One of the first groups of Chinese mainland tourists to Taiwan returned home Friday after an eight-day stay on the island.

They arrived with pleasant memories of the tour and luggage weighted down with their gifts and purchases.

They acquired so many souvenirs on their trip that many of the 187 tourists found their bags to be five kilograms overweight when they departed from Taipei Taoyuan International Airport.

Popular items among the visitors included jade products, souvenirs and local Taiwanese foods, the Beijing Times reported.

Gu Shanshan, a female traveler from Beijing, spent over 10,000 yuan on name-brand cosmetics and clothes. Yu Jiaqi, an elderly female traveler, bought tens of thousands of yuan worth of goods.

Lin Jinrong, director of Taiwan's Travel Quality Assurance Association, said the mainland tourists had no complaints about the milestone trip.

However, most of the travelers did express regrets over the tight schedule, and expressed desires to return in the future.

(CRI July 14, 2008)