Kao Chia-chun gives a lecture to students. [Photo by Chen Wang/for chinadaily.com.cn]

In recent years, more and more teachers from Taiwan have found work in Fujian province. There are currently around 680 people from Taiwan working as teachers in Fujian, according to the education department of the province.

"I am no different from my colleagues. I have a housing fund, social security account, and can lead or participate in national and provincial research projects," said Kao Chia-chun, head of the internal medicine teaching and research department at Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Kao joined the university after he got his PhD in 2009.

Benefiting from the State Council's policies to encourage Fujian to pioneer exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan, he became one of the first Taiwanese compatriots to be employed by a mainland institution.

"I truly feel the broad platform offered by our motherland," said Kao. Starting as a lecturer, he has since been promoted to associate professor.

Kao has devoted himself to educating students and treating patients, as well as promoting cross-Strait health service exchanges. The course he teaches on the Huangdi Neijing, an ancient text on traditional Chinese medicine, is popular among students.

Shih Pei-lin, another Taiwanese teacher, pursued her PhD at Xiamen University when she was 50 years old and later chose to teach at Minnan Normal University.

She led her students out of the classroom and conducted field research in ancient villages in Zhangzhou. There, she recorded the appearance of traditional dwellings, compiled the development history of villages based on oral accounts from villagers, and produced documentaries.

"Whether it is the music, puppetry, or traditional buildings, they are vivid evidence of the same root shared by both sides of the Taiwan Strait," she said. "For me, the process of exploring these memories is like finding the embrace of a mother, and it allows students to gain insight into the origins and changes in the cross-Strait relationship."

In 2021, Shih was honored with the title of "Outstanding People's Teacher in Fujian".

These teachers have gone from being practitioners and beneficiaries of cross-Strait integration to becoming drivers and advocates of it.Ma Yen-pin, a former special assistant to the president of Taiwan's Feng Chia University, was employed by Fuzhou Yango University in 2017 as the dean of the innovation and entrepreneurship education school.

He also took the lead in establishing an institute to assist expert scholars who come to the mainland to teach. Combining his own experiences with consultation on policies, Ma has built a bridge for them.

"When I first arrived, the university had only three Taiwanese teachers. Now the number is 20," he said.