A total of 1.12 million trips to the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone were recorded during the "chunyun" period, an increase of 23 percent compared with the same period last year.

"Chunyun" refers to the 40-day travel rush before and after the Spring Festival.

The data from local traffic authorities shows that 976,000 of the trips involved travel by land and 148,000 involved travel by sea.

Haixia - a high-speed roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry that regularly sails between Pingtan, Taichung and Taipei - carried about 10,000 people during "chunyun".

The increase in the number of visitors to Pingtan is a result of the island county's efforts to develop and promote itself as a tourist destination– and also because of the warm weather.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman