The Chinese mainland and Taiwan on Friday launched cross-Strait charter flights for the Dragon Boat Festival after flying is made for three other traditional Chinese festivals.

"I am going to visit my relatives in the mainland, and the flight makes my trip so easy", said a 60-year-old woman surnamed Zhang.

Zhang left Taipei on Flight CI7957 of China Airlines and arrived in Shanghai on Friday morning with another 396 passengers.

The passengers extended their goodwill to Shanghai by preparing zongzi, or dumplings made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves that are eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, for athletes who will take part in the Shanghai Special Olympics in October.

Five mainland airline companies including Air China and six Taiwan companies including China Airlines will make 21 round-trip flights from June 15 to June 22, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The cities involved are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen on the mainland, and Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

The first non-stop charter flights across the Taiwan Strait were launched during the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2005. Prior to that there had not been direct air links across the Taiwan Strait for more than five decades.

In June 2006, the mainland and Taiwan agreed to open charter flights for other traditional festivals, including Qingming or Tomb-sweeping Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, is said to be in memory of a patriotic Chinese poet who drowned over 2,000 years ago.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2007)