Geographical surroundings
Located off the territorial waters from Putien County of Fujian Providence, Wuchiou Township consists of two villages, namely, Dachiou and Xiaochiou, with a total area of roughly 2.6 square kilometers. Situated between Kinmen County and Lianjiang County, Wuchiou serves as a pivotal town guarding the safety of the Taiwanese Straits and is an administrative region of Kinmen County Government. To the east is Taichung (with a distance of 73 nautical miles), to the southwest is Kinmen (with a distance of 73 nautical miles), to the northeast is Matsu (86 nautical miles), to the north is Nanzi Island (12 nautical miles) and Lusi Island (9 nautical miles) and to the west is Meizhou Island (18 nautical miles). Wuchiou is separated from Taiwan Island by the Taiwanese Straits.
Population structure
Most of the residents had immigrated from Putien and speak Xinghua dialect and Chinese. The island had seen as many as more than one thousand people, with fishing as a walk of life. In recent decades, many residents have been moving to Taiwan. At present, only 553 people are registered at this island, with only 40 persons living there. Most of them are middle-aged and silver-haired. People prefer to come back during winter or summer vacations, as well as laver season, for a temporary visit.
Economic Activities
In old days, Wuchiou had been rich in fish resources, which was the main source of income for residents here. As years passed, landings had greatly dwindled, coupled with fishing boats from the mainland China engaged in colossal fishing with explosives, the residents here could barely make a living by fishing. At present, they are making a living by laver production, random fishing, picking shells and running small shops.
Transportation
1. Personnel and materials:
The people of the township and civilians who desire to visit the county government for business would ride the Kinmen Ferrier, which is owned by the military and departs every 15 days. The delivery of drinking water or household substances is transported to Dachiou by Dahua Ferrier every 15 days, which is further delivered to Xiaochiou by a skiff.
Transportation between Dachiou and Xiaochiou:
With a distance of 900m, people at Dachiou and Xiaochiou relied on shanpan in the past. Otherwise, they had to depend on the military skiff. The county government had won a subsidy in 2008 and built “Wuchiou No. 1” boat for Wuchiou Township in an attempt to solve the transportation issue and improve the safety of the residents.