Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) A group of Chinese tourists cut short their journey to Hualien for safety reasons in the wake of the magnitude 6.0 earthquake late Tuesday, but one of them described to CNA the hospitality they received in the immediate aftermath of the quake, as the city was rocked by aftershocks through the night and they were unable to sleep.

In a telephone interview with CNA Thursday, Xiao Yan (肖豔), a high school teacher from Shenzhen in Guangdong province, said she and her friends were staying in second floor accommodation in Hualien City when the earthquake struck at 11:50p.m. Tuesday.

Xiao said she was stunned when the trembler occurred and froze, only running out of the house when her friends started shouting.

As the aftershocks continued through the night, Xiao said they were too scared to go back to sleep and only started to calm down after 4 a.m. when they finally went upstairs to take a nap.

Xiao said she was grateful to the owners of the hotel who stayed up all night and helped them relax by discussing the history of Hualien and making food.

Xiao, said she noticed Taiwan had several earthquakes recently before leaving China, but did not take the news that seriously.

After a more or less sleepless night she and her friends decided not to take a scheduled trip to Taroko Gorge, one of Taiwan's most popular tourist attractions, Wednesday and instead went directly to Kenting in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan.

Xiao posted a photo of her and her friends with the hotel owners from that night on her WeChat account with the message: "A sleepless night, the most memorable night, safety is the most precious belonging."

Xiao said that she plans to return to Taiwan to see the places she was forced to miss this time. Taiwan is still worth visiting because it is full of kind people who are always hospitable, she said.

(By Shine Chen and Shih Hsiu-chuan)
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