The family of a victim who died from a collision at the Great Wall of China are complaining that they won’t get any justice if a Canadian woman leaves China.

Cui Hongfang, 70, died from head injuries sustained in a fall minutes after a Canadian tourist named Fortin, 38, collided with her when coming down a steep set of stairs at the famous landmark.

The local Huairou Public Security Bureau concluded in their preliminary investigation that the incident does not constitute a criminal case, and have suggested to Cui’s family to settle this case as a civil matter.

But as Cui’s daughter Miss Chen points out, this will next to impossible to arrange if Fortin leaves the country, for which she has already purchased a plane ticket home. For this reason, Chen has been keeping watch on the Dongzhimen hotel at which Fortin has been staying to make sure she doesn’t leave. However, Chen says Fortin was able to elude her this afternoon, and admits that she has no idea of her current whereabouts. On the other hand, the hotel says Fortin has not checked out of her room.

Cui’s family says that the police assessment is made on oral statements alone, and is “not appropriate”. But getting anymore evidence to support their case will be difficult there were no other witnesses at the time, and no surveillance cameras recorded the incident.

As reported by the New Capital News, the area of the Great Wall of China where the accident occurred is a steep, walled-in narrow pathway with an incline of about 60 degres. It is about 1.5 meters wide, and only passable if going by shoulder-to-shoulder. And despite a number of warning signs, the reporter saw visitors coming down the stairs at a high rate of speed.

Chen remains angry at how Fortin has handled this matter:

(The police) told me that day that there was a small possibility this incident would be construed as a criminal case. We said that we didn’t care if this was a criminal case or a civil case. We don’t want her to be found guilty; our whole family is clear that we don’t want to throw her in jail. However, this is something (Fortin) has to take care of, it doesn’t matter if you’ve gone missing or whatever, this is something that you still have to face.

With nothing left to her advantage, Chen has sent out an open letter imploring the public for their help that releases Fortin’s full name and picture. Among her demands is to appeal to police authorities to prevent Fortin from leaving the country, and to reopen the case and declare it to be a criminal matter.

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A Canadian tourist visiting the Great Wall of China has accidentally killed an elderly Chinese women after bumping into her at the world-famous tourist attraction.

Cui Hongfang, 70, hit her head on a brick wall as a result from the collision. Cui died from her injuries at the scene.

It happened yesterday morning around 11 at the Mutianyu portion of the Great Wall. Cui was with her family when a “foreign woman” suddenly rushed down a set of stairs, bumping into Cui. Mr Song, a member of Cui’s family, described what happened:

The foreign woman’s speed coming down the stairs was very quick. At the time, (Cui) was not holding onto the handrail, and was suddenly knocked down.

No details about the Canadian woman except her nationality have been revealed by police. The Huairou PSB that investigated the incident say this is not a criminal case, and suggest the matter be settled under civil law.

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An unidentified Canadian man called Shenzhen police to say he left his backpack in the back of a taxi at around 2pm on New Year’s Eve. The Guangming police sub-station answered the call, and after determining where he got out of the taxi, they were able to isolate which taxi the man took by looking at local surveillance video.

When contacted, driver Mr Zhang confirmed there was a bag in his car, and said he would return it to the police sub-station. And so at 2:30pm, not half an hour after he first reported it missing, the Canadian man was able to regain his lost backpack with nothing missing inside.

As amazing as this story is, similar reports in the Chinese news are actually very common. Many are stories of drivers returning cash to their rightful owners. And while they lack the amazing sleuthing skills of this story, other incidents involving foreigners losing backpacks in taxis have made the news this year.

A foreigner identified as “Max” forgot his backpack in a taxi in November last year, but was able to get it back within an hour by showing police where he exited the taxi on miniature model of the city he was visiting.

“Max” points out the exact location where the taxi that has his missing backpack dropped him off.

A foreigner with the name “Luca” also forgot his backpack in a taxi while visiting Chengde in July, but was able to retrieve it before too long because the taxi driver noticed it after dropping him off and immediately went back to the hotel to give it to Luca personally.

So if you happen to forget your backpack in the back of a taxi, don’t fret; you too might actually get it back.

Photo: China Daily

The post Now, Some Good News: If You Forget Something in a Taxi in China, Don’t Lose All Hope appeared first on The Nanfang.

“No matter if it is tourists, exchange students, or applicants looking to reside here, China is one of the main sources of new arrivals in New Zealand,” said Bruce Ballast, the deputy director of visas for Asia.

