Mission Implausible: Asian Man uses movie-style disguise to board plane

A man, likely to be a Hong Kong or Chinese national, has been caught going to extraordinary lengths to disguise himself for a flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver. However, no-one is quite sure what his plan was or how he achieved his professional-looking disguise.

The details being reported are sketchy. Apparently, the Asian man boarded the plane using a swapped boarding pass. This implies that he went through passport control using his real identity then obtained a different boarding card whilst in the departures waiting area. Perhaps he got past security because he had a ticket for a different flight (not to Vancouver)?

Reports suggest the Asian man got the boarding pass from an accomplice (who would have been booked on that Vancouver-bound flight). In which case, what happened to the accomplice. Did he just stay behind in HK?

The plot was rumbled on the flight itself when it was noticed (by flight attendants, I guess) that the 'elderly man' had youthful looking hands. Although, since the disguise was ditched in mid-air, you would think that the sudden disappearance of a passenger and the appearance of a Chinese man from out of thin air might also have raised eyebrows!

A very strange story, indeed.

Story: Toronto Star

Big Spenders from the Mainland - two sides of a story

Just as the UK's Daily Telegraph publishes a wide-eyed article about the extravagant shopping habits of China's newly wealthy tourists, there comes a viral video from Hong Kong that shows a tour guide berating her party of Mainland guests for not spending 'enough' during their visit to the SAR.

The Telegraph article - which to be honest could have been written any time in the last 5 years - paints Chinese tourists as potential saviours of a struggling UK economy whilst at the same time pointing out some of the eccentricities of the new Chinese rich:

Nowhere is China’s confidence seen more clearly than in its demand for luxury goods. Last year the People’s Republic overtook the United States to become the second biggest market for the luxury sector; and by 2015 it will have overtaken Japan, with a market projected to be worth £11 billion annually.

...The eccentricity of Chinese buying habits takes other forms. Fine wine may be a status symbol in the high-end restaurants of Shanghai but many locals are not so enamoured of the actual taste.

“The Chinese used to water down the cheap wine they first encountered and now consider that the normal way to drink it,” says Mr Grant. “Which can be a bit of a shame when you’ve just opened a nice Margaux.”

The flip side of this story comes in the form of the viral video, in which a tour guide called Ah Zhen - thought by some commenters to be a Hong Kong based Mainlander herself - does a 'Bus Uncle' by launching into a long, insulting tirade against her clients who seems remarkably quiet whilst being chastised.

Some of the choice quotes being reported in the press are:

"It's you who owe me here, not me owing you. I provided you with food and accommodation but you people will not give."
"If you don't repay the debt in this life you will have to repay it in your next life."
"It's OK to be poor at home, but you can't act like this when you are outside. Don't tell me you don't need [the jewellery], I say you don't need to eat either. Tonight I will lock all hotel room doors, because you don't need accommodation."
"We don't do this for charity. Let me be responsible for charity. I donated 10,500 yuan [HK$12,027] for Sichuan earthquke victims."
"Why did you bother to come to Hong Kong?"

All this an not one person threw anything at her. What a polite group of tourists!

Who knows, if the UK economy were to decline even more maybe we'll start to see rants like this on the streets outside Prada and Gucci? Well, maybe not :)



Guide video via Living In Hong Kong

UK shopping article via The Daily Telegraph

Two Chinese men and 'suspicious liquid' spark air alert

Here's an intriguing little story.

A US-bound Delta Air Lines flight turned back to Japan after two Chinese passengers locked themselves in a toilet with what authorities said was a container of suspicious liquid.

The pilot of the Boeing 747-400 with 407 passengers and crew bound for Minneapolis turned around three hours into the flight from Tokyo after the two men refused to leave the toilet.

The pair, both in their 20s, had boarded the flight during an earlier stop in Shanghai.

So the question must be: What was the liquid that two Chinese men would want to take into a toilet? Would anyone care to guess?

Story: Hong Kong Standard

New website explains Right of Abode in Hong Kong

A big thank you to Harry Li who has told me about his highly informative website that explains in depth the issue of Right of Abode in Hong Kong.

This is what I think a lot BBCs have been waiting for; a clear, informative website in English by someone who understands the complicated issues involved.

Head over to Harry's website here.

Related: Old Hong Kong ID cards to become invalid

Perhaps the riskiest tourist attraction in China

... and maybe the world.

