Trying to End "Harassment Tourism"

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Now we know why Kevin Garratt was released last week from Chinese after being detained for two years.

In a bid to reset relations between China and Canada, it seems Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is negotiating an extradition treaty so that China can request certain people it deems should be tried for crimes they may or may not have committed.

Immigration lawyers and opposition politicians are crying foul, wondering why Trudeau is willing to return people who may or may not be fugitives to a country that is known for torture and executions. Is this "Canadian" of him?

However Trudeau seems to think he has things covered.

"Extradition is certainly one of the things the Chinese have indicated they want to talk about," he said. "But any discussions around extradition, for example, will be very much in line with Canadian principles and Canadian values and Canadian expectations that are very high."

What exactly does that mean?

Lai Changxing returned to China in 2011

For many years, the Chinese government was frustrated by Canada's oblique responses to extradition requests of people, one of the most famous examples was Lai Changxing, a former businessman in Xiamen who was implicated in corruption scandals that involved smuggling.

He fled to Vancouver where he lived for many years until he was sent back to China in 2011 with promises he would not be executed by imprisoned for life.

In 2000, three secret police investigators applied for visas to come to Canada as workers for China National Pulp & Paper Corporation, saying they wanted to discuss "Chinese users' requirements for Canadian pulp and paper".

But instead they really came to Vancouver to try to pressure Lai to come back to China to face charges of smuggling and bribery, bringing his brother along.

Lai's lawyer complained about this through diplomatic channels and later on it has been revealed that many other alleged fugitives have been harassed by Chinese secret agents who come to Canada on tourist visas.

How far will Trudeau go to make China happy in extraditions?

Talk about abusing the system, and also butting into the internal affairs of another country without going through proper legal channels.

This is ongoing so-called "harassment tourism" is what promoted Trudeau to have talks between the two sides "which allow Canadian officials and Chinese officials to discuss specific cases, to discuss the principles and concerns that both sides have," he says.

While it's understandable Trudeau would like Chinese agents to stop applying for tourist visas to harass people on Canadian soil, will he be able to get the upper hand in what the extradition treaty will be like?

It's kind of like dealing with the devil that has his cards hidden behind his back.

On one level it's good that China and Canada are actively engaged in talks, but on another, does Trudeau know who he's dealing with?

10 Chinese Cities to Watch

Of all the Chinese cities, Chengdu is considered to have a booming economy

It's interesting to discover Chengdu is considered to have the most successful economy in China, according to a US-based think tank, considering such factors as job growth, foreign investment and high value-added industries.

Shanghai and Tianjin were second and third respectively, while the Chinese capital was 13th in the Milken Institute study.

Shanghai is in second place in the Milken Institute study

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province was praised for its "human capital, central government support, established industries in high-end aerospace and aircraft design, and a more recently developed electronics manufacturing sector".

The study said mainland cities were developing in two ways: For Shanghai and Tianjin it is about urbanization, industrial clustering and infrastructure investment bolstering larger regional economies.

The other way, due to the slowdown in economic growth, was the focus on technology, private investment and consumption.

This is the first time the institute has ranked mainland cities, assessing 266 at the prefecture level and above, and divided them into two categories -- 34 first and second-tier cities, and the rest as third-tier cities.

Tianjin comes in third with lots of potential for growth

The study didn't just look at economic growth, but also job and wage growth, gross regional production, foreign direct investment and the strength of high value-added industries.

Chengdu may have done well in the study due to having several respected universities and has lower labour costs.

Interestingly Shenzhen just made number 10 on the list, and seven of the top 10 third-tier cities were in Jiangsu province, which has a strong transportation network of airports, highways and high-speed rail links.

The top 10 cities are:

1. Chengdu

2. Shanghai

3. Tianjin

4. Dalian

5. Nanjing

6. Hefei

7. Xiamen

8. Changchun

9. Chongqing

10. Shenzhen

There should be lots of information to be gleaned from this study and potential investors and entrepreneurs should take note.

China has World's Worst Delays

Shanghai's Pudong Airport one of the world's worst in terms of delays

After my trip to Xiamen that resulted in delays going there and back, I'm not surprised to find China's airports and airlines were the worst in the world for being on time last year, according to FlightStats.

The US-based data provider on air travel found of the world's 61 largest airports, the seven worst performers for on-time departures were all mainland airports, with Hangzhou's Xiaoshan, Shanghai's Hongqiao and Pudong facilities taking the bottom three spots. Only 37.74 percent of flights left on time from Xiaoshan, 37.17 percent from Hongqiao, and 37.26 percent from Pudong.

These three airports were followed by Shenzhen Baoan, Guangzhou Baiyun, Chongqing Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport.

Japan's Haneda Airport had the best on-time rate of 89.76 percent of the largest airports in the world, while Itami airport was the best performing of 374 world airports of all sizes with an on-time percentage of 94.56.

Zou Jianjun of the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China said management of China's facilities had not kept up with demand and the network was concentrated in a few areas.

"Flight lines are too centralized in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and it's a big challenge for their managers," he said. "Even if a small mistake happens at any of these major airports, it's quite possible that flights in other cities will be affected."

How about the fact that China's military controls the country's air space and only allows a fraction of it for commercial air travel? And with the boom in air travel, there are bound to be frictions between commercial and military interests, and the government has not resolved the situation.

This has resulted in not air rage, but ground rage, where passengers vent their frustration of delays on ground crew staff, and in a few instances things have gotten violent. Last February, a near riot broke out after more than 2,000 passengers were left stranded at Xinzheng International Airport at Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Is this how the Central government would like to see the commercial aviation industry develop? Some 390 million people traveled by airplanes last year, which is double the 2009 figure. Something's gotta give.

Nevertheless, Hong Kong International Airport dropped in the rankings too, down from 22nd spot to 80th last year.

No mainland or Hong Kong airlines made the top 10 list of having on-time arrivals last year. KLM took top spot at 88.66 percent.

Another crazy statistic from FlightStats is that if all the extra time passengers and crew spent waiting on the tarmac for flights to take off in the mainland in 2014 were added together, the total would amount to about 232 years. Even notified flight delays would add up to about 183 years.

That's a lot of wasted time! Imagine that lost productivity could have boosted China's GDP even more...

Day Three: Xiamen

A reflection of Xiamen's downtown core on an overcast day

On our third and last day in Xiamen we explored the park near our hotel. We first crossed Yundang lake and an overpass to get to a pleasant and large park, that had a long boardwalk that led towards the water.

I noticed that Xiamen seems to like elephants, with many statues of the pachyderms around town. Now if we only knew why...

Nevertheless the park also had a playground area for children that included an amusement park complete with rides and games. However there was no one there because it was a weekday.

One of many elephants that hang around the city

We also discovered a creative way to use up dirt that was scooped up from elsewhere and dumped in the park to create a lovely man made hill covered in grass with a circular path to the summit. From this vantage point we could get a panoramic view of the city -- or at least the surrounding buildings in the area.

Afterwards we walked back towards the lake and decided to walk a good chunk of the perimeter, which is lined with a pathway that's easy to walk, and decorated with small plants, shrubs and trees.

In one section there were two massive buildings being constructed, and we could imagine the noise on the construction site must have been deafening. The amount of steel they were using particularly at the bottom seemed excessive, unless there were plans to build an extremely tall skyscraper.

Towards the end of our walk, there was a large open-air amphitheatre used for concerts and so it indicates there are cultural initiatives in the city.

The sign says no roller-skiing down the man made hill!

After a massage to relax our feet and legs, we headed to the airport and when we reached the Dragon Air counter we were dismayed to find a massive line -- it looked like one family was moving to Hong Kong -- because no one was manning the check-in counters. We waited some 20 minutes for the staff to slowly drift in, even carrying the rolls of tape used to tag luggage.

When we finally checked in, the ground crew told us the flight would most probably be delayed an hour... how nice -- and especially telling us now when we are at the airport.

There was nothing we could do except wait around. Going through immigration and security were pretty standard -- except for being frisked by a female officer -- and then we grabbed a bit to eat before heading to our gate.

The very large amphitheatre for public concerts and shows

It looked like our flight would be on time, but only a few minutes after we sat down, was the announcement made the 55-minute flight would be delayed an hour and a half. The ground crew were already organized with hot meals and drinks ready for disgruntled passengers.

