Does anyone know, is it possible to travel from Taiwan to China or Hong Kong by boat? I know there is a passenger boat from Okinawa Japan to Taiwan, just don't know if I can keep going by boat to mainland Asia. I would really like to take planes as infrequently as possible as I'm trying to get around the world by surface as much as possible. Any help is appreciated.

Have you heard about Star Cruises? It looks pretty posh, I don't know if it's what you're looking for....

Wiki Travel says:

Star Cruises[3] operates between Keelung in Taiwan and Xiamen in mainland China, stopping at one of the Japanese islands on the way.

Link to star cruises: http://www.starcruises.com/

Well it probably is a bit more posh than I want, haha. but I suppose its worth researching. I have heard of the cruise line before actually, the company I work for used to offers deals on them.

Thanks for that, it could very well be an option.

You're welcome, I try!

I don't really think it is possible to get there by ferry. Apparently there is a ferry service from Keelung (north Taiwan) to the islands of Matsu and Kinmen near the Chinese mainland. These ferries are mainly used by military and might not take foreigners.

There are short ferry links from Matsu to Fuzhou and Kinmen to Xiamen but I don't know if these are open to foreigners.

I gave up looking and got a cheap return from HK. I'll look in my flatmates Taiwan LP later to see if it says anything.

Thanks Rbisset! I mean if its not possible to get to taiwan over water inexpensively then I can just fly. But I found a ferry from Taiwan to Osaka Japan, and then I've found Osaka to Shanghai, would be nice to keep on that patern and not have to fly.

and starlagurl, noticed you are going to NXNE, I was going to go this year, but now I have other plans. I met a lot of people at SXSW this year that were also making their way up to NXNE, i wonder how similar the two are, I always have the best time at sxsw every year I have gone. So I hope you have a good time and let me know what you think of the festival.

What sort of route are you looking to take in East Asia? Taiwan is pretty hard to get to due to their political stance with the mainland. You can't even fly there direct from any mainland city, everything routes through Hong Kong or Macau. If Taiwan is a focal point of your trip then I suggest flying, and I hope you know some mandarin as English is non-existent outside Taipei!

From Japan it is only a short hop (a couple of hours fast ferry) from Fukuoka to Busan, South Korea and ferries from South Korea to China as well.

Edit: Just had a look at your trip route and it is pretty crazy! all the way over to Far East Asia, back to Europe then a 24 hour flight to Australia! Also the random side-trip from Denmark to Netherlands via Burkina Faso!!

Also don't miss out on Laos. Fit it in your schedule between Thailand and Cambodia.

Yeah totally, I can't wait! I will be blogging for sure, subscribe to my updates and you'll be updated within 48 hours. (Yeah, I'm a dork, I know) I also send out notifications like a maniac!

hah, yeah, my route is not really fixed... i think i still gotta mix it up a bit... I really just wanted to fill out that map, I was tired of staring at it all blank. and europe is a total play it by ear sorta thing for me, I dont know where I want to go in Europe, so many places I want to revisit. But i just tried to make my trip the most convenient weather wise, I hate cold, I want to be warm, so i think i have done somewhat of a good job at fitting in the countries I want without getting too cold.

So why Laos? I havent thought much about that place actually.

so Im thinking my route in south east asia will start from Jakarta, take the ferries around indonesia, and then onto singapore, train to kuala lumpur, muck around that area a bit, then take a train up into thailand, and take my time around there see what i see... was half thinking maybe cutting out cambodia and vietnam I dont know, I got a lot of places I want to go. But in anycase, i would find my way either by plane or train to hong kong, then since there doesnt seem to be a boat to taiwan, fly to taipei... and boat to japan and work my way up, stay there for a couple months, then there is a boat from Osaka to Shanghai that i just found out about.
I know flying is so much faster and easier but I just have a crazy sentimental attachment to the idea of traveling by boat and train. Makes this more of a journey than just some sight seeing tourist vacation.

And I dont speak any other languages except for swear words in a handful of languages... But Im prepared to load up my lap top with some language courses, because there are a few places I want to venture to in taiwan. So I will add mandarin to me list of language cds I need to get. thanks for your help on this, I may be calling upon you for more advice later since you seem to know a lot about this region.

I feel the same way about boat and train... You're definitely in good company around here.

To be honest I think you'll be fine around Taiwan, it's just a bit overwhelming with the lack of any English. I managed to get around China/Tibet for 6 weeks with only 4 phrases in Mandarin so I'm sure it is possible in Taiwan. My mates brother lives there and he spoke fluent Mandarin so we didn't really have to do much communicating with the locals!

I got to Taipei at 3am, no one spoke any English but we still managed to get where we wanted to go. The seafood is great in Taiwan if you like that!

Laos is just a great place to chill for a couple of weeks. You'll hear people raving about the place when you're there and I really recommend it. Great beer too!

I just watched a documentary on Laos last night and I'm pretty sold, in fact I want to take a boat down the Mekong into Laos, I love that you can enter the country by river!

As far as the Mandarin, I still think I will learn, I got some language cds from the library and put them on my lap top, I decided Im going to try to learn at least a little Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Japanese, Arabic and get more familiar with French... I think this will get me by in most the countries I am going to.

It's all about attitude and you've got the right one. You'll be fine!

other than that star cruises which is rather expensive there really isnt a way anymore... also the ferry between taiwan and japan has been discontinued. www.seat61.com has been one of the best sources of information I have found for this sort of thing, you may want to check that to see if something changes and they add a ferry.

hi! I've travelled to Taiwan by boat several times with different ways:
1. Arimura Line from Japan via Okinawa to Keelung, Taiwan. Unfortunately this company seems to be a bankrupt, so it does not work since 2008.
2. Star Cruises - Superstar Libra cruiser - from Naha, Japan to Keelung, Taiwan. it works but you should buy round trip and also you should catch a season.
3. The chippest way I use now - Keelung, Taiwan to Matsu island (belongs to Taiwan) near mainland China by ferry. Yes, there are soldiers passengers mostly but no problem for foreigners, I've travelled alone and with family with no problem. There is a small passenger boat from Matsu to Mawei, China (about 1.5 hours, 2 times per day) and Mawei is about 15 min car drive to Fuzhou where you can take a train to Beijing (1 night) or somewhere. I tryed this path to there and back already 4 times and everything works fine, you just need someone helps to buy tickets if you do not speak chinese. Immigration control is at Mawei and Matsu. Now I'm trying to find Taiwan to Hong Kong with no result until now...
have a nice trip! M.

22277, that is very good info, thanks! I will try to do the route you described (keelung, Matsu, Mawei).
can yu provide more specifics on it, i.e. where to take the boats on from Keelung and Matsu, prices, etc.
Thanks again

Here is a Keelung passenger terminal picture http://www.shinhwa.com.tw/images/keelung.gif
Keelung-Matsu 1st class was about 2000NTD, Matsu-Mawei 1300NTD.
Matsu port is very small, so no need a map.
M.