Held in conjunction with the main-event Taipei International Travel Fair, the annual cross-strait travel exhibition invites you to explore the beautiful scenery and rich culture of that vast country China.

"Ever since it was first launched in 2006, the Taipei Cross-Strait Travel Fair has been attracting tens of thousands of visitors to acquire first-hand information about traveling to China," said C.S. Chou, chairman of the Taiwan Visitors Association, the organizer of the event, yesterday during a press conference to unveil the annual fair.

The numbers of visitors to the 'sideshow'?has grown annually from 170,000 in 2006 to 210,000 last year, Chou noted, adding that the number is expected to rise again this year.

"The annual four-day event is a perfect platform for Taiwanese people who wish to learn more about visiting China and about the latest travel packages," Chou said.

After Taiwan'存 Straits Exchange Foundation and China'存 Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait signed an agreement in June 2008 to launch direct weekend charter flights and allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan starting July 18, cross-strait travel has become increasingly convenient for travelers on both sides.

A further relaxing of restrictions on cross-strait regular flights that officially began on August 31 agreed to raise the weekly number of flights from 108 to 270 and offered daily and jointly flights by airlines from both sides to continue speeding up the bilateral exchanges.

As of August 2009 a total of 821,452 visitors from China have traveled to Taiwan, making them the second largest source of tourists to the island, trailing only Japan, according to Chou.

Chou added that one of the distinguishing features of this year'存 event is that Chinese tourism agencies will hold more than 30 rounds of travel package introductory shows during the travel fair to inform visitors of the latest travel information on China.

Another attraction of this year'存 event is that the famous Chinese Coal Mine Art Troupe will be performing three to four times a day on the main stage of the fair. The troupe, featuring many of China's top performing artists, is certain to catch everyone's eyes.

Man Hongwei, general-secretary of Cross-Straits Tourism Exchange Association in China, said during the press conference that the main focus for this year is the upcoming World Expo 2010 that will take place from May 1 to October 31, 2010, in Shanghai. "We welcome Taiwanese people to visit the World Expo at that time."

Man noted that the fair will be divided into several pavilions according to different geographical regions.

A center stage will also be set up at the fair where Chinese performers will perform folk dances and other entertainment to welcome fair visitors. One will also find a special pavilion for Chinese airlines such as China Eastern Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, and Hong Kong Airlines. Some 50 of the 146 officially-recognized Chinese travel agencies will also be participating in the fair.

With closer tourism exchanges taking place on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, Man said that this year'存 Travel Fair will further boost cross-strait exchanges.

The fair will kick off today and lasts until next Monday in the B area of Taipei World Trade Center'存 Hall One.