The meal featured rice with pickled vegetables, surprisingly decently cooked fish, spicy chicken and stir-fried cabbage. But the wait was unbearable. The airplane finally arrived at the gate, those passengers disembarked, then it had to be cleaned before we were able to finally get on.

And that family with all that luggage? They sat across from us in the aisle. They were two families, with four children in between them, two of them toddlers. All the children wanted to sit together in the middle row, but as the plan was moving towards the runway, the flight attendants had to explain to them that there were only four oxygen masks, not five and so someone would have to move. The quick-thinking father then just took one of the babies and put him on his lap, though he and his wife changed seats later in the flight.

Where are the staff to check in all these passengers?

To say we were relieved to get back to Hong Kong is an understatement! We didn't check our baggage in so we could leave the airport as soon as we cleared immigration.

By the time we got home it was midnight after having spent four hours at Xiamen Airport.

Flying in China is not for those whose patience has run out...

The Birds of Gulangyu

A pelican "guarding" the bridge in the bird sanctuary

On Gulangyu there are some gardens and other sights that require paying 30 yuan admission fee and so we checked out one area that included a bird sanctuary. Strangely there were no rules posted at the entrance, and practically no staff around to watch for any mishaps, but the Chinese visitors didn't know how to react around the birds or that they should not touch them.

A cockatoo showing off his keyboard skills...

At the entrance there were some macaws, but they were chained to a bar they were standing on, and probably had their wings clipped as well. It was sad to see them stuck there, while a number of peacocks wandered around, strutting their stuff. There were the usual blue-green variety, and then a white one too that was an interesting sight.

Other birds were in an enclosed pond, like ducks and swans. A large white pelican that decided to hang out right on the bridge by the pond and so visitors were scared to walk over the bridge because it would attack the person with its big beak. Thankfully no one retaliated per se, but made for some spontaneous entertainment.

Two peacocks showing off their feathers

Then we checked out a bird show in another area of the sanctuary, and it was a very sad version of the kinds we've seen before in the west. The humans on the stage looked as if they really didn't want to be there, not smiling at all, and going through the motions, one routine after the other.

The birds -- mostly cockatoos displayed their talents in riding roller skates, riding a bicycle on a wire, collecting garbage, and playing a keyboard by walking up and down on the keys of an electric piano. Sadly these birds were also chained to their posts -- some even under lock and key!

People taking pics of the bird on a bicycle

Perhaps even more bizarre was that no one in the audience clapped either -- while they were busy filming the show and taking pictures, they didn't seem to think the birds deserved any applause! After the show we walked out of there, trying to digest what we had just seen...

Day Two: Xiamen's Gulangyu

The Neicuoao Pier greeting us as we arrive at Gulangyu

After our Art Basel report, we're back to covering our three-day trip to Xiamen.

We were lucky it rained overnight because the next day was slightly overcast but looked like the sun's rays would poke through the clouds and they did intermittently. It was perfect to go to Gulangyu, the famous island that is home to about 20,000 residents.

It's mostly a tourist site best known for its colonial architecture dating back from the 1800s and oddly enough for pianos, as there are apparently some 200 of them on the island thanks to a piano museum and at one point there was a piano academy.

One of the beautiful European-style buildings on the island

The last time I was in Xiamen was in 2009 and at the time we took the ferry from the downtown area, which only cost 8 yuan. However things have become more organized -- or shall we say more bureaucratic -- with only local residents allowed to use that ferry pier and others must use the other two that are in different parts of the city.

The closest one to us was about a 15-minute walk -- a pleasant one at that along Yundang Lake, where we saw leisure fishermen setting up their rods in the hopes of catching some fish for lunch or dinner, while others used to path around the lake to get to work or school.

Where the pier is located is not on a busy street, but near a posh apartment complex that doesn't have many amenities nearby which seems strange, but that's how things are done in China -- build flats now, then grocery stores, banks and other shops will come later.

We got to the ticket booth and were surprised to discover we had to produce ID to buy a ticket -- to go to an island that is considered to be part of Xiamen! Luckily I had mine on hand so we had to buy a group ticket where the three of us had to go to and depart from Gulangyu together. It cost 35 yuan per person and thankfully was a return ticket.

