Back on native soil after 56 years, visiting People First Party Chairman James Soong said yesterday "the people of China must never forget their roots" and the people along the Taiwan Strait should join hands to bring more glory to the nation.

"I'm a Hunan native, a proud Hunanese fond of eating hot pepper, a dignified Chinese and also a Taiwanese that loves Taiwan," Soong said upon his arrival at Huanghua Airport in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province.

On numerous other occasions in the delegation's mainland visit, Soong explicitly expressed his stance against Taiwan independence. He said people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are descendants of "Yandi and Huangdi emperors" and the  "dragon" and should accomplish the reunification of the country.

Soong will return to his former home in Juyu Village in Xiangtan City this morning to perform an ancestor worshipping ceremony. In the afternoon he will visit his former primary school and meet his female cousin Liu Manjun in Xiangtan.

In brief remarks at the airport, Soong said he felt many emotions in anticipation of today's visit.

"I escorted my grandmother's coffin to Hunan 56 years ago as a little boy. I haven't returned to see my kinfolk since, yet I have never stopped missing you," said Soong, impressing everyone by speaking in Hunan dialect.

He said the Hunan visit is not merely personal, but an important occasion to express the hope for peace across the strait.

"I hope the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will join hands, link each other heart to heart and work together to bring more glory to the Chinese nation in the 21st century," Soong said.

People in his former village were also excited about the visit.

"James Soong is coming back," said a farmer working in a field. "We feel very glad about it. It's a happy event for our village."

Soong was born in 1942, and left the Chinese mainland for Taiwan Province in 1949 when the Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war to the Communist Party of China.

Soong's cousin Liu has been busy preparing for the visit. She has several gifts for her cousin.

"I saw him on TV," Liu said excitedly. "When we meet, I want to have a long chat."

She said she'll present Soong with a fine silk embroidery, a mounted map of the city and a family photo taken in Nanjing in 1947.

Soong Yangxi, James Soong's aunt, said she and her husband will serve their nephew homemade bacon and rice wine. They will also give him homegrown tea.

Soong Yangxi's husband Wang Youqi said: "President Hu Jintao invited him to make the visit. That's a big honor for the Soongs."