Chinese 'wasting' new-found wealth

SHANGHAI – While travelling through China, one can be forgiven for thinking the entire country has won a lottery.

Money is being spent by everyone faster than China’s central bank can print it and luxury European goods are flying off the shelves faster than Gucci and Prada can make them.

It’s all reflective of China’s runaway economy, of course, but one wonders if the Chinese really appreciate their new-found wealth and the treasures it can buy.

Case in point: A waiter at an upscale resort in the southern town of Sanya on Hainan Island told me during my visit last week about the Chinese millionaire who ordered a bottle of $2,000 French wine, poured himself half a glass and topped it up with 7-Up.

Another time the waiter said he witnessed a wealthy Chinese businessman buy a $1,500 bottle of French red and he left after finishing just half the bottle. What a waste!

Money can buy anything in China, except sophistication.

JetBlue red faced after pantie incident

Came across a couple of stories today I thought you might find amusing.

First: A JetBlue airline worker kicked a female passenger off one of its New York flights because - wait for it - the male airline employee accused the woman of not wearing panties.

So what's the problem - the woman obviously had nothing to hide.

Not surprisingly, the passenger, identified as Malinda Knowles, is suing the airline, accusing the JetBlue employee of "slapping his walkie talkie in between my legs."

Oh, my!

Okay, if that story isn't strange enough for you, how about this one:

Two Chinese travel writers were ordered to leave the Philippines after allegedly trying to choke the president's brother-in-law.

How come I never get invited in fun travel trips like that?

Anyway, it appears the Chinese writers, who were touring the resort island of Cebu, got involved in a brawl with President Benigno Aquino’s brother-in-law, Eldon Cruz, after the latter told them to pipe down.

Witnesses say the two writers lunged at Cruz and started to choke him.

A Chinese embassy spokesman in Manila downplayed the incident, saying it was a ‘‘misunderstanding’’ and that both sides had settled the matter.

 

The Filipinos have told the Chinese writers never to return.
 
I can't wait to see the writers' reviews of the Philippines.

China must slow high-speed train plans until all safety concerns are met

Gulp! That was my reaction when I read the news a few days ago about China's new high-speed train derailing on a run from Hangzhou that killed 39 people.

I was supposed to be on that train from Hangzhou!

When I arrived in Beijing last week, newspapers and TV news shows were filled with horror stories concerning breakdowns involving the new high-speed trains - billed as the fastest in the world - which stopped unexpectedly in the middle of nowhere with passengers trapped inside sweltering hot cars waiting for help. In the four days I was in Beijing, the high speed train to Shanghai broke down three times.

One TV news report I watched had passengers shouting at young attendants who broke down in tears - foreign tourists actually came to the aid of the distraught railway employees and pushed the angry Chinese passengers away.

The breakdowns were the reason why I decided to take a car from Hangzhou to Shanghai instead of taking the train - a three hour journey which would have been covered in less than an hour on the rails.

When I read about the derailment, I was shocked - that could have been me.

China is racing into high-speed train travel at breakneck speed - literally - and someone in authority has to put the brakes on this expansion until all safety concerns are met. China's aim is to export its high-speed train technology around the world (it's currently building a line in Turkey and hopes to sell trains to British Rail) but this latest incident, which cost 39 innocent people their lives, may have other countries rethinking the purchases.

Slow down China and do things right!