By Plane. After 2008, there are direct flights from 25 major mainland cities to Taipeis Taoyuan airport or Kaohsiung airport. By Boat. There are ferries from Xiamen that arrive at Kinmen, 3 km off the coast of China. From there, its by plane again, through domestic flights to Taiwan Proper. After the 2008 election president Ma Ying-jeou introduced a new policy to allow masses of tourists from the mainland to visit Taiwan so there are now direct flights Pre-2008: Theres no direct flight. Most common transfer points are Hong Kong and Cheju Island (Korea) then on to Taoyuan (CKS) Intl. Airport.