Taiwan and China plan to expand cross-strait tourism by allowing individual travel to the island. (At the moment, visitors from the mainland are allowed to enter Taiwan only if  they are part of a tour group.)

A trial will be conducted during the first half of the year and will start with residents from major cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

Taiwan’s individual traveller scheme will start sometime between April and June and it is expected to boost the number of mainland Chinese visitors to over two million this year.

Taipei 101

Taiwan’s iconic landmark, the Taipei 101, has benefited from a surge of mainland Chinese visitors. Thanks to their tourism dollars, the world’s second tallest skyscraper turned a profit for the first time since it was built in 2004.

Taipei 101 at dusk

Taipei 101

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