Taiwan readies its army to counter military exercises by China

China completed its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan. It is now the turn of Taiwan to conduct its live-fire drill. Beijing repeated threats to bring the self-ruled democracy of Taiwan under its control. Recently, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. That did not go down well with Beijing, they staged air, and sea drills in the region. Such an exercise increased tension to their highest level in years. Taiwan accused China of using the visit as an excuse to carry out military drills. That could be a rehearsal for an invasion. Taiwan, on its part, fired howitzers and target flares as part of the defensive drill. It took place in the country’s southernmost county and lasted about an hour. Taiwan holds military drill after China says war preps will continue. The military said its exercises were already scheduled and there was no link to China's war games.

Taiwan explained that these were annual affairs. The main purpose was primarily to ascertain proper condition of the artillery and their maintenance condition. The second was to confirm the results of previous year. China had said it had "successfully completed various tasks" in the Taiwan Strait and vowed to continue patrolling its waters and be prepared for war. China last issued a white paper on Taiwan in 2000. It had proposed the "one country, two systems" model similar to Hong Kong and Macau that were promised a degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. However, this is not acceptable to Taiwan. It has created a separate identity for itself and transformed from an autocracy into a vibrant democracy.

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Hong Kong shutdown as typhoon Haima strikes China with winds of up to 86mph

Typhoon Haima has struck China resulting in cancellation of flights and trains. Authorities in Hong Kong have also shut all but essential services in the global financial hub because winds of up to 86mph are expected. The Hong Kong Observatory has raised its typhoon eight signal which is one of the highest warnings on a scale of up to 10.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 21 October 2016.

Haima has reportedly crossed the northern part of the South China Sea after lashing the Philippines where three people were killed. Flights and train services have been cancelled going in and out of the city of Hong Kong. When a typhoon eight signal is in place, businesses, government offices and schools remain closed, including banks, port operations and the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Incidentally, Haima will hit Hong Kong even as it recovers from a day of torrential rain that caused several minor landslides and localized flooding. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people have already been affected by the typhoon as it brought havoc to the Philippines this week. At its peak Haima had reached wind speeds of 195mph.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Around the world – tourism and tourists

All of us love to travel and, from the days of sailing ships to today’s cruise boats to taking the aerial route, tourism flourishes and new ideas keep cropping up to entice the traveler with attractive options.

China - An example reported in Daily Mail dated 28 March 2016 (1) is the Shanghai Disneyland. It is set to open on 16 June 2016 but, opening day tickets have already been sold out. It is billed as China's version of the happiest place on earth and is fast taking shape. The lofty 196-foot-tall castle and resort buildings are undergoing their final stages of construction.
Fans are excited about the developments and tickets for the June 16 opening day were sold out within hours of being listed on the company's official ticketing website. The excitement is visible from the fact that rooms are fully booked at the Toy Story Hotel and the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel for the first two weeks.
Spread out over 963-acres, Shanghai Disneyland is the company's sixth park worldwide and it has promised that it will pay homage to traditional Chinese culture and also showcase Disney's favorite films.
For comparison, this Disneyland is eight times larger than Hong Kong Disneyland which occupies just 126-acre. But, Shanghai Disneyland cost $5.5billion to build and is labeled as the cheapest out of all the Disneyland resorts.
Tickets for off season visitors is 370 yuan (£39) and it will increase to 499 yuan (£51) during peak times.
The company expects to attract the 330million Chinese who reside within a three-hour train or car trip of Shanghai.

Japan - Ibnlive dated 13 March 2016 (2) has revealed that Japan wants to hire ninjas to promote tourism. Like every country in the world, it is keen to promote tourism and wants to recruit six full-time ninjas who have a way with words and can do backward handsprings.
The monthly salary would be about $1,600 a month and the requirement is that of Central Japan's Aichi prefecture. The task of these full-time ninjas -- the martial-arts masters and stealth special assassins of feudal times – would be to promote tourism in the area known for historic Nagoya castle.
Japan’s eyes are focused on promoting tourism as an economic growth driver ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The newly hired ninjas will get a one-year contract and will have to perform acrobatics, do backward handsprings and some dance moves and demonstrate the use of their trademark "shuriken" -- ninja star -- weapons and pose for photographs with tourists. The ideal candidates would be those who "enjoy being under the spotlight even though he or she is a secretive ninja".
Ability to speak in Japanese is preferable. However, non-Japanese individuals who are passionate about history and tourism would also be welcome because the troupe will, at times, have to perform in English. In short, they must be good at talking to promote tourism even though they are basically required to be secretive. They will have to go through a one-month training course in April.

