TAIWAN:NEARLY 60 years after Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang army fled the Chinese mainland to Taiwan, scores of Taiwanese packed the first direct tourist flight from Taipei to Beijing, clutching their special edition stamps and souvenir retractable chopsticks, writes Clifford Coonanon board flight CI7951 from Taipei to Beijing
"Look at the smog" and "look at the airport" were the initial comments from the Taiwanese visitors as the plane touched down in Beijing's shiny new Sir Norman Foster-designed Terminal Three.
Cross-strait relations have warmed considerably since Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, who belongs to the Kuomintang (KMT) party, took office. He has moved quickly to fulfil his campaign promise of better ties with the mainland, setting aside decades of official hostility since the two sides split in 1949 at the end of the civil war.
Even as tensions ease, there is always an undercurrent of fear for the Taiwanese, because China believes Taiwan is part of its territory and it is ready to take it back by force if it ever tries to push for more independence, something that previous president Chen Shui-bian threatened to do.
The missiles pointed at Taiwan from across the Strait were temporarily forgotten yesterday morning, and there was tremendous excitement as the passengers gathered in the departure lounge at Taoyuan airport, formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International, and dozens of TV reporters added to the sense that an historic event was taking place, although, curiously, the flight-listing monitor did not mention the destination.
"This is a very positive move, it will bring us all closer together," enthused Chang Chao-kai, an eye surgeon, as he waited at check-in.
Soon after, we are presented with a special edition sheet of stamps, and a pair of stainless steel chopsticks from Taiwan's Centre for Disease Control. As the only foreigner on the flight, Taiwanese TV journalists are keen to hear my view on the new arrangements, while fellow travellers keep shaking my hand.
Heading in the other direction, over 700 visitors from the mainland arrived in Beijing, Shanghai and three other cities.
There have been intermittent direct flights between Beijing and Shanghai and Taiwanese cities, but from now on there will be 36 direct flights across the Strait weekly, linking the million Taiwanese based on the mainland and their home island, and also helping boost the already significant trade links between the two sides - worth €65 billion last year.
Mr Ma swept to election victory in March, promising a new era in relations with China after the presidency of Mr Chen, who even managed to anger close ally the US with harsh rhetoric about China.Taiwan is a remarkably different version of China. Taiwanese are well-educated, assured, ambitious and successful, but they struggle with the fact that they are on the wrong side of history in many ways - no major countries give diplomatic recognition to Taiwan and even though the island has a functioning democracy, most of the world has sided with China.
Getting to Taiwan from Beijing is a fairly arduous trip at the moment, involving a stopover in Hong Kong or Macao, and taking around 10 hours. The new flights are three and a half hours.
The reception in Beijing is slightly odd - groups of police officers with cameras video everyone getting off the plane. They are extremely friendly, saying hello to everyone.
There are also direct flights to Shanghai, which is a popular route for the Taiwanese because of its proximity to Nanjing, which was the nationalist Kuomintang's capital before the civil war. Tourists arriving from the mainland in Taiwan were met with the traditional lion dance that is part of Chinese celebrations.