To say that China has changed over the past decade is an understatement. With its cities expanding upwards as fast as they expand outwards, the rate of development within China is nothing short of breath-taking. As construction cranes give way to more gleaming skyscrapers for Tom Cruise to fling himself off of, many of its most famous shopping districts are being renovated, reinvented, and renewed to make room for growing crowds as well as the shopping and dining options that cater to them.

China Supertrends covers the recent reopening of Wujiang Lu (吴江路), one of Shanghai’s favorite pedestrian arcades, after having cocooned itself over the past year to remodel itself to be more “tourist-friendly.”

People who have been living in Shanghai for longer than three years will have distinctive memories of the old Wujiang Road, the bustling restaurant street running parallel to Nanjing West Road near the subway station and intersection of Shimen No. 1 Road.

The area directly behind the station used to have Chinese eateries and snack stands, push-cart vendors and colorful events such as a weekly English corner. Now, in much the same way the Huangpu River separates Puxi from Pudong, old from new, Wujiang Road stands divided: East of Shimen No. 1 Road, the street remains much as it has always been, while the western half has recently taken on a new look…

Reminiscent of–but not quite the same nor quite as large as–Taiwan’s well-known night markets, Wujiang Lu’s main draw has always been its bustling crowds shuffling through a narrow, dirty street packed with small restaurants and colorful street vendors. With plenty of delicious snacks to be had and random trinkets to buy, Wujiang Lu also promised a lively environment ideal for young couples out on dates. For tourists, it was the spectacle of it all.

While half of Wujiang Lu has been renovated to be more modern and “Westernized,” the other half remains largely true to its old carnivalesque self, albeit cleaned up a bit. Rumor has it that the city was afraid of Western tourists being turned off by the streets strewn with discarded bamboo skewers, cups, and other trash commonly associated with snacking on the streets in China. Fair enough, but in some ways, its just not quite “China” without that.

For the authentic experience, its best to wander into the older half of Wujiang Lu, sample some of the local delights, and rub elbows with the locals. Save the new half for when you absolutely must seek refuge in the confines of Starbucks and the like.

Hosting the Olympic Games typically brings an economic windfall for the host city, as hundreds of thousands of tourists visit and spend billions of dollars staying at hotels, dining in restaurants, seeing the sights, and purchasing souvenirs. As the host city for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing and its tourism industry have certainly been looking forward to welcoming the world this coming August. In fact, so much so that the official Olympic mascots are literally named “北京欢迎你” (”Bei jing huan ying ni” or “Beijing welcomes you,” one syllable per mascot).

Unfortunately, China’s recent efforts to ensure the safety and success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics have inadvertently made Beijing and China itself, well, not very welcoming. Reasonably concerned with terrorist threats and traditionally worried about embarassing political protests, the government has not only increased security within Beijing but has also recently tightened visa policies and enforcement. In the past, entering and staying in China was relatively easy for most foreigners. Now, many are finding a lot more hoops to jump through.

This increased hassle and difficulty of obtaining visas has already begun discouraging many would-be tourists from visiting China both before and for the Olympics. The Beijing Tourism Bureau reports that only 77% of the rooms in the city’s 5-star hotels have been booked for the Games so far. For 4-star hotels, only 44% of the rooms have been booked. With expected occupancy rates for 2-star and 3-star hotels being even lower, many frustrated hotels are lowering their prices as crowds of wealthy foreign tourists willing to pay exorbitant rates just for a place to sleep begin to look elusive…simply because they can’t get a visa to enter the country.

Of course, getting a visa for China is far from impossible as long as your documents are in order. After all, these rules were always in place and China just spoiled everyone by not strictly following them in the past. The 2008 Beijing Olympics still promises to be a momentous occassion, enough so that I’m still inclined to advise people to avoid Beijing this August if they’re not keen on paying expensive premiums just to be part of the crowds. If you’re set on going, just know that you officially have some bargaining room.

Update (July 2, 2008): Jack at Managing the Dragon suggests that Beijing may be pleasantly less crowded for the Games than many people expect. Fearing Olympic crowds, many regular denizens and would-be visitors are starting to leave or avoid the city, thus potentially and ironically reducing the possible crowds. This, combined with new metro lines and restrictions on when private cars may be driven in the city in hopes of easing congestion in a city renown for snarling traffic, may make visiting Beijing this August not that bad of an idea.

In other news…

Greedy Beijing landlords hoping to cash in on the Olympics are starting to realize that if the hotels can’t command 2000 USD a night, they too can’t rent out their apartments for 40,000 USD/month. Profiteering during big events from unsuspecting tourists is common around the world, so it is always reassuring to witness whenever they fail.

I was just in