KINMEN, a cluster of tiny islands two kilometres (just over a mile) off the coast of China’s Fujian Province, bears the scars of many a past battle. Chiang Kai-shek used the archipelago for his rearguard after Mao Zedong’s forces had driven his Kuomintang (KMT) from the mainland to Taiwan. China frequently lobbed shells at Kinmen, even up to the 1970s.

Now Kinmen is facing a new threat: a water shortage. Officials say that groundwater on its largest island is being depleted. Tourism from the mainland, which has grown rapidly since 2008, when Ma Ying-jeou, a politician friendly to China, was elected president, is putting pressure on its reservoirs. More than 220,000 Chinese tourists visited Kinmen last year to see attractions including anti-landing barriers (pictured) and concrete bunkers.

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc, a big local employer, may end up suffering too. The company, founded by a KMT general in 1952 to boost the troops, produces one of the most popular brands of Kaoliang, a fiery brew made from sorghum that is Kinmen’s most famous export. It relies on pristine groundwater.