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The sound of a ship's siren on Friday morning announced the start of a homeward journey by over 120 Taiwanese people who have businesses or work on the mainland.

The ship left the dock at this port city in Fujian Province for Jinmen of Taiwan. The passengers were to take planes in Jinmen Island to return to Taiwan to celebrate the coming traditional lunar New Year, which falls Jan. 22.

Six ships took more than 1,200 Taiwanese to Jinmen and Xiamen Friday, said Wang Mingshui, deputy director of the city's Taiwan Affairs Office.

To date, about 52,000 Taiwanese business people have registered to return for the festival via the route, said Wang.

The distance between Xiamen and Jinmen is 18 nautical miles, a two-hour voyage, and in order to handle more passengers, the ferry service has been expanded to six days, from four days per week.

In 2003, a total of 7,555 Taiwanese business people from several provinces and cities on the Chinese mainland returned to Taiwan by the direct Xiamen-Jinmen sea route to celebrate the Spring Festival.

That was the first time that Taiwanese had been able to make a through trip from the mainland to Taiwan without stopping at Hong Kong or Macao.

Lin Xinghui, a Taiwanese businessman working in Zhejiang Province, said that though the route was time-saving and reduced the cost, he hoped that direct communications link between the mainland and Taiwan could be realized as soon as possible.