Close to 1,200 Chinese tourists Friday arrived in Taiwan for holiday visit as part of a liberalization program to improve relations between Taipei and Beijing and boost the island's economy, tourism officials said.

Unlike the inaugural groups made up of 753 officials and tourists who came on a trial visit on July 4, the current group was the first wave of ordinary tourists, they said.

The visitors arrived at three Taiwan's airports via 16 charter flights dispatched by four Taiwanese and six Chinese airlines for cross-strait weekend flights, the officials said.

'What I most want to see is Alishan (a mountain resort) and Sun Moon Lake, the scenic spots in Taiwan which most of us have read about in the books,' said one tourist at the Taipei domestic Sungshan Airport.

The visit was made possible after Taiwan and its rival China held landmark talks in June to ease decades of restrictions on regular weekend charter flights and mainland tourists to the island.

Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949, and Taipei banned direct links with the mainland. Relations have warmed since China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May.

The two sides agreed in their June 13 talks in Beijing to operate 36 return regular charter flights between Friday and Monday as well as the permission for 3,000 Chinese tourists to the island per day.

The visitors are expected to stay in Taiwan for seven to 10 days as part of the terms, which limit the visitors to come in tour groups for trips of up to 10 days.

Their visits are expected to generate 66 billion Taiwan dollars (2.17 billion US dollars ) a year for Taiwan if 3,000 Chinese tourists are able to come to Taiwan per day, according to the government estimate.