Alternative Spring Festival Travel: Ferry services pick up slack for cross-Strait trips

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Swing by the COSCO STAR counter for a direct-trip ticket from Xiamen to Taichung. And one doesn't have to wait in line. It's only one of the many benefits of this newly-adjusted travel option.

CHANG CHIH-LUNG FROM TAICHUNG "This is very convenient for me. I've stuck with maritime travel for the last few years. You get in a comfortable ship in the evening and wake up at home. And there's no weight limit for baggage. We're bringing dates, dried seafood, and other local specialties home. The changes to air routes won't affect me."

The non-existent weight limit that's a huge plus for people coming home to Taiwan as well as for mainland tourists celebrating the holiday to the treasure island.

ZHANG GAO FROM JIANGSU PROVINCE "Beef jerky, pineapple cakes. Taiwan has great food and offers great fun. My daughter liked it so much that she asked us to go there again this year."

The COSCO STAR has been in service since 2009. At first, it almost exclusively carried mainland tourists. Now, almost 40 percent passengers are people going home to Taiwan, so the ship has been considerate of the clients.

SHI MINGLI MANAGER, XIAMEN MINTAI FERRY "We want to make sure that people from Taiwan get home from the mainland before the eve of the Chinese New Year. So this year, we changed our departing schedules over the period to meet that goal. We're also keeping the fare rate stable during the rush season. We are not going for profit over the holiday period."

SUN YE XIAMEN "95 passengers have boarded the ferry. In less than 12 hours they will be arriving in Taichung for the Chinese New Year. But COSCO is not the only service in the coastal area that are working hard to make sure everyone gets home on time."

There are cross-Strait ferry services in other places in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. Altogether, they could reach tens of thousands of passengers for the spring festival travel rush. As a comparatively new and lesser-known travel option, the sail is smooth for now.