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KMT chief pays tribute to Hakka ancestors

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-15 15:45

YONGDING - Wu Poh-hsiung, chairman of Kuomintang (KMT) Party, paid homage on Thursday to his ancestors at his ancestral home in southeast China's Fujian Province.

Villagers in Sixian Village of Longyan City, home of Wu's ancestors, performed dragon and lion dances to welcome Wu and his wife.

Accompanied by the villagers of his clan, Wu and his wife entered the ancestral hall, where they burnt incense, offered sacrifices and bowed in salute to their ancestors.

Wu said he felt at home after seeing banners, reading, "The same ancestry links our hearts, mountains and oceans can never keep us apart."

Wu's first and only previous visit was in November 2000, when the 16th World Hakka Convention was held in Longyan.

He said direct sea routes across the Taiwan Strait had facilitated travel by other Hakka people to Taiwan.

Direct shipping routes between the mainland's Fujian Province and Taiwan opened in 2001 with the Xiamen-Jinmen and Mawei-Mazu routes, and a route was opened in June 2006 to link Quanzhou to Taiwan's Jinmen.

A total of 20 ships operate daily between Xiamen, the coastal city near Longyan, and Jinmen, according to the Xiamen frontier inspection station.

Wu also visited a village primary school and the newly-approved world heritage site, Tulou ("earth buildings").

Wu invited the villagers to Taiwan as his guests.

"It is hoped that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will forge closer ties," he said in the Hakka dialect.

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