Photo: DamnCoolPics

Huashan in Shaanxi province is one of China's sacred mountains and a hugely popular tourist destination. Besides the sedate pleasure of temples and awe-inspiring scenery, there is also a precarious pathway that is becoming known as one of the most deadly tourist activities in the world, a narrow trail that takes hikers up a steep mountainside with at times nothing but a couple of planks or a chain to stop you plummeting to your death.

So how dangerous is this trail? Actually no-one knows the official figures because none are available. But from seeing online accounts and photos, I think we can safely say it's not somewhere you want to take your digital SLR.

Kudos to the guy who installed those planks, though!

Oasis Airlines goes into liquidation!

Whoa. The budget airline flying from the UK to Hong Kong has applied to go into liquidation with debts of 1 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The not even 2 year-old airline had hoped to shake up the air travel industry by being the first 'no frills' long-haul carrier but clearly the concept has failed.

Customer helplines have now been set up for people holding Oasis tickets. The numbers are:

Hong Kong +852 3628 0628
UK 0844 482 2323 (from within UK) or +44 1293 596 633
Canada and US +1 888 983 0808

Full story: BBC

Related: On-board an Oasis Hong Kong Airlines flight

Flying to HK soon? You might want to avoid British Airways and Heathrow

Photo: Thisislondon

They are calling them 'teething problems' but that seems like a bit of an understatement.

Heathrow Terminal 5, the new UK hub for British Airways, including its Hong Kong to London route, has suffered a disasterous opening day and the chaos is expected to continue.

As reported in the Times:

My daughter was at terminal 5 last night trying to get on her flight to Hong Kong. We received a call from her in HK at 4.30 am in the morning saying that it was complete chaos and she was unable to check in her suitcase. She had been told that she could try to find a hotel for herself and to see if there was a seat available tomorrow or leave her luggage behind and collect it when she returned. No assistance was given with this. She was then told that all left luggage storage facilities were full. Eventually she was helped by a policeman who directed her to a left luggage facility on the next floor.

There were no BA staff around to answer queries and no proper management. She has left all her clothes and belongings behind and the man operating the left luggage facility ignored her question as to what the charges for left luggage would be. BA has got to take responsibility for this. There was no crisis management at Terminal 5.

J Waldron, Hong Kong , Hong Kong

Source: Terminal 5 launch disaster brings holiday chaos

Whilst it would be easy to point to Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport and say, "That's how you do it," it's worth remembering that even that airport had problems when it first opened too. They were not on the scale of what is being reported at Heathrow T5, though, and I doubt you would have seen the appalling customer service that the papers are currently reporting. (EDIT: In Hong Kong's case it was the entire airport that was new, whereas at Heathrow it is just one terminal serving one airline)

Source: Lack of preparations behind H.K. airport opening chaos

I've never been a fan of BA but I certainly won't be booking with them now if I can help it. And it sounds like steering clear of Heathrow T5 for a while would be a good idea too.

Related: Terminal Disgrace: Fights break out among queuing passengers

Chinglish

'Chinglish' used to be a phrase used (occasionally by bbcs) to describe the haphazard and sometimes clumsy mixing up of Chinese and English in conversation.

Recently the phrase has been used more to refer to funny signs and notices that include comically bad translations of Chinese into English and, just in time for Christmas, it's even become a book title.

I had a flick through the book while I was Christmas shopping and some of the examples are quite funny but they do become tiresome after a while. The whole book would probably only give someone about 20mins of amusement.

Seeing as there is probably an inexhaustible supply of these funny signs, the 'Chinglish' phenomenon looks set to run for a while before everyone gets bored of it. Here's my tip of the day: You can save yourself the cost of the book simply by looking up Chinglish on Google Images. ;)

The Brit tourist video causing anger in Singapore

The video below shows three British males having a laugh and a joke at the slow pace of the rickshaw that they're riding whilst on a trip to Singapore. They then refuse to pay the fare (10 Singapore dollars - about 3 pounds), despite the driver's pleas, and he is clearly someone in need of the money.

People in Singapore have been outraged at what they see as the gross mistreatment of an elderly man: The driver of the rickshaw, Lee Shee Lam, is 67 and he was attempting to carry 3 adult men in his rickshaw (which would explain the slow pace of the ride).

The video is certainly uncomfortable viewing. Is it abuse of an old man or 3 tourists who feel they're being ripped off? Judge for yourself:



An indication of the anger the video has generated can be read here:

http://youtube.com/profile?user=B0Davis

The original Youtube user BODavis has apparently shut down his account.

