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]]]> amandak 2008-09-26T08:45:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/21/223816/932

The Olympics paid off in more ways than one for China. Sure, the country got awesome new hotels, venues and infrastructure built, but now, post-games, the country's also experiencing a boom in tourism. The New York Times reports that travelers want to experience for themselves what their favorite Olympians did--and tour groups are seeing bookings jump as much as 20 percent.]]> sedona 2008-09-22T11:30:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/18/62335/6920

You know when you walk through a museum full of ancient stuff and you wonder if clumsy museum staff ever break anything? (Well, it's something that crosses our minds.)

It happened in China, to some poor staff members of the Wu Wei City Museum. About a year ago two workers told curator Yang Fu they'd dropped a 2000-year-old wooden turtle dove and its beak had broken off. That's bad. Yang Fu, however, didn't want to get into trouble, and simply glued the beak back on and hoped nobody would ever notice.

And no one did--for about a year. Museum bigwigs were preparing for a special exhibition recently, though, and the turtle dove got brought out of the storage cabinet, with glued-on beak there for all to see. And Yang Fu got fired.

So be skeptical when you're next wandering a museum--some of that centuries-old wear and tear might just be the result of clumsy workers.

Related Stories:
· Curator Fired for Gluing Broken Antique [Ananova]
· China Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: naturalkinds]]]> amandak 2008-09-18T09:30:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/12/74411/3175

Pretty much every time we mention the Hong Kong edition of Disneyland we're telling you about its miserable visitor numbers and general failure to excite the people of the region. Today Hong Kong Disneyland turns three and we're here to tell you: It's still got miserable visitor numbers.

To be perfectly honest, we're not sure if the numbers are that bad--but the fact that they're now keeping them secret isn't a good sign. However, Hong Kong Disneyland now has a new managing director and a new strategy: Aggressively attacking the Chinese market.

New MD Andrew Kam has spent years selling Coca-Cola to the Chinese so convincing them that Disneyland is for them sounds right down his alley. It's probably a good thing he's focusing on that market, because as for us, we're not the slightest bit interested in checking out the Hong Kong version of Mickey. Even if it is his birthday.

Related Stories:
· New HK Disneyland Director Sees Aggressive Growth [IHT]
· Unhappy Birthday to Hong Kong Disneyland [Jaunted]
· Mickey and Hong Kong Don't Mix [Jaunted]

[Photo: coconut wireless]]]> amandak 2008-09-12T09:00:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/14/153839/435

If you've never been to an American embassy, we're here to tell you that it's not actually that much fun. (Well, maybe it's fun if you're invited to a party, but that's not why we stopped by!) Still, the new diplomatic mission in Beijing looks good enough to compete with The Bird's Nest and The Watercube.

The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill building opened the same day as the games, August 8, and is second in size only to the US embassy in Baghdad. The eight-floor facility covers 10 acres and cost $434 million to build. It's just outside Beijing's Third Ring Road.

Inside, you'll find a rich collection of contemporary art, including pieces from Louise Bourgeois, Martin Puryear, Maya Lin, Cai Guo-Qiang and Robert Rauschenberg. Because the embassy had a budget of "only" $800,000, many of the works were either donated or sold way below cost to the State Department. One exception is Jeff Koons' "Tulips" which is on a 10-year loan from the artist.

Related Stories:
· About the Embassy [Official Site]
· Cool New US Embassy in Beijing [BlackBook]
· More Embassy Travel: Let's Go See the Queen! [Jaunted]

[Photo: SOM]]]> pbb 2008-08-14T16:30:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/2/151726/2132

There's no shortage of stories about passengers on U.S. airlines getting riled up over lousy service these days, but in China they take things to a higher level entirely. Frustrated by delays, cancellations, and a lack of information, passengers in China have attempted to storm on board aircraft, refused to exit aircraft, and even caused a riot in an airport, smashing computers and desks.

Now it looks like the government has finally had enough, but instead of sending the offending passengers to reeducation camps, they're coming down hard on the airlines. Chinese aviation officials announced recently that airlines who drive passengers to such extreme acts will be punished for their poor service with the loss of lucrative slots at busy airports, a move that's sure to get their attention.

We're not sure of the message here, though. If the government is really going to measure the performance of airlines by the number of violent and rebellious acts they inspire, don't passengers have an incentive to go extra crazy in order to make the airlines fall into line? Well, maybe the threat of such a substantial revenue loss will scare them into being extra nice to passengers and getting them to their destinations on time. Coming from a country where airlines are rarely punished for their screw-ups, we'll be watching China to see if their heavy-handed approach is successful in improving service.

Related Stories:
· China to Punish Airlines Whose Passengers Misbehave [Reuters via Yahoo! News]
· Airline Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Reuters]]]> Victor Ozols 2008-08-02T15:20:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/1/11553/48765

After an airport revolt earlier this week, authorities in China will start penalizing airlines that don't clamp down on riotous passengers. Says deputy head of the civil aviation office, Yang Guoqing:

We will severely punish airlines which experience aircraft occupations and other incidents as a result of service reasons which originate with the airline. These measures include cancelling slots at corresponding busy airports.

On the upside, at least it looks like checking your flight status might be a little bit easier, now that China has been shamed into partially lifting some internet restrictions.

Related Stories:
· China to Punish Airlines Whose Passengers Misbehave [Shanghaiist, via]
· Punishing Airlines Whose Passengers Misbehave [Reuters]
· Chinese Upping the Angry Passenger Ante [Jaunted]

[Photo of PEK: valerious]]]> pbb 2008-08-01T12:00:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/