750 set to make trip to Taiwan

More than 750 people will be onboard the first direct tourist charter flights from the mainland to Taiwan on Friday, the Cross-Straits Tourism Exchange Association (CTEA) said yesterday. Zhu Shanzhong, the association's secretary-general, told a press conference that tour groups - the first since the signing last month of a landmark agreement allowing direct flights - will fly from five cities and will be headed by CTEA Chairman Shao Qiwei. A total of 353 people will fly from Beijing, while four other groups, each comprising 100 travelers, will leave from Shanghai, Nanjing, Xiamen and Guangzhou, Zhu said. The Beijing group will comprise mostly members of the public, but also journalists and representatives from the tourism industry for the purpose of exchange and inspection, he said, without giving exact numbers. The tourists... [read full story]