A convoy of two cars and six people, led by Li Hong-liang, chairman of the Republic of China Self-Driving Tourism Association, arrived at Xiamen’s Dongdu Port at 8:30 a.m. yesterday. The Xiamen authorities expedited the process, allowing the six individuals to undergo a brief traffic safety briefing and a written driver’s license test at the port, exchanging their Taiwan licenses for mainland ones. After paying monthly car insurance, the vehicles were issued temporary plates numbered 闽D00067 and 闽D00068. In Fujian Province, the letter D denotes Xiamen.

The local traffic management unit in Xiamen, in coordination with customs, quickly issued temporary license plates for the Taiwan-registered vehicles. (Photo provided by a reader)

Two Taiwanese cars arrived in Xiamen by ship on the 4th, affixed temporary license plates, and embarked on a self-driving journey through southwestern Fujian. This marks the first time Taiwan-registered sedans have “landed” on the mainland. Each car’s round-trip shipping fee was NT$20,000. The Cross-Strait Self-Driving Tourism Association is planning to bring 66 Taiwan-registered cars before the end of the year to realize the dream of driving from Taiwan to the mainland.

Tour scenic spots, cruise back home

The Xiamen Self-Driving Tourism Association dispatched three vehicles to accompany the group. They first explored Xiamen’s coastal ring road facing Kinmen, then ventured outside the island to visit the Ao Garden Scenic Area in Jimei District and the Hot Spring Resort in Tong’an District. On the 5th, they headed to Guanzhai Mountain in Longyan City, on the 6th to Dehua in Quanzhou, and on the afternoon of the 7th drove back to Xiamen before boarding the China COSCO Shipping Star cruise ship to return to Taiwan.

Gasoline octane ratings differ between the two sides of the strait—mainland China uses only 93, 95, and 97, but car engines can handle them. For insurance, a Taiwan-funded insurance company in Xiamen has designed short-term policies priced at RMB 900 per month.

Satellite navigation for smooth travels

Xu Shiting, a representative from the Xiamen Self-Driving Tourism Association, said this effort was fully supported by Xiamen authorities and multiple departments. The cars of Li Hong-liang and others were the first to scout locations in Fujian, with hopes of enabling more Taiwanese drivers to tour various prefecture-level cities in Fujian with their own vehicles in the future. With temporary plates, cross-provincial travel is also possible.

All nine prefecture-level cities in Fujian Province, from Fuzhou and Ningde in the north to Zhangzhou and Longyan in the south, are connected by expressways. Traffic regulations differ little between the two sides, and with the help of satellite navigation, driving in Fujian is very convenient. A Taiwan businessperson in Xiamen has even driven all the way to Sichuan and then taken the Sichuan-Tibet Highway to tour Tibet.