Tickets tight for Spring Festival (2)

Shanghai now hosts more than 700,000 Taiwan people, according to the population census at the end of 2010. The number would be much bigger if counting those working in neighboring cities such as Suzhou and Wuxi.

More than 100,000 Taiwan people live in Kunshan, a county level city in Jiangsu province near Shanghai. About 60 percent of them are going back to Taiwan to celebrate Spring Festival, said Lee Kwan-sin, chairman of the Kunshan Taiwan business association.

Lee said he hopes authorities in both Taiwan and the mainland can increase supplies of air tickets during Spring Festival to make prices more reasonable and give more travel options.

"Usually a return ticket costs about 3,500 yuan ($555), but Spring Festival will push it above 6,000 yuan due to big demand. It is even more expensive than flying via Hong Kong," Liou said.

She would rather stay in Kunshan for Spring Festival. After working and living on the mainland for more than 20 years, she has moved her family to Kunshan.