Ballast goes on to explain the significant role China plays in New Zealand immigration:

Without a doubt, China is the country we focus on the most at the present time in the immigrantion office. For the past three years, Chinese application to immigrate to New Zealand have increased by 80%, and continues to quickly grow at a 30% annual rate.

Ballast also had some statistics to share:

In 2013, the New Zealand department of immigration processed 304,475 applications from China. This means that without counting our days off, our offices processed Chinese applications at a rate of about a thousand visa applications a day.

Resources have been specifically arranged just take care of this demand. Out of a staff of 1,400 for which 800 personnel are allocated for visa processing, 180 workers are dedicated to processing Chinese applications.

Photo: Baidu Images

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Over 100 million mainland Chinese tourists are expected to have traveled internationally in 2014, according to the National Tourism Administration. This number beats the previous record set in 2013.

The number is somewhat misleading, as more than 60 percent of travel was to the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau as well as the self-governed island of Taiwan.

Other popular destinations were South Korea, Thailand, Japan, USA, Vietnam, and Singapore.

Nearly 90 percent of all travel was within Asia, while 3.5 percent went to Europe, 3 percent to Africa, and 2.7 percent to the Americas. The countries with the biggest increase in Chinese tourists were Japan and South Korea. Combined, the two countries saw an increase in Chinese tourism of almost 40 percent.

The new travel record stands in stark contrast to China’s international travel from just over a decade and a half ago. In 1998, there were only 8.43 million trips made beyond China’s national boundaries.

Photo: People’s Daily Online

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Die-hards of Japan’s famous Hello Kitty can eat their hearts out: Hello Kitty World, a massive new theme park, will open in China on New Years Day. The park will be Hello Kitty’s first in China and the largest in Asia. It has been under construction for the past five years.

The park will star Hello Kitty and her popular Sanrio friends by devoting a specific zone for each character. Hello Kitty will be featured at Hello Kitty Home, My Melody in Melody Village, Keroppi in Happy Harbor, Badtz-Maru in Steam Kingdom, and Monkichi in Spirit Forest. A sixth zone, Friendship Plaza, is presumably where other Sanrio characters will be found.

A theme park wouldn’t be complete without a matching hotel, so Hello Kitty will feature castle-themed accommodations.

The bad news, fans, is the park won’t be very easy to get to. It is near Huzhou in Zhejiang Province, which is a three-hour drive from Shanghai’s Pudong Airport. Tickets for adults are RMB 260 ($42) and will rise to RMB 320 yuan ($52) on holidays. Children’s tickets are RMB 200 ($33) and RMB 260 ($42.35) using the same pricing scheme.

Here are more concept photos of the park from an aerial view:

The theme hotel is features the color pink:

And here are some preview shots of the park before opening day:

Meanwhile, PRD residents who can’t wait to celebrate the Sanrio mascot’s 40th anniversary have some local options. In Macau, a Hello Kitty dessert store has opened up and is offering the Hello Kitty experience with branded egg tarts and almond cakes.

[h/t Rocketnews 24]

Related:

• Disney Unveils Plans for Massive Shanghai Theme Park
• Universal Studios Coming to Beijing
• Shenzhen to get world’s largest ferris wheel
• Zhuhai roller coaster stops mid-ride
• A 58-year-old spends 4 hours on Dongguan roller coaster, wants to set world record
• Man in Shenzhen Strips, Threatens to Jump Off Fake Eiffel Tower

Photos: Everyday Yuhang, The Iceberg, vogueda

The post Forget Disney, Hello Kitty World Theme Park To Open Near Shanghai in January appeared first on The Nanfang.

If you can hang around China for another six years, you’re in luck: Universal Studios plans to open a theme park in the Tongzhou District of Beijing in 2020.

The park, first announced back in 2001, is expected to cost RMB 20 billion and take up 120 hectares of Tongzhou’s cultural tourism zone. There are also plans to build a resort at the site taking up another 400 400 hectares.

The theme park will also apparently include “Chinese elements”. As these have yet to be determined, we’ll have to use our imagination. Perhaps something like:

• Transformers Ride of Harmony: There is Nothing More that Meets the Eye
• The Terminator Non-Time Traveling Killer Robot Show
• Musical: The Blues Brothers Sing Red Songs of Patriotism
• Stage Show: Harry Potter and the Galvanizing Foreign Presence of Evil
• Interactive Exhibit: ET: Phone Home: Sichuan Edition

Photo: China News

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Tourists walk past a luxury store in Hong Kong

The number of mainland tourists to Macau swelled to 1.2 million in the first four days of the week-long national holiday, surpassing the figures recorded last year as people stay away from Hong Kong as streets remain blocked with protesters.

