Passenger volume on ferries traveling between Pingtan Island in China’s Fujian Province and Taipei Port (台北港) last year rose 8 percent from 2016, despite a decline in the number of Chinese tourists, Taiwan International Ports Corp said yesterday.
Pingtan Island, also known as Haitan Island, is the largest island in Fujian Province and the fourth-largest island in China. It is close to Fuzhou, the capital of the Chinese province.
Beijing in 2009 established a comprehensive experimental zone on the island in a bid to develop a new model of economic exchange with Taiwanese.
Visitors between Taipei and Fuzhou used to depend heavily on air transportation, said Lin Suru (林素如), secretary-general of the company’s branch in Keelung Port, but the emergence of passenger shipping services has changed the dynamics of traveling across the Taiwan Strait for frequent travelers.
Fujian Cross Strait Ferry Corp and Taipei-based Uni-Wagen Marine are the only two ferry operators on the Taipei-Pingtan route, Lin said.
Their ships are the Haixiahao (海峽號) and Natchan Rera (麗娜輪) respectively. The former launched in October 2013, while the latter in May 2014.
The port company’s report showed that 77,389 people accessed the ferry service offered by either of the operators last year.
The service is mostly used by Taiwanese businesspeople and Chinese tourists on package tours, it said, adding that the latter slightly outnumber the former.
Commenting on the mild increase in passengers, Lin said that the distance between Pingtan Island and Taipei Port is about 92 nautical miles (170.4km).
The estimated travel time for ferry travelers is about three hours.
The Natchan Rera leaves Taipei Port on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and the Haixiahao departs Pingtan Island at noon on Fridays and Saturdays, Lin said, adding that the arrangement allows travelers to plan their tours with flexibility.
As a deep-water port in northern Taiwan, Taipei Port is close to Taipei and New Taipei City and is about a 20-minute drive to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Lin said, adding that the growth in cross-strait passengers would not only boost the economy and tourism in New Taipei City, but it also would provide a stimulus for cross-strait tourism.
The amount of cargo handled at Taipei Port also increased.
Cargo volume in the port’s express delivery zone rose from 90 kg in 2016 to 300 kg last year, Lin said.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS