162 people swim across Taiwan Strait in annual race

A total of 162 swimmers raced across the Taiwan Strait on July 14. Participants started from Kinmen, a small Taiwanese island close to mainland China, and swam seven kilometres to the other side. 

Due to its strategic location, Kinmen had been claimed by both Beijing and Taipei since the end of China’s civil war in 1949. As tensions between the two sides eased, what was once a battlefront is now a tourist attraction. The cross-strait swimming race has been held each year since 2009 to enhance mutual understanding.