Entries from March 2008 ↓

Hangzhou International Youth Hostel at the Nanshan Road (No.101-3 Nanshan Road) is very ideally located – just right at the side of the beautiful West Lake. Opposite is the famous China Arts Institute (中國美術學院).  Nearby, on the tree-lined Nanshan road, you can find good bars, teahouses, restaurants, cafes, museums and galleries.

You cannot find another youth hostel in the whole Hangzhou such nicely located. I was very impressed by the location when I visited it years ago. 

The hostel is well run and has a nice garden and a tastefully decorated spacious living room. Room price ranges from US$4 in a dorm to US$ 18 for a single private ensuite. Some rooms have view over the West Lake.

You can book online here via Hostel World.

     
It is common knowledge for the Beijing locals that, if you want to buy books, go for the array of bookstores converging in the Haidian area(海淀區) , where all the prominent universities are located, such as Qinghua University or Beijing University.

Since May 2007, the bookstore area called Book City (圖書城) has been given a facelift by the authorities, with grey as the standardized color of the area, and allowing only bookstores or culture related businesses in operation. Some new bookstores have moved in.

Though the color of the City is drab, it now boasts hosting some of the “vanguard” bookstores in China, such as the reputedly first and only 24 hour bookstore Guang He Zuo Yong (photosynthesis, 光合作用), focusing on lifestyle books with coffee shop attached, and the giant Di San Ji (The Third Pole﹐第三極) bookstore, which claims to be the biggest bookstore in the world with the widest choice of books. I am not sure its claim is valid but the bookstore has become a new force in Beijing’s book industry, with its 20,000 sq meters of floor areas and 300,000 books on offer. The Beijing University is just around its corner.

In the Book City, you can also find secondhand and specialty bookstores, galleries, stationery shops, and so on.

Foreign visitors may think the Book City offers Chinese books only and hence irrelevant to them. Wrong. You can also find English books, Japanese books and Korean books here. In the Di San Ji bookstore, for instance, one area is devoted to second hand foreign language books, including some real bargain second hand English books.

There is always concern that Shenzhen, the first city to implement China’s open door policy, is not a safe city - crimes are rampant, including those against Hong Kong people and foreigners. The following facts explain why.

Only two million of the city’s population of 14 million have permanent resident permits, and Shenzhen is home to 7% of the nation’s migrant workers. In this highly mobile city, nearly 80% of the crimes are committed by migrants.

Recently the city mayor Xu Zongheng also attributed the security problem to busy cross-border traffic between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Crimes are committed through exploiting the loopholes, he said.

No matter the reason(s), the fact remains that Shenzhen is not a safe city. So when you travel to there, watch out for your belongings and personal safety, particularly in busy areas such as train/bus stations.

If you are interested in taking the world’s highest railway, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, here’s some news. A luxury train modeling after five-star hotel comfort and service will be launched in September this year to run the route. It will cost more than RMB20,000 per ticket, 20 times more than the normal price of RMB1,000.

The train will be equipped with single/double rooms or family suites, all of luxury hotel standard. Reportedly, there will be medical service and karaoke on the train, as well as musical performance. As high-altitude may pose health problems to passengers, the train will be acclimatized to provide relief from potential high-altitude symptoms such as headache.

Online booking has started.

A bizarre policy surfaces these days: During the Beijing Olympics month, Bible’s English version is allowed in the Beijing hotels that are open to foreigners. 

So if it is outside the Olympics period (August 2008), not any form of bible can be allowed in the hotel room; and even during this period, only bible in English (not Chinese) is allowed.

What it actually says is that, only the foreigners who come to watch the Olympics have the need for Bible. Not foreigners at any other time and definitely not Chinese.