Typhoon Soudelor topples hilarious statue of military engineers in Matsu  Netizens: Senior should take a break

Tourism Center / Taipei Report

After Typhoon Soudelor left Taiwan’s main island, the Matsu region was subsequently hit on the evening of the 13th with strong winds and heavy rain. Two statues of military engineers in front of the famous local attraction “Beihai Tunnel” could not withstand the force of the wind — one fell flat on the ground, while the other landed in a “resting pose,” prompting local residents to joke: “Even the seniors need to take a break!”


▲The “damaged” statues are located in front of Beihai Tunnel in Nangan Township. Beihai Tunnel is a famous Matsu attraction, stretching 640 meters in length. It was constructed as an underground wharf for the then “Beihai Project,” designed to accommodate over a hundred patrol boats. The tunnel was dug manually, chisel by chisel, along with controlled explosives — an extremely difficult feat that could be described as nothing short of miraculous, with many engineers sacrificing their lives during its construction. The memorial sculpture at the tunnel entrance depicts the scene of engineers building the tunnel, with five statues working together. Visitors often see these hardworking “seniors” before entering the tunnel.




These Beihai Tunnel statues were erected in 1990 (the 79th year of the Republic of China). For over two decades, they had withstood numerous typhoons unscathed. This time, however, Typhoon Soudelor brought fierce winds and heavy rain, causing two of the military engineer statues to snap off. What was once a group “working together” is now one lying down as if doing push-ups, while another has fallen neatly from its base, appearing to be taking a rest. Netizens left comments such as: “That elder sitting there has worked hard his whole life!” and “Senior’s resting while junior does push-ups.”

Beihai Tunnel is open to the public for visits. In addition to walking along the pathway for nearly 30 minutes to experience the sweat and toil of the soldiers who built the tunnel back in the day, visitors can also take a canoe ride to soak in the wartime atmosphere within the tunnel.