University group sails to China for unique study tour

A group of lecturers and students from National Kaohsiung University of Applied Science and Technology (NKUAST) sailed across the Taiwan Strait yesterday to China's Fujian Province for a study tour.

The voyage, from Kinmen's Shuitou (水頭) Port to Xiamen Port, marked the first time ever that any group from a Taiwan university has sailed across the Strait via the "mini three links" route for sightseeing and field studies.

The government officially opened direct links between Kinmen and Matsu and Fujian Province's Xiamen and Fuzhou port cities, better known as the "small three links," at the beginning of 2000, in an effort to accelerate bilateral exchanges across the Strait.

The 27-member NKUAST group, composed of both lecturers and students from the university's Kinmen campus, sailed aboard the Golden Dragon ferry to Xiamen. The short voyage took about one hour.

The tour's high point will be a scheduled trip to the prestigious Xiamen University for academic exchanges and a seminar.