The “Beautiful Island” wears a necklace of rails and new roads dangling from Taipei, such as the 17-mile MacArthur Expressway linking the capital to the seaport of Chilung. Taiwan has two other international seaports —recently opened Hualien, on the east coast, and Kaohsiung, facing the mainland a scant 200 miles away.]
Chi-lung's foreign and domestic imports are much greater than exports. It is a major fishing centre, with freezing factories, a marine products school and a meteorological station. Closely associated with coal and power, Chi-lung's industries include fertilizer factories several shipbuilding yards, a grain elevator, a flour mill and a bicycle plant.
However, during July, Taiwan's hottest month, the heat is practically as great in the north as in the south: For that month the average temperature at Chi-lung is 28.2° C, while at the southern tip of the island it is 27.4° C, a difference of only 0.8° C.
They splashed down in the shipping lanes adjacent to Taiwan's two principal seaports: first Kaohsiung in the south, then Chilung in the north, then south again to Kaohsiung.[…] 3. March 8, 1996:* One M-9 is fired over Taipei landing in shipping lanes off Chilung.]
The island is tiny compared to China, its nearest neighbor. It stretches for just 230 miles from north to south, and it is less than half as wide. It is possible to breakfast on steamed buns and tea in the northern port city of Chi-lung and reach the southernmost tip of the island in time for wanfan, the evening rice, as the Taiwanese call dinner.
Meanwhile, on the seas beneath the endless air battles, the Chinese Navy continued to deploy their warships, running them down from the Northern Fleet to form a silent blockade of the great port of Chi-lung, home of Taiwan's 3rd Naval District and the northern patrol squadron. The Taiwan Air Force, its airfields and runways severely damaged, half their pilots now dead or ' missing, spent the nights licking their wounds, repairing airstrips, fueling fighter aircraft ready to face the Dragon again on the following day. All the while the Chinese warships moved into control positions, dominating the Strait, establishing safe lines of communication and supply. Overhead, to the north of the island. Special Forces were packed into aircraft dropping behind Taiwan's beaches to the west of Chi-lung, the remote area chosen by Admiral Zhang and his senior commanders for the opening beach-head of the conflict.
