Travel Boom Alert! 🌍
Hold onto your passports! Xiamen Port in southeast China's Fujian Province has just hit a massive milestone. As of Tuesday morning, the number of cross-Strait passenger trips has officially topped 1 million. Not only is this a huge number, but it's also the earliest date on record for hitting the million-mark, showing a year-on-year increase of more than 20%! 🚀
The "Mini Three Links" Magic ⛴️
A big part of this surge is coming from the Xiamen-Kinmen "Mini Three Links" route. This direct ferry service is basically the heartbeat of cross-Strait personnel exchanges, handling over 800,000 inbound and outbound trips—that's nearly a 25% jump compared to last year. To keep up with the demand, this route is now running an average of 24 round-trip sailings every single day! Talk about efficiency. ⚡
New Faces, New Adventures 🎒
What's even more exciting is the growth in first-time explorers. Data from the Gaoqi Border Inspection Station shows that more than 30,000 residents of Taiwan have visited the Chinese mainland for the first time this year, marking a staggering increase of over 60% year-on-year. 📈
Meanwhile, the flow is moving both ways, with nearly 60,000 passenger trips made by residents from Fujian Province and Shanghai heading over to Kinmen. It's clear that people are more eager than ever to connect, explore, and bridge cultures across the water. 🌊🤝
Reference(s):
Cross-Strait passenger trips top 1 million at record pace in Xiamen
cgtn.com
