As October's double holidays rolled into a single extended break, residents of Taiwan turned their gaze to the Chinese mainland in record numbers. At Taoyuan International Airport, check-in lines stretched as travelers loaded suitcases for everything from Beijing's historic museums to Zhangjiajie's iconic peaks.
Between October 3 and 11, Taoyuan Airport estimated 1.51 million passenger trips to the Chinese mainland. And statistics from the transport department of the island of Taiwan show that over 1.5 million residents visited the Chinese mainland in just the first half of the year, despite a level-orange alert and a ban on group tours imposed by Taiwan authorities.
Beyond Fujian Province, an increasing wave of island travelers is venturing inland for immersive experiences. In Chengdu's night markets, they sample spicy street food, while in Shenzhen they marvel at futuristic skylines—all enabled by seamless mobile payment apps like Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Take Hsu, a resident of Taipei, who with two friends set off on a five-day journey through Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. Thanks to support from her friends on the mainland, she linked her Taiwan phone number and bank cards to these apps. "Just a few clicks on the phone, and everything is done. It's very easy," she says.
The Chinese mainland has rolled out measures to greet residents of Taiwan holding mainland travel permits, allowing them to cross the Taiwan Strait without extra endorsements and linking Taiwan phone numbers and bank cards to local payment platforms. As convenience grows, so does curiosity—residents of Taiwan are charting new itineraries beyond familiar ports, revealing fresh travel trends across the region.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
