(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-03 21:04

SHANGHAI - Charter flights between Chinese mainland and Taiwan started on Tuesday for a national holiday.

A China Airlines flight carrying around 150 people from Taiwan arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 10:30 a.m. and returned to Taipei with 158 passengers about 40 minutes later.

Nineteen round-trip flights across the Taiwan Straits were arranged for the traditional Duanwu, or Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 8 this year, from June 3 to 15.

Shanghai has 14 round-trip charter flights, which are expected to carry 6,000 passengers in total.

Other mainland cities involved in the charger flights are Beijing, Guangzhou and Xiamen. Beijing has one round-trip flight. Guangzhou and Xiamen have two each.

Carriers flying the direct routes are Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Xiamen Airlines and Shanghai Airlines on the mainland, and China Airlines, Mandarin Airlines, EVA Air, UNI Air and TransAsia Airways in Taiwan.

The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is for commemorating a patriotic Chinese poet who lived more than 2,000 years ago.

During the festival, boat races are held and zongzi -- pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves -- are eaten.