Kinmen receives first mainland tour group in four years

TAIPEI, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Kinmen on Sunday received its first tour group from the Chinese mainland in more than four years.

The group of 20-plus tourists arrived in Kinmen from Xiamen, Fujian Province, on the Chinese mainland, and will go on a two-day sightseeing tour that ends on Monday.

On Aug. 30, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the decision to resume allowing residents in Fujian Province to travel to Kinmen.

The Kinmen County government organized a lion-dance performance at the wharf, along with a long red banner, to welcome the tour group. Hsu Chi-hsin, chief of Kinmen's tourism department, welcomed the group at the wharf, expressing hope that the tour would pave the way for smoother and more regular cross-Strait exchanges, local media reported.

"We hope that after a long absence, the members of this first group will return to Xiamen with fond memories of Kinmen, sharing its beauty with friends and family, encouraging more mainland tourists to visit, and boosting Kinmen's tourism and local industries," the tourism department said in a press release.

Chen Yu-jen, a Kinmen legislator, urged the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to lift the current ban on tour groups from Taiwan to the mainland as soon as possible. ■