New Chinese cruise liner to set sail for Taiwan

Want China Times, Li Hsin-tung and Staff Reporter 2015-04-14

The Chinese Taishan sailing back to the port of Yantai in Shandong after
its maiden voyage, August 2014. (File photo/Xinhua)

China's first wholly-owned and independently operated cruise ship, the Chinese Taishan, is set to embark on its maiden voyage to Taichung later in the month, as more mainland tourists visit Taiwan on cruises, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.

The Chinese Taishan will dock at Taichung on April 25 on the first of its eight cruise tours to Taiwan this year and then head to Kaohsiung before returning to Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang province, Taiwan International Ports' Taichung branch said.

From May 9, the ports of call for the ship will include all four major ports of Taiwan — Taichung, Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien, the first time a foreign cruise ship has done so, the port operator in Taichung added.

The four-port cruise trip, which takes six days and five nights, is priced between 3,000 to 5,000 yuan (US$480-$805) per person, and is especially attractive to mainland tourists, since they can visit as many places as possible this way.

The cruise ship is operated by Hong Kong-based Bohai Cruise, which acquired the vessel from Carnival last year.

Unlike Western visitors, who prefer to visit several countries in one cruise trip, Chinese tourists are happy to just visit Taiwan in one trip, no matter how it is done, the tour operators said.

According to Taiwan International Ports, there were 785 round-trips between Taiwan and China by sea, including cruises and regular passenger services in 2014, carrying 167,000 people to Taiwan.

The number of trips and passengers are expected to rise to 1,006 and 228,000, respectively, this year, the company said.