Australia - Zeenews dated 4 March 2016 (3) has thrown light on the fact that Australia is turning out to be a favorite destination of Indians. The data furnished by Tourism Australia reveals that the total number of Indians visiting Australia has increased by 18.6 per cent in 2015. India, therefore, is the eighth largest inbound market for the continent nation.
The number rose to 233,100 last year as compared to 197,000 Indian tourists who visited Australia in 2014 and Australia has set a target of over 250,000 visitors from India who would be visiting the country's dramatic landscapes, culinary delights and culture.
As per statistics, last year, about 158,500 of Indians traveled to Australia for leisure while 26,400 went for business, 14,800 short-term education and 33,500 for other purposes. Out of the leisure travelers, 60,500 visitors were on holiday in December while 98,000 visited friends and relatives.
One reason for this fascination with Australia could be attributed to Bollywood movies and Hindi TV serials which had shot part of their episodes in Australia.

Ref 1 - Incredible aerial pictures show how Shanghai Disneyland is taking shape fast... as opening day tickets sell out within HOURS
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3512167/Incredible-aerial-pictures-Shanghai-Disneyland-taking-shape-fast-opening-day-tickets-sell-HOURS.html

Ref 2 - Japan region seeks 6 full-time 'ninjas' to promote tourism; should be able to do backward handsprings
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/world/japan-region-seeks-6-full-time-ninjas-to-promote-tourism-should-be-able-to-do-backward-handsprings-1215518.html

Ref 3 - Australia witnesses 18.6% rise from Indian tourists in 2015
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/australia-witnesses-18-6-rise-from-indian-tourists-in-2015_1862256.html

Opening day tickets for Shanghai Disneyland already sold out

The Shanghai Disneyland is set to open on 16 June 2016 and already opening day tickets have been sold out. It is billed as China's version of the happiest place on earth and it is fast taking shape - aerial photographs show Shanghai Disneyland's lofty 196-foot-tall castle and resort buildings undergoing their final stages of construction.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 28 March 2016.

Fans are excited about the developments and tickets for the June 16 opening day were sold out within hours of being listed on the company's official ticketing website. The excitement is visible from the fact that rooms are fully booked at the Toy Story Hotel and the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel for the first two weeks.
Constructed over 963-acres, Shanghai Disneyland is the company's sixth park worldwide and it has promised that it will pay homage to traditional Chinese culture and also showcase Disney's favorite films.
This Disneyland is eight times larger than Hong Kong Disneyland which occupies just 126-acre. But, Shanghai Disneyland cost $5.5billion to build and is labeled as the cheapest out of all the Disneyland resorts. Tickets for off season visitors is 370 yuan (£39) and it will increase to 499 yuan (£51) during peak times.
The company expects to attract the 330million Chinese who reside within a three-hour train or car trip of Shanghai.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Hong Kong girl walked off with a diamond necklace worth £2.8m

#diamondnecklace #hongkong Her age is believed to be between 12 and 14 and she walked off with a diamond necklace worth £2.8m from a jewelry shop in Hong Kong. It seems she was in a gang of three – the others were in their 30s and 40s. The gang consisted of this girl and two women and a man.
The adults "pretended to be customers choosing items from the shop" and the girl stole the necklace and all four left the shop before a staff member realized that the necklace was missing.
The girl apparently stole a key from a drawer to open a cabinet while the shop staff were distracted. The three adults had posed as big spenders and kept demanding that the employees keep showing them more and more jewelry. The intention was to keep the attention diverted.
The diamond necklace was of 100-carat gold embedded with more than 30 diamonds and priced at around £2.8m. CCTV has captured the photo of the girl – she was slim, dressed in black trousers, a blue shirt and a grey hooded top as she left the shop.
The gang had spent nearly half an hour in the shop and the staff did not notice the loss of the necklace till late in the day. This is as reported in South China Morning Post.

Smuggler caught on China- Hong Kong border with 96 iPhones strapped to his body

#iPhoneChina #ChinaCustoms #HongKong It was the gait of the man that alerted the police and, on checking, it was discovered that he had 96 iPhones strapped to his body - total cost of the goods was around £32,000 and the total weight in the region of at least 12-Kg.
The iPhones were strapped to his body like a hi-tech suit of armor and Chinese customs officers at the Futian border crossing pulled him aside when they noticed that his “gait was weird, with still joints and tense muscles, as if he was carrying a heavy load.”
It seems he was wearing a red athletic shirt and black athletic trousers, and was carrying a couple of plastic shopping bags. There was nothing suspicious in his luggage but, when he walked through the metal detector, there was an alarm. There were iPhone 5, 5S, 6 and 6 Plus models wrapped in clear plastic and taped to his chest, abdomen, thighs and calves.
The man hailed from Hong Kong and that had a record of past offences. The maximum penalty in Hong Kong for exporting items without properly declaring them is a £1.3m fine and seven years in prison.
It seems recently, customs officials had uncovered 18 cases of smugglers strapping items to their bodies in two main Hong Kong-China border crossings. As a result, they confiscated 282 iPhones, 4,088 SD cards, 840 USB thumb drives and hundreds of CPU chips.