close