Taiwan And China: Different Views Across The Strait

On the verdant island of Pingtan, in the eastern Chinese province of Fujian, hundreds of tourists gather at a seaside site which is the closest place in mainland China to Taiwan (Credit: AFP)

Standing on the shore of Taiwan's Kinmen island, Taiwanese tourists snap photos of the skyline of China's Xiamen city that is clearly visible across the sliver of water separating them.

For the best view of Xiamen's skyscrapers, visitors stand on a beach where anti-landing spikes jut out -- a reminder of when the island was a battlefield front line after Chinese nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949.