Chinese mainland tourists flock to Taiwan

Almost three million Chinese mainland tourists visited Taiwan in tour groups last year. And now the number of independent travelers is set to rise.

Almost three million Chinese mainland tourists visited Taiwan in tour groups last year. And now the number of independent travelers is set to rise. The Taiwan authorities are looking to increase the daily limit for mainlanders traveling on their own from 3,000 to 4,000.

Every day bus loads and bus loads of up to 3S to 500 Chinese mainland tourists come to this beef noodle shop to enjoy Taiwanese delicacies and traditional food and every year millions of Chinese mainland tourists visit Taiwan so much so that some local businesses have set up shop just for the Chinese mainland business.

"The founder wanted to introduce Taiwanese local food to overseas tourists." Beef noodle shop manager Jerry Hsu said.

Well, it turns out that 95 to 99 percent of this beef noodle shop's business is from the Chinese mainlanders. When we were in this store for lunch, everyone was a Chinese mainland tourist except for about a half dozen were locals. Everyone was enjoying the food including little Ms. Kuo.

"I love Taiwan noodles and Taiwan." A mainland tourist said.

And little Ms. Kuo's grandfather, Mr. Kuo found that the political tensions that often overshadow the Taiwan and Chinese mainland, was not the case while touring Taiwan.

"Before I came, I thought there would be a lot of opposition to us coming, but after I came, I realized that there wasn't." A mainland tourist said.

Another Chinese mainland tourist who was visiting the Palace Museum also found a friendly welcome.

"The Taiwanese are friendly. Everyone has a good attitude, give directions and are very friendly." Mainland tourist Sun Xian said.

Little Ms. Kuo and her grandfather, Mr. Kuo, as well as Sun Xian are just three of the millions of Chinese mainland tourists. In 2013 almost 3 million Chinese mainland tourists visited Taiwan in 2013 in tourist groups, that's an increase of 10 percent from the year before. As for coming individually, Taiwan has set a limit of 3000 Chinese mainland tourists a day, but talks are now in the works to increase that limit to 4000 Chinese mainland tourists a day and that is welcomed by the tourism industry.

"This is good news. Right now 6 percent of the tourists that come are from the Chinese mainland. If Taiwan increases the limit on these tourists, it should help Taiwan's tourism industry." Andy Yu, VP of Lion Travel, said.

In 2013, there were over half a million Chinese mainland tourists who came to Taiwan, up 175 percent from the year before. But with the possible increase of an extra 1000 tourists per day, that means Taiwan might be getting over 300,000 more a year which will be good news for those looking to start up restaurants and businesses catering to the Chinese mainland tourists.