All mainland tourists can visit Taiwan

To mark the second anniversary since Taiwan opened its tourism to mainland residents, residents from the last six provinces of Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang are now allowed to visit Taiwan starting on July 18. And as of now, all mainland tourists can travel to Taiwan, Guangzhou Daily reported today.

Taiwan first opened its tourism to 12 mainland provinces and municipalities on July 18, 2008 and then another 13 provinces and municipalities in February 2009.

According to the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association Beijing Office, a total of 1.3 million mainland residents have traveled to Taiwan and have created 65 billion TWD (about 2.02 billion USD) in business opportunities since July 18, 2008 when Taiwan opened tourism to mainland residents.

By Zhao Chenyan, People's Daily Online