News story: Daily Mail.

HK ID cards - advice wanted

My post about old-style HK ID cards becoming invalid is still getting comments and one reader has asked for help regarding British National Overseas status if you don't have right of abode in Hong Kong.

If anyone thinks they can advise, please see the comments section in the post.

Thanks,

bbb

A380 Superjumbo flies by HK

Cameras were out in force on Monday morning in HK as the Airbus A380 'superjumbo' performed a special, low-level fly by as part of this year's Hong Kong Air Show.

At one point, the plane appeared to be cruising lower than the top of the 2 IFC tower, Hong Kong's tallest building. Can't wait to fly to HK on one of these:







Pics from hkadb.com

MTR to bring expertise to London's ailing transport system

I've just caught the news reports about Hong Kong's ultra efficient and modern MTR being brought in to run a large part of the London public transport system.

In partnership with the British company Laing, MTR will take control of a new cross-city network that has been named the London Overground System. The network will stretch from Watford in the north to Crystal Palace in the South, and from Richmond in the west to Barking in the east. In other words, it's pretty major. This is the first time that Hong Kong's MTR has undertaken a project outside of China

Bbcs who have experienced the MTR will tell you how well-run it is compared to the London Tube (e.g. modern, clean trains and stations, almost non-existent delays, highly professional staff, Oyster-style touch cards being introduced years in advance, wi-fi on trains) and getting MTR involved in this project sounds like a great idea and good news for London.

However the Tube workers union the RMT opposes the deal. Now, if you live in London and have experienced the regular delays, poor service, unpleasant staff attitude and frequent strikes, you'll understand how the idea of a new company coming in which is both efficient and known for providing excellent customer service must terrify an organization like the RMT.

I say, MTR come on in! London needs you.

Source: ThisisLondon.co.uk.

PS. The RMT started a 72hr strike today.

Another reason never to fly Air China.

If the poor safety record wasn't enough to put you off, this snippet of a conversation between an Air China pilot and air traffic control should do it.

Giles Wemmbley-Hogg (spoof of a young, British backpacker)

You may have come across a Giles Wemmbley-Hogg yourself; He is a middle-class, white, English undergraduate taking a 'gap year' during his studies to travel the world.

I hope that some young backpackers genuinely do have their minds broadened when they travel to Asia, but for the types of people being spoofed here the journey is little more than a ritual.

This is Giles (the creation of UK comedian Marcus Brigstocke) presenting a slide show of his recent travels through Asia:



I've always been skeptical about the young backbacking movement. It may be intended to teach young people something through seeing and living amongst cultures different to their own (which is great) but in practice, is there really much respect for that culture from the travellers?

Do they, for example, go to Thailand to experience Thai culture and meet Thai people, or merely to party with other Giles Wemmbley-Hoggs in some foreigner-friendly, English speaking bar with a nice beach to sunbathe on the following morning?

With backbacking, I feel there is an element of treating the world as a theme park for westerners and rather than 'broadening the mind', I think some backbackers (at least the ones being parodied above) return home with no more than a sense of 'been there, done that.'

Footnote: How, I wonder, would the UK feel about an annual influx of, say, Vietnamese youths coming here to 'do' England, making their way en masse through Oxford, Cambridge and the country's best beauty spots to set up camps and party into the night at Vietnamese travellers' bars? Somehow I don't think that even backbackers would welcome this on their own doorstep.

Oasis to launch Yorkshire-to-HK direct flights?

As a London-based bbc, it's quite easy top become too London-centric in your view of the world. Where do catch a flight to Hong Kong? Why, Heathrow or Gatwick, of course. But what if you live in Newcastle or Burnley? I don't have any idea what the options are north of Watford.

At least bbcs who live in Yorkshire will find going back to HK a little bit easier in the future. That's if budget airline Oasis are able to start a direct service from Sheffield as planned.

News article here.

Fact for the Day: Yorkshire is the 2nd most affluent county in the UK.

Alpine beauty.... in the middle Western China

You won't find people yodelling or little girls called 'Heidi' amongst these picturesque, snow-capped mountains but you will be able to get a plate of spicy fried noodles.



Incredibly, this Alpine landscape is in Western China, in a region known as Tianshan (Mountain of Heaven). It lies within the snappily-named Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region which sits snugly between Tibet to the south, Kazakhstan to the west and Mongolia to the East. 'Aprés ski' country, this ain't.

