2010-08-27 14:04

YINCHUAN - A tour group of 50 people from Ningxia Hui autonomous region set off on a journey to Taiwan Thursday.

This was the first tour group from Ningxia and also the first from the six inland provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland that were allowed access to Taiwan beginning July 18, according to Li Chunyang, head of the regional tourism administration of Ningxia.

These provinces and regions include the provinces of Qinghai and Gansu and Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang Uygur, and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions, said a statement by the Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association (CTEA).

The nine-day trip will include visits to major cities in Taiwan and famous tourist sites such as Sun Moon Lake, said a 67-year-old tourist, Zhang Ninglan, who applied to join the trip in May.

"I went to the United States and Australia years ago, and now my biggest dream of going to Taiwan will also come true," said Zhang.

Like Zhang, over 1 million mainland tourists are expected to visit Taiwan in 2010, said Shao Qiwei, chairman of CTEA.

In 2009, the island welcomed 606,000 tourists from the mainland.