Broadcasting stations on both sides are now popular tourist attractions. In Xiamen, visitors pose in front of a horn that is believed to be the world's largest military speaker. In Jinmen, the old propaganda is still played today to entertain tourists, but at a much lower volume.

In 2001, passenger, trade and postal links were restored between Jinmen and Xiamen. Seven years later, direct air, sea and postal links were launched between the mainland and Taiwan.

In August, a water pipeline connecting Fujian to Jinmen went into operation, delivering fresh supplies from the mainland to meet the demand on the island.

Xiamen, once the front line of tension, now accommodates more than 120,000 people from Taiwan.

Chen Ching-lung, who settled in Xiamen and ran a hostel in the east of the city, said he had always dreamed of meeting Chen Feifei.

"I had heard her voice for years but never had a chance to know what she was like," he added.

The one-time foes, despite their shared family name, finally met at Chen Feifei's home in Xiamen.

Sharing a pot of oolong tea, the two recalled the songs of Teresa Teng, one of the most successful singers from Taiwan, whose popularity was at its peak throughout the 1970s and '80s, and later reached the other side of the Straits.

Teng's love-themed folk songs and ballads were often played by broadcasting stations on Jinmen. But her songs, like many other Western tunes, were initially considered bourgeois and decadent on the mainland and were not allowed to be broadcast publicly.

"Her singing was so soft and sweet, and many of us liked listening to her, too," Chen Feifei told her new friend.