The nearest town (and main tourist hub) is Urumqi, claimed to be the most inland city in the world.

Once a barren land of snow and ice, centuries of climate change have turned Tianshan into a place of green fields and clear mountain streams. It's also a steadily growing tourist attraction as a writer for Chinaculture.org describes:

"Wanting to enjoy the scene I decided to have an early lunch at an open-air restaurant. It was so relaxing. Sitting there in the sunshine I enjoyed a large plate of spicy fried noodles while cows and horses grazed close by. Boats carried tourists across the lake's calm blue waters.

I kept thinking that I had finally made it to one of the most attractive places in China. My dream had come true."

Read the full article here.

HK scams targetting Mainlanders may hit tourism industry

There has been a steadily rising problem in Hong Kong of unscrupulous tour operators and shop owners tricking visitors from the Mainland into buying worthless or counterfeit goods while on holiday.

The scam was exposed on Chinese TV channel CCTV recently and now it is feared that tourism to Hong Kong from the Mainland will be affected as a result. Already, drops of 30% in the number of visitors from Mainland China are being predicted in the light of the scandal.

The way the scam works is that a tour operator will take a group of tourists to specially designated shops in Hong Kong, where they will be encouraged to buy as much as possible. Sometimes the operator will have enticed customers by offering a 'no fee' deal. The profit for the operator comes, of course, from taking a cut of the shop's profits.

This kind of arrangement can be perfectly legal but the CCTV report exposed collusion between tour operators and shop owners in selling counterfeit or worthless goods to tourists, hard sell techniques and plenty of bad attitude when tourists failed to purchase goods.

A Shanghai tourist said all group tour members were taken to designated shops and asked to buy goods. "Sometimes our tour guide gave us a long face if we didn't buy anything. As the authenticity of items is difficult to determine, I bought some cheaper things in the shops," she said.

Some industry experts blamed the industry malpractice on the "zero-fee tours" for mainlanders. For such tours, travel agencies and tour guides would not charge tourists fees and would take them to do shopping in designated stores, which would then give them commissions of up to 30% on goods purchased by the tourists.

In October, a "zero-fee" group from the remote northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai were abandoned by their tour guide after they refused to buy goods at certain shops.

Full report here.

After working so hard to shake off its image as 'home of counterfeit goods', why have scams like this emerged 'exclusively' for Mainland tourists?

HK authorities are now introducing new measures to protect tourists' rights and prevent people from being ripped off.

The N.T. - Experiencing Hong Kong's wilder side

Many Westerners have a stereotypical view of Hong Kong as a forest of skyscrapers, all gleaming glass and shoppping malls. That's true of Central and Hong Kong island, of course, but as many bbcs will be aware, the New Territories offer a very different environment: lush, green, almost tropical. And whilst many N.T. towns have been massively developed over the last few decades, you are still never very far from open skies and forested hills.

The Telegraph's Linda Kernan takes a walk on the 'wild side' of HK.

Old Hong Kong ID cards to become invalid

A quick reminder for anyone who still hasn't changed their old HK ID cards to the new Smart ID cards with the chip inside: Please hurry up and do so before your card becomes invalid!

Old ID cards for people born between 1943 and 1969 are already invalid. The next batch to become invalid hasn't yet been announced but it will almost certainly affect 'bbcs' born in the 70s.

UPDATE: From 17th September 2007, old style (non-Smart) ID cards for those born between 1970 and 1979 will become invalid.

Official government info is here

HK government FAQ on the Right of Abode issue is here.

Please pass this on to anyone you know who still needs to change their card!

Related: New website explains Right of Abode in Hong Kong

On-board an Oasis Hong Kong Airlines flight

Something I'm sure all bbcs are aware of by now, is the new airline offering low-cost flights from Gatwick to Hong Kong.

I think the general response to the launch of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines was "Yeah, great! Bargain flights to HK!" followed swiftly by "Hmm, think I'll let them do a few flights first before I jump on board."

The early doubts about proved partially right when the inaugural flight ran into problems and had to be delayed but there have been few reports of problems since. Now, for the curious amongst you, here's a chance to see for yourself what the actual plane interior is like:


Check out pics from on board Oasis Hong Kong's 747 here.


If that wasn't enough, here's an in-depth flight report from an Oasis passenger! He seemed to have had a great time, although his experience was probably a bit exceptional (being the first ever flight of a new airline etc.)