On October 3, more than 300,000 visitors entered Macau, more than double last year’s 115,800 tourists on the second day of the week-long holiday, according to figures released by Zhuhai Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection Station and Macau Government Tourism Bureau.

Meanwhile there were 157,212 Mainlanders heading to Hong Kong on October 1, a 2 percent decline compared with a year ago, Wall Street Journal reported. China has temporarily suspended visas for tour groups heading to the city because of the unrest.

Anti-occupy protesters beat a protester in Mongkok.

According to figures released by the Hong Kong Immigration Department, 165,685 visitors from mainland China arrived in the city on the second day of the national holiday, a 70 percent decline from last year. It’s a “very low percentage during the Golden Week,” wrote Shenzhen Evening News on October 4.

Pro-Beijing Chinese newspaper Ta Kung Pao said the protests have brought instability and financial losses to the city. ANT bank estimated the protests cost the city HK$2.2 billion of losses in retail, the newspaper reported.

Photos: Alex Ogle/AFP/Getty Images; Tyrone Siu/Reuters

The post Mainland Tourists, Avoiding Hong Kong, Head to Macau Instead appeared first on The Nanfang.

The woman plunged into the river just a tour boat was passing by. The foreigner, on board the boat, noticed the woman in the water and dove in to save her. The woman’s boyfriend was also on scene and helped in the rescue effort.

Fortunately the woman appears to be okay.

UPDATED 11:40am August 19: Here’s a video taken at the scene:

Related:

• Man Jumps from Seventh Floor of Guangzhou’s Tee Mall in Suicide
• Guangzhou’s Image Tarnished By Attention-Seeking Bridge Jumpers
• Threatening to Jump, Woman in Zhongshan Falls Asleep During Suicide Attempt
• Guangdong schoolgirl attempts suicide because teacher disapproved of hairdo

Photos: DQ Daily

The post Foreign Tourist Dives Into Nanjing Lake to Save Suicidal Woman [UPDATED] appeared first on The Nanfang.

Conde Nast Traveler

The term “unfriendly” isn’t necessarily a reflection of a city’s residents. Instead, it’s a judgment on how accessible and accommodating a city is towards its international tourists. For example, Johannesburg was ranked first because of its high crime rate and “danger of traveling alone”.

Beijing ranks at number six on the list, apparently because of its “terrible pollution” and “dirty streets” that detract from its beautiful attractions. With that, China Daily issued the following post:

Is Beijing the world’s most unfriendly city?
US travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler has published a list of the world’s most unfriendly cities for 2014 upon which Beijing is ranked at number six. The magazine thinks that environmental pollution, traffic congestion and overcrowding are the main reasons for being on the list. The top city on the list is Johannesburg, and there are three well-known romantic French cities on the list: Paris (#4), Marsailles (#4), and Cannes (#2).

As China’s capital, Beijing certainly has its problems. Beijing does have bad air pollution, congested streets and too many people, so it can’t dispute these facts. The contention seems to be over the word “unfriendly”.  Netizens in China, of course, have sounded off over the news:

Rutina想要其乐融融：
I don’t understand the meaning of the word “unfriendly”. [tragic.emo]

悲怆的震魂曲：
This list was determined by the Americans themselves, no wonder there aren’t any of their own US cities on this list.

小善爱吃奥利奥：
Let’s see you make New York, Los Angeles, and Washington not be congested with traffic!

fytly：
There really aren’t any US cities listed.

臺灣阿傑：
In truth, Beijingers fear important foreigners!! Especially important people who are black!! It’s just that the foreign media doesn’t know this.

鄙视水果大战：
Actually, (they) treat foreigners very well.

小鱼吃大鱼的地盘：
I’ve never been to Beijing; I support this.

活得好累KKK：
It seems as though this isn’t wrong. In loving our country, we must look at all the facts.

哪有一头小毛驴：
Take a hike, Beijing!

Or, it may be time to accept that Beijing is a terrible place to find yourself at the end of a journey. In May, a survey of 54,000 people by TripAdvisor determined that Beijing is the second-worst travel destination in the world, topped only by Moscow.

The survey ranked cities by the quality of taxi services provided, the helpfulness of locals, and, yes, the friendliness of its residents.

Photo: Jez and Jennie’s

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