Zhengzhou Travel Guide

/ / /

Chinese Airport Travel: New Solutions for Hydraulic Problems

September 26, 2008 at 8:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

Here's a Friday joke for you: How many Chinese airport workers does it take to push a 20-ton plane with 69 passengers and 7 crew? The answer: 30.

If you're not laughing yet, it's because it's not actually a joke, but a true story. This week in Zhengzhou a CRJ7 plane landed with a faulty front hydraulic system, which apparently meant it couldn't be attached to the tow truck. So airport officials sent out 30 staff to push the plane instead.

Two hours later, the 30 exhausted workers had pushed the plane less than half a mile but it was neatly out of the way and the passengers could disembark. And at least the airline didn't ask the passengers to get out and help push. Perhaps that's what they'd do on a low-cost carrier?

Related Stories:
· Airport Workers Get the Push [Ananova]
· China Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ananova]

/ / / / / /

Toilet Travel: Are You a Peach or a Banana?

August 1, 2008 at 9:18 AM | by | Comments (0)

Digging deeper into the files of random, unstandardized stuff from China: Apparently going to the bathroom is an even trickier matter than just figuring out the squatting thing. The extra challenge comes in figuring out which toilets belong to your gender.

A recent survey of public signs in Zhengzhou, for example, decided that 60 percent of the signs are unclear. One restaurant had banana on the sign for the men's and a peach on the women's; another place had a waterfall symbol for men and a picture of rain for women.

As if needing to pee in a foreign country isn't stressful enough, trying to guess which door you should enter definitely lends an anxious layer to the whole situation. But it could lead to some exciting gossip about Olympic athletes winding up in the wrong place with the wrong people, so we say, bring it on.

Related Stories:
· Banana and Peach Surprise on Menu [Ananova]
· Beijinging: Do You Sit or Squat? [Jaunted]
· Toilet coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Leo Reynolds]

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy (Revised 08/01/2011). © Condé Nast Digital. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast Digital.
Ad Choices