Fujian hosts 9 million Taiwanese since 1987

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-06 19:36

XIAMEN - The Fujian Province in eastern China has hosted more than 9 million Taiwan visitors since travel from Taiwan to the mainland was first permitted in 1987, according to a local tourism official.

About 800,000 Taiwanese visited the province last year, accounting for 30 percent of the tourists from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and abroad, Guo Hengming, Fujian provincial tourism bureau director, said here on Friday.

The figure established Fujian's position as one of the favored destinations for Taiwanese, he said. He attributed the situation to increasing exchanges and travel between the two sides.

There are now four direct shipping routes linking the coastal province with Taiwan across 120 km of sea.

Two opened in 2001, linking Xiamen and Mawei in Fujian with Jinmen and Mawei in Taiwan. The third opened in 2006 linking Quanzhou, Fujian, and Jinmen, Taiwan.

The fourth cross-Strait direct sea route, running between Xiamen and Jinmen, opened on Sunday, cutting the travel time from 80 minutes to 25 minutes.

Fujian is also believed to be the ancestral home to more than 80 percent of the island's 23 million people.

Many Taiwanese visit Fujian each year, to pay tribute to their ancestors or worship Mazu (the Queen of Heaven), the protective goddess who is worshipped by people across the Taiwan Strait.