Widely known as the golden channel of cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges, the Xiamen-Jinmen "mini three links" route was expected to handle over 23,000 cross-Strait passenger trips during the three-day Duanwu Festival holiday, an increase of approximately 21 percent year on year.
The "mini three links," launched on Jan 2, 2001, refer to direct trade, mail and transport services between coastal areas of Fujian and the Kinmen and Matsu islands of Taiwan.
"We have already been traveling for five days this time in Pingtan, Fuzhou City. Next time, maybe Chaoshan. I'm basically using Xiamen as my base and heading both north and south from there. [the Xiamen-Jinmen route] saves me about 1,000 yuan (about 147.72 U.S. dollars) on average," said a visitor surnamed Yu, from Taiwan.
The cost gap between a direct flight and the ferry-and-flight combination for travel between the mainland and the Taiwan region is significant, with the latter offering considerable savings.
The Xiamen-Jinmen "mini three links" route saves money not just through low ferry fares, but by reducing overall travel costs, including fare, transit connections, and travel time. A short 30-minute crossing and frequent, efficient sailings keep operations lean and passenger flow fast.
"These are peanuts and quail eggs from Xiamen. I'm bringing them back to Kinmen," said Chen, another visitor from Taiwan.
The holiday tourism boom, coupled with policy incentives that allow residents of Fujian and Shanghai to travel to Kinmen, driving a surge in two-way passenger traffic on the route.
"I met a new friend from Kinmen when I was in Vietnam before, so I wanted to bring him some snacks from the mainland," said Zhang, a visitor from Shanghai.
"We have also independently developed the Xiamen-Kinmen passenger clearance information interchange system, which enables automatic backfilling of ferry voyage numbers, supports simultaneous processing of multiple ferries, and allows passengers to complete the inspection upon arrival, thereby improving overall customs efficiency," said Chen Jinlai, deputy director of Xiamen's Gaoqi Border Inspection Station.
The Duanwu Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, is an annual public holiday in China celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. In 2026, the holiday fell on Friday, resulting in a three-day weekend from Friday to Sunday.
Xiamen-Kinmen passenger traffic surges during Duanwu Festival holiday
The recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran has sparked major concern among Israeli officials, who fear that Israel's interests are being abandoned by its most crucial ally, according to analysts.
The development comes as Israel braces for a pivotal election later this year, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu potentially facing severe political fallout from the agreement.
"Israel views the MoU signed with Iran as a complete capitulation where the Americans were desperate to reach a deal because they clearly failed abysmally to plan for the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. So they feel that all of Israel's interests have been abandoned," said Dan Perry, an American world affairs and political analyst.
Following the signing of the MoU, Iran and the United States held the first round of high-stakes indirect talks, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, at the Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock on Sunday.
On Monday, mediators announced encouraging outcomes from the talks, including a 60-day roadmap toward a final deal, and mechanisms to ensure the security of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a close ally of Iran in Lebanon.
However, there have been concerns that Israel may jeopardize the negotiations.
"No doubt that the Americans, some of the Americans, definitely some of the Americans that are negotiating, like the Vice President JD Vance, think that Israel can put some obstacles and jeopardize the negotiations," said Yaki Dayan, former Israeli consul in Los Angeles.
With Israeli elections looming later this year, Netanyahu's core strategy to get re-elected was to portray the very good relations he holds with U.S. President Donald Trump. However, the MoU and the ensuing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran may dramatically affect the election results.
"Unless something dramatically changes, this is devastating for Netanyahu, not only because he pursued a strategy that has failed - the Iranian regime still stands, the nuclear program still exists, Hamas and Hezbollah are still fighting against Israel, but also because he was long perceived as Mr. America, with his incredible eloquence in American English. He could run circles around any American president to get America to do Israel's bidding," said Perry.
Perry added that instead of maintaining that influence, Netanyahu has brought Israel to an unbelievably low point in its relationship with the United States.
Although Netanyahu did practically everything to persuade the U.S. to withdraw from the previous Iran nuclear deal signed more than a decade ago under President Barack Obama, analysts doubt that he can repeat it again this time because Israel and its prime minister rely entirely on just one side of the American political spectrum.
"When you look at alternatives now, you don't have because Israel has lost the Democratic side as well. So you don't have an alternative in the American politics," said Dayan.
Israel feels its interests "abandoned" in US-Iran deal: analysts
