BEIJING - CHINESE visitors to Taiwan will not be allowed to gamble or engage in 'pornographic activities', China's state news agency reported yesterday.

The warning was issued by the Cross-Strait Tourism Association, said the official Xinhua news agency. It follows the signing of breakthrough agreements on charter flights and tourism promotion between China and Taiwan earlier this month.

'Travel agencies are not allowed to arrange gambling, pornographic and drug-related activities, and other activities harming cross-strait relations,' Xinhua said.

It did not explain what was meant by 'pornographic activities'.

Chinese travel agency managers have arrived in Taiwan on a fact-finding mission to inspect tourism infrastructure such as hotels and transportation. They visited Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan yesterday, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.

They were visiting Taiwan for 10 days, the maximum allowed under the agreement that permits 3,000 mainland Chinese tourists a day to visit Taiwan, starting from July 4.

Also inspecting tourism infrastructure at the weekend was Taiwanese Premier Liu Chao-shiuan.

He went to Taipei's Songshan Airport on Saturday to check on the progress of refurbishment works.

The airport had come under criticism earlier from Mr Sean Lien, the ruling Kuomintang party's Central Standing Committee member, who said tourists landing there might think they had arrived at North Korea's Pyongyang airport.

Mr Liu said Taiwan should not only improve airport facilities, but also raise service standards to give mainland visitors a good impression of the island, The Taipei Times reported.

Songshan is one of eight airports, together with those in Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Penghu, Hualien, Kinmen and Taitung, which will cater to mainland visitors.

Under the agreement signed in Beijing, 36 charter flights will be allowed to cross the 160km wide Taiwan Strait each weekend. Currently, travellers from Taiwan to China must transit a third destination such as Hong Kong.

Taiwanese hoteliers, airlines and tour operators hope that big-spending mainland tourists will prove a shot in the arm to the island's travel sector.

The price of packages to Taiwan may put off some mainland visitors though, reported Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News.

A Guangzhou travel agency is asking for 8,000 yuan (S$1,600) to 10,000 yuan for an eight- to 10-day tour of Taiwan.

Many of those polled said they found the packages too costly, with 43 per cent saying they would pay no more than 5,000 yuan for a trip.

Two airlines in China had earlier announced fares for weekend charter flights and started ticket sales.

China Eastern Airlines is charging 3,700 yuan for an economy-class round trip from Shanghai to Taipei, while a business-class ticket costs 5,500 yuan, including taxes.

Group tickets for at least 10 passengers cost 2,600 yuan each, it said.

Shanghai Airlines, another to fly the route, announced the same prices. It said ticket sales would start soon, without giving a specific date.

Other airlines allowed to offer the weekend charters are still working on prices.

They include Air China, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.

TRAVEL ADVISORY

'Travel agencies are not allowed to arrange gambling, pornographic and drug-related activities, and other activities harming cross-strait relations.'
CHINA'S OFFICIAL XINHUA NEWS AGENCY, reporting on the warning given by China's Cross-Strait Tourism Association