As the Qingming Festival, a traditional Chinese occasion for ancestor veneration and family reunion, approaches this year, cross-Strait ferry routes have recorded a sharp uptick in passenger traffic, with thousands of Taiwan compatriots journeying back to their ancestral hometowns on the Chinese mainland to pay respects at ancestral tombs and reconnect with their family roots.
Official data from the Fujian Maritime Safety Administration shows that on April 4, the four established “Mini Three Links” routes — which deliver direct maritime connectivity between Fujian province’s coastal regions on the mainland and Taiwan-held Kinmen and Matsu islands — handled 6,655 passenger trips, marking a 22.5% year-on-year increase.
The busiest of these routes, the Xiamen-Kinmen corridor, which is widely favored for its short travel times, frequent sailings and affordable fares, accommodated nearly 6,000 cross-Strait travelers on that single Saturday, with Taiwan compatriots making up more than 70% of that total. Local border inspection authorities project that the total passenger volume for the Xiamen-Kinmen route across the three-day Qingming holiday will climb to almost 20,000.
For many Taiwan families, this annual journey is far more than a seasonal trip: it is a centuries-old tradition meant to pass down collective identity to younger generations. Li Yung-hung, a Taiwan compatriot who traveled to Xiamen via the ferry route this holiday, emphasized that her family has upheld this practice for generations, noting that the trip teaches younger family members that their cultural and ancestral roots are firmly planted on the mainland.
Chen Chin-lai, deputy head of Xiamen’s Gaoqi Border Inspection Station, pointed out that more than 80% of Taiwan compatriots can trace their ancestral origins back to Fujian. This annual wave of ancestral homecoming during Qingming, he explained, serves as a vivid, tangible reminder that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same cultural lineage and belong to one Chinese family.
To support Taiwan compatriots in tracing their family histories, local institutions rolled out targeted support ahead of the holiday. On April 3, the China Museum for Fujian-Taiwan Kinship, in partnership with the Quanzhou Border Inspection Station, launched free genealogy matching services at a port in Nan’an, Quanzhou. Through a simple QR code scan, visiting Taiwan compatriots can register their requests for assistance to trace their family trees and locate ancestral villages.
Since opening to the public in 2006, the museum has built a decades-long track record of supporting root-seeking efforts, having helped more than 300 Taiwan compatriots successfully identify and reconnect with their ancestral clans on the mainland over the past 20 years.