Xiamen relaunches shipping route to Kaohsiung

A total of 573 tourists from the Chinese mainland take the Xiamen-Kaohsiung shipping route to Kaohsiung in Taiwan. [Photo/sunnews.cn]

The Xiamen-Kaohsiung ferry route was temporarily reopened on April 29 after a five-year suspension, as 573 passengers boarded the COSCO Star ship headed for the Taiwan city of Kaohsiung on April 29.

"We arrived in Kaohsiung after just one night," said a Xiamen resident.

The route is operated by Xiamen Mintai Ferry Co and takes about 14 hours to complete. The low price (costing just one quarter the price of a plane ticket) and unique scenery along the route make it a popular choice among tourists to Taiwan.

According to Mintai Ferry, the COSCO Star is expected to run the Xiamen-Kaohsiung route every Monday, with a total of 36 journeys this year.

Despite the route's popularity since its launch in 2013, it was temporarily suspended a year later for various reasons. However, it was recently reopened due to increasing demand among people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

According to Wang Jianyi, executive manager of Mintai Ferry, the COSCO Star is fully booked until the end of May.

Since it began operating in 2013, the COSCO Star has run roughly 1,300 trips and transported more than 460,000 passengers, 80,000 containers, 1,800 tons of sea food, 1,650 vehicles, and 1,520 boxes of letters and parcels.

"Fujian is looking to strengthen cross-Straits ties in order to build the province into the first mainland home for Taiwan people," said Wang, noting that the province will continue working to build a deeper relationship with Taiwan.