Largest mainland group makes cross-Straits journey

By Lillian Liu (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-17 08:36

HONG KONG: Taiwan rolled out the red carpet yesterday for the largest group of mainland tourists to visit the island since direct travel links were opened last year.

About 1,600 mainland tourists arrived at the end of a 40-hour journey by ship that began on Saturday in Shanghai.

Traditional Chinese dragon and lion dancers came to greet the visitors as the ship Legend of the Seas arrived at Keelung Harbour near Taipei. Along with the dancers came local officials and hundreds of ordinary people who wanted to say hello.

"We welcome you far away friends in this warm spring when flowers are blossoming. We wish you a pleasant and smooth journey in Taiwan," Chang Tong-rong, mayor of Keelung, told the visitors.

The visitors were not like most regular tour groups. These travelers are workers for Amway China, who earned their vacations for exceptional service to their employer. Amway China is the mainland operation of the US direct selling giant Amway Corporation. Amway China plans to carry nine groups comprising 12,000 employees to experience, first hand, the island's celebrated attractions.

The visits are organized by China Travel International Ltd. The tours are for six days and seven nights. There are stopovers at the major port cities of Keelung, Hualian and Taichung.

"Most of the tourists aboard the ship are company clerks visiting Taiwan for the first time," said Yan Zhirong, a senior executive at Amway China.

The tours mean good news for Taiwan's hard hit economy.

Taiwan media says the Amway group is expected to generate more than NT$600 million ($17.44 million) in revenue for the island's retail sector.

Taiwan went to great lengths to make the tourists feel welcomed. Five officers from the Keelung immigration office joined the travelers enroute from Shanghai to complete entry procedures before the ship's arrival in Taiwan.

As the visitors make their way to visit the island's tourist highlights, special arrangements are in preparation to make their visit to each locale a festive occasion.

The "National Palace Museum", and department stores and shops around Taipei 101, the landmark skyscraper in Xinyi district, hired extra staff and set up special counters.

Taiwan signed agreements with the mainland last June paving the way for regular direct air flights and tripling the number of mainland tourists allowed to visit Taiwan per day to 3,000.

The mainland and Taiwan started direct flights and shipping services on Dec 15, 2008, ending a 59-year prohibition on travel and shipping links.