Da Ben That Zhongs
The British are trying to find Chinese names for some of the biggest sights in the English capital to help the ever-increasing number of Chinese tourists make sense of the places.
Da Ben That Zhongs
The British are trying to find Chinese names for some of the biggest sights in the English capital to help the ever-increasing number of Chinese tourists make sense of the places. London tourism officials asked people on Chinese social media platform Weibo to suggest suitable titles. The results means that Big Ben is to be called “Da Ben Zhong” while Shakespeare is “Sha Weng” and Buckingham Palace is “Bai Jin Han Gong”. However, the Loch Ness Monster, the Scottish dish haggis, Stilton cheese and almost 100 more of British popular sights and landmarks did not find Chinese names.
Best Bargains in the Air
Low-cost carrier Jetstar has introduced an email alert called Price Watch, the first low cost airlines in the region to launch a price monitoring system. Price Watch is a free service that enables travellers to be among the first to know when flight prices drop to, or below their ideal price. It will also send a weekly update email on how prices are currently tracking. This allows travellers to make a better decision on when to book airfares to obtain the best deal. Customers can go to Jetstar.com, search for flights and click on the “Watch prices” button.
Remembering the Dead
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, Poland, now has an online advance reservation system for visitors to the former Nazi death camp. The online service was launched at the start of the year because of the growing number of tourists visiting the former German concentration camp. Total visits to the memorial and museum now top the million-person mark annually and officials are forecasting visitor arrivals to eclipse 1.5 million visitors this year. The camp, where 1.3 million people were killed, is not far from the popular tourist destination Krakow. Tours are available in 19 languages. Visit http://en.Auschwitz.org/m/
Chinese Call for Good Behaviour
Naming and shaming is the way to go following a series of Chinese tourist’s misbehaviours overseas, says the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). Chinese travellers are being encouraged to whip out their smartphones and snap pictures or record videos of other Chinese behaving badly abroad and pass the damning evidence to the authorities. “Civilised tourism" has not yet been widely adopted by Chinese travellers, laments Li Jinzao, head of CNTA, which is leading the charge to improve the behaviour of travellers. The agency also wants the telecommunication companies to send a message on arrival warning the Chinese not to draw graffiti, talk loudly or engage in illegal activities.
Toys of our fathers
The German Toy Museum has re-opened after renovations and expansion work and is now exhibiting highlights from a collection of more than 100,000 items, the largest toy collection in Germany. Located in Sonneberg, a town 150 kilometres east of Frankfurt, the museum features playthings from East Asia, toys from ancient Egypt and Greece, Stone Age toys loved by some children 5,000 years ago, papier-mache figures and, of course, artisan-grade German-made toys. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays, always from 10am to 5pm. Tickets cost 6 euros (Bt240) for adults and 4 euros for children over three years of age. - DPA
500,000 more for Bali
Bali Island expects 4 million foreign tourists this year following the visa waiving for visitors from Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. The provincial administration is upbeat that the number of foreign visitors to Bali will grow significantly this year. The target is an increase of 500,000 visitors, compared to last year’s projection of 3.5 million visitors. Bali, the famed Island of the Gods, draws visitors for hilly landscape, lush rice terraces, barren volcanic hillsides and cultural attractions.