This fixer-upper has potential to be a beautiful restaurant!

To get on the boat we had to go through a security check and produce the ID again... by the time we got on, all the seats were taken and had to stand. The ride took much longer -- about 15 minutes, but it was a pleasant ride anyway.

However we disembarked on another part of the island we were not familiar with and had to get our bearings by looking at the maps posted periodically on the streets.

Nevertheless, it was nice to wander around the pedestrian-only island -- bicycles aren't even allowed which is interesting, because that would be the only way to adequately cover the entire island in a day because it's impossible by foot.

There are many small streets, each lined with small homes or shops. Some feature colonial-style architecture, but many are run down and it's a pity seeing them slowly decaying. It would be nice to see them renovated and used, but heritage building codes can be strict if you don't have the right connections...

I saw one abandoned building that could make for a wonderful fine-dining restaurant, or a stylish cafe that could be found in places like Vienna... but I digress...

The bride is instructed to cover her groom's eyes in this shot

Gulangyu is also the place for couples to get their wedding pictures taken. At one spot we saw four prospective brides and grooms taking their vanity photos and while the poses seemed manufactured and lacking in spontaneity, the dresses the young women wore were... dirty! One supposedly white wedding dress had a muddy fringe, so it was obvious the dresses were not cleaned after each use!

But perhaps our most intriguing discovery was a 24-hour self service library by the waterfront. Much like a vending machine, it has a large display window showing all the books available and their code numbers.

The user swipes their ID card, inputs the number that correlates to the book and then presto! The book comes out. To return the book, the user again swipes their ID card, scans the book's code and then inserts it into a slot.

A library book vending machine -- how cool is that?

We couldn't think of any other place we had seen this before, and surmised that perhaps the idea came from Taiwan, as it and Fujian have a very close relationship, and in turn maybe Taiwan got the concept from Japan.

We thought this was a fantastic idea and wondered if this machine were available in Hong Kong, would that encourage more people to read?

Xiamen: Day One

Xiamen on a rainy Wednesday late afternoon overlooking Yundang Lake

Our three-day trip to Xiamen got off to an unauspicious start when our flight was delayed an hour. After we checked in, we received a text message from Dragon Air saying it was delayed for no particular reason, and then after we boarded the plane, we sat there for another half hour because the water system was faulty.

Marinated goose with the garlic sauce

And yes -- there were naughty mainland Chinese children on the flight. One row ahead of us was a family of five -- the mother, a baby and their eldest daughter sitting in the front row of economy, then behind them the father and second daughter who was about two years old. The girl kept talking loudly and intermittently shouting, screaming, crying -- and yet the father didn't discipline her to quiet down, or tell her she was disturbing other people, that she was not behaving.

He let her be loud and dramatic and the rest of us had to deal with it. I don't know if the father was too embarrassed to say anything, or he is usually that indulgent, but that girl certainly did not have any manners. Only when the plane landed and we were waiting to disembark was she quiet!

As soon as we walked out of the airport we could smell cigarette smoke -- we were definitely in the People's Republic of China! Thankfully the long taxi queue moved quickly and in less than 10 minutes we were in a cab and on our way through rainy Xiamen.

Many of the apartment buildings that are six or seven stories high are run down, with architectural styles left over from the early 90s, featuring white tiled buildings with small balconies where people hang their laundry. Closer to town there are more swankier, taller apartment blocks that look sleek because there are no balconies.

Delicious rice cooked with peanuts, taro and dried shrimp

Turns out our hotel is in the more posh part of town, complete with Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, Aquascutum, and Bally boutiques with no customers in them. Our hotel room looks over Yundang Lake, and we hope to get to walk around the circumference, which should take about an hour or so of brisk walking. There's also a lot of tea shops near us, as the province is best known for producing tea leaves on terraced hilly terrain.

When we arrived it was raining and so it's fog not smog we're seeing, but overall the air here is fresh -- a nice change from smoggy Hong Kong.

