The Haixia, a high-speed passenger liner that was launch on Nov 30, 2011, to make the trip between Pingtan, Fujian province, on the mainland, and Taichung, Taiwan, has been a great help to cross-Straits travel.

The Haixia is also the world's fastest passenger ship of its kind, with a speed of 96 nautical mph and a capacity of 782 passengers. In the past 15 months, it has carried 136,161 tourists, 95,575 of them in groups, according to reports an April 10 seminar on the subject.

Before the Haixia's appearance, there were a small number of ships sailing between coastal cities of Fujian and the small islands of Jinmen and Matsu as the only means of marine communications between the mainland and Taiwan. Now, the Haixia provides greater convenience at a much cheaper ticket price – 500 yuan ($81) for an adult -- compared with the 1,300 yuan of other ships – and a much shorter travel time, as much as 50 percent less, from 5 hours to 2.5 hours.

Haixia's edge in the area of capacity and cost have attracted the China Railway Travel League, which wanted to sign a cooperation agreement with Pingtan for a seamless rail, water, and bus transportation link.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Roger Bradshaw