A video of a quarrel between mainland tourists caught snacking on a Hong Kong subway train with local passengers has burnt up the internets in both Hong Kong and the mainland. Watch a Hong Kong news report with English subtitles after the jump... more ›

"You know, quite a lot of mainland tourists now, more than 2.6 million, have come to Taiwan. They have done a lot of consumption in Taiwan, and spurred a tourism boom. At the same time, moreover, they have also got a sense of Taiwan’s democracy and freedom. A lot of them didn’t go out during the evening. Instead, they lock themselves up in their hotel rooms, watching the political talk shows to see our people criticizing their president. [laughter] Well, that’s democracy. That’s, you know, freedom of expression. But after a while, they began to ask why they couldn’t do the same when they go home? So, this is a very powerful question, and gradually they will make some changes, not only in our cross-strait relations, but also in their own internal system." more ›

Another day, another group of angry Chinese travellers causing a commotion somewhere in the world. This time, a group of tourists from Shanghai, Sichuan and Shenzhen staged a protest at Singapore's Changi Airport after a lengthy delay of their Hong Kong Airlines flight. more ›

Okay, while we don't particularly enjoy spending much time getting accosted with "bagswatch" offers and shoving ourselves through throngs of Chinese and foreign tourists, I wouldn't call Nanjing East Road the WORST tourist trap in the world. But that's exactly what CNNGo has labeled it - Number 4 to be exact. What is far more entertaining than the list itself, though, is the reaction from Huangpu district, whose feelings were clearly hurt. From Want China Times: more ›

The following text, found in the 1,500 manifesto of Anders Breivik Behring, the 32-year-old right-wing extremist who masterminded the twin terrorist attacks in Norway recently, has been circulating on the Chinese interwebs lately. In it, Breivik talks about his time in China which led him to the conclusion that unlike the people in Islamic countries who are "directly hostile to Europeans", the Chinese are "usually just after your money". He also mentions his stepmother, who he claims was the Norwegian Vice Consul in Shanghai:

Africa, China and the Islamic world more ›

New details have been released about the previously mentioned 2 foreign citizens killed in the Wenzhou high speed rail disaster. An elderly Chinese-American couple, aged 56 and 57, were confirmed amongst the 39-43 fatalities claimed by the tragedy (official reports claim that some bodies were counted twice...how reassuring). more ›

"ALL passengers arriving on flights from Europe are being checked to prevent the E. coli outbreak spreading to China, the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said yesterday. Passengers' temperatures are being taken and airlines are required to report passengers suffering from a range of symptoms. Further checks will identify the cause of their illness and the food they ate." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

A group of Chinese tourists have reported a travel agent to the authorities after they were forced to pay RMB800 each in tickets for sex shows in Pattaya when the guide stopped their bus in a remote area and turned off the a/c till everyone paid up. According to one of those tourists, "It was extremely hot in the coach, but we dared not leave because it was stopped in a dark, remote place. The tour guide said that if we didn't pay, the driver wouldn't have money for fuel." The travel agency says it has since sacked the tour guide for inappropriate behaviour and offered a full refund and compensation for the tickets. [Shanghai Daily] more ›

China has sent four planes to Egypt to evacuate Chinese travelers stranded in the Cairo airport. There were 480 citizens waiting at the airport to be picked up, and the first plane departed from Cairo this morning (an Air China flight) with 265 passengers on board. Over 2000 Chinese citizens are currently traveling in Egypt, and China has announced plans to send at least four more planes. One will be specifically destined for Luxor, where 200 Hong Kong tourists are waiting to be picked up. The Chinese government has said they are trying to bring as many nationals home as possible in time for Chinese New Year. more ›

This picture says it all. Watch and learn! more ›

There is often a time and a place for toilet humour, but in China, it appears that there is nothing funny to be found in the lavatory department. Doug Lanksy of the Huffington Post reports that China has topped the "World's Worst Toilet" survey. more ›

So visas might have been tough to get for the 60th anniversary and the Olympics, but officials swear that The Expo won't be the same. The Foreign MInistry has said that it already has "an established policy" for providing quick visas to Expo visitors. Unfortunately, he didn't specify what that "established policy" was or what kind of visas would be easy to get and they most probably aren't business visas - so all you English teachers are still kind of screwed. Sorry. more ›

Like time lapses? We sure have some affection towards them. Perhaps sensing this, Shanghaiist contributor James Creegan recently went to People's Square to encapsulate all the frenetic activity there into a short little video. Check out the details of how it was made here. more ›

Those who stayed in the city for the May holiday, did it feel more crowded to you? According to Xinhua, it was - since more than 2.45 million tourists decided to make Shanghai their holiday destination. That's about 20,000 more tourists than last year. Despite the crappy weather, these intrepid travelers trekked out to downtown Puxi, the Pearl Tower and Century Park in droves. Other fun statistics: On May 1, the Shanghai railways handled over 1.27 million passengers, over 2,700 people left from Pudong International Airport on between 7 and 8:30am, and at least 50 people missed their flights because of traffic jams due to road construction. more ›

Another day, another woman losing it at the Hong Kong International Airport. No rolling on the floor or wailing this time around, just a China-style scream-out at the airport staff. Near the end of the video the sound goes out, but we think we heard Southern China Airlines (中国南方航空). Could this be another viral, like the Sharks Fin Soup Auntie? more ›

Normally we wouldn't look twice at tourism expos in Shanghai, but when this popped up in our Xinmin (新民日报） feed this morning, our first thoughts were “WTF are those creatures supposed to be” and then “OMG, I think I see the acronym 'WTF' is in the story!” more ›

Now that the various politically sensitive anniversaries are over in the region, Tibet has been reopened to foreign tourists. China Daily said on Sunday that a group of 11 German travelers had arrived in Lhasa for a six-day tour and would be seeing various key scenic spots before leaving for Nepal. They are the first officially allowed visitors since February, near the start of the Tibetan New Year - which was unofficially boycotted by Tibetans over the government crackdown on riots last year. Source: AP more ›

So while some of us are struggling with our visas, fearful that the 60th anniversary might screw up our chances of staying in this country somehow, a newspaper has informed us that maybe there was a way for us to enter Shanghai without that coveted, gov't-stamped document. more ›

Three tourists from Xinjiang province returned from their trip to Kyrgyzstan with a lump of depleted uranium. They had bought the radioactive material as a souvenir at a local flea market. This kind of waste can be found at disposal sites left from Soviet-era uranium mining in Kyrgyzstan. After returning to China, they took the uranium to an expert at Tsinghua university to have it identified. The university staff called the police when they realized what it was, however, charges will not be pressed as a the men obviously didn't know what they had bought. more ›

Liu Wenli is a bit of a celebrity in China. more ›

Everyone is complaining about the snow and how difficult it makes walking dogs, getting cabs, getting out of train stations and how ayi is on holiday for the next couple weeks. This Shanghaiist has been inspired by the words of Doctor Seuss:

“When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad… You should do what I do! Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky! Some people are much more…Oh, ever so much more…Oh, muchly much-much more unlucky than you!”

... and going with strange girls who want to practise their English to coffee shops is STILL a bad idea, folks. Yet another chump — this time a Swedish guy on a business trip — has fallen for the time-honoured scam by following a pair of temptresses who were "dressed like university students" (so wearing mortar boards, presumably) to the Manabe coffee shop on the 3rd floor of the Brilliance Shimao Plaza, Shanghai Daily reported... more ›