Since we arrived late in the afternoon we had an early dinner in a nearby restaurant, that serves all kinds of Chinese food -- Cantonese (even dim sum at night), Shanghainese, Sichuanese, and some Fujianese. We try going local and order lo sui or master sauce goose -- less than half a bird marinated in a soy sauce concoction that was very tender and flavourful. It went very well with a minced garlic vinegar sauce,

Assorted small fish (lots of bones!) cooked with Chinese celery

Another local dish was fresh assorted small fish cooked in a claypot with Chinese celery, radish and peppers. This was another tasty dish, the fish cooked perfectly, but required a lot of patience because the bones in the fish were so small! But like my relative remarked, eating the entire fish was like eating fish cheek, the most tender and sweetest part of the fish.

We also picked a healthy option of stir-fried vegetables with gingko that are meant to improve memory and eyesight, wood ear fungus, wai san, a kind of white yam root, lots of lily bulbs and carrots. And finally another Fujianese  dish was rice cooked with shrimp and cubes of taro topped with peanuts that was delicious -- and even better with spoonfuls of the soup left over from the fish dish.

Stir-fried vegetables including wai san, gingko and fungus

It was so good that we finished everything -- and the bill only came to 230 yuan for the three of us. If only Hong Kong prices were like that!

Picture of the Day: Prickly Fruit

A prickly-looking fruit that has lime green juice inside with edible seeds

Last night after dinner, we wandered into a Taiwanese grocery store and one of the first things we spotted in the fruit section was this yellow prickly thing that has spikes but aren't sharp. We asked one of the staff what it was and they said it was huo shen guo (火参果).

He said that we could slice the top off, add a bit of honey that was in a small packet and then sip the juice through a thick straw that it also came with. We were so curious how it tasted that we bought one to try at about 35 yuan.

In our hotel room we used the small blade on the wine opener to cut the top off and then poked the straw in. Sucking up the juice this way was very tough and at one point the stuff went straight down my throat!

So I cut open the top a bit bigger and got a teaspoon to spoon the fruit juice out.

It smelled like a banana, and inside it was lime green with seeds, kind of like a cucumber. It didn't have much taste, hence the packet of honey, but we didn't add any in to adulterate the natural flavour.

This fruit is apparently good for those who have persistent coughs, and digestion, has lots of vitamins, fibre, and while it can be eaten raw, the promotional material suggests double boiling it with crystal sugar, and that it is good for losing weight because people feel full after eating it.

It really is a dense fruit -- I kept spooning out more and more of this bright green stuff with beige-coloured soft seeds.

In the end it was interesting to try, but not something I'll be desperate to add to my healthy diet regime...

Picture of the Day: Library Vending Machine

Interested in taking out a book from this hi-tech library?

Today we headed out to one of Xiamen's most famous spots, Gulangyu, which is best known for having a piano academy and museum on the island.

It is also a tourist destination for domestic tourists who devour the snacks on sale, from jack fruit to pineapple cake.

Locals take their wedding pictures here because of the European-style architecture from the 1800s that evoke a romantic atmosphere.

But we were really surprised to see how progressive Xiamen is with this 24-hour self-serve library near one of the three ferry piers on Gulangyu.

Users insert their ID card, pick the book they want, and like a vending machine, press the number for whichever book they want, and then it comes out of a slot.

When users return the book, they again insert their ID card and then scan the book's barcode on a scanner there before putting it into a slot.

We think perhaps this idea came from Taiwan, which may have originated from Japan.

In any case this is something you would never find in Hong Kong! But if these library vending machines were in the city, would they encourage Hong Kong people to read more?

Picture of the Day: Truffle Soup

This menu item caught our eye -- a soup with black truffles in it!

Greetings from Xiamen, a third-tier Chinese city in Fujian province that is geographically closest to Taiwan.

This evening we had a delicious dinner at a local restaurant called Lucky Seafood that serves all kinds of Chinese food -- Cantonese (including dim sum in the evenings), Shanghainese, Sichuanese and Fujianese.

What caught our eye was this intriguing soup -- stewed black truffle with fresh bamboo fungus in a soup.

Black truffle isn't meant to be cooked but shaved raw. Seems like a waste putting black truffle in a soup, but China does produce black truffles though the quality is questionable.

Nevertheless, if there's someone you need to impress then perhaps that's a must-order dish...