The Haixia ship, the first direct commercial ferry across the Taiwan Straits, will operate an extra round-way trip from Pingtan, an island county on the Chinese mainland, to Taiwan every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday starting March 17, according to the Fujian Provincial Tourism Bureau on March 3.

The ship's mother company, Fujian Haixia High-Speed RORO Shipping Company, also plans to open an extra round-way trip between Pingtan and Taiwan each Saturday starting April. Passengers traveling across the Straits will have altogether 10 trips per week to choose from.

A single-way standard ticket from Pingtan to Taichung will cost 500 yuan ($80.30) between March and June. A student ticket is 430 yuan, children 350 yuan, and baby 50 yuan, all free of fuel and service fees. Each Taichung-to-Pingtan ticket at the Taichung Dock will include an extra 30 yuan service fee.

Round-trip tickets will provide a 50-yuan discount for adult passengers, 40-yuan for students, and 30-yuan for babies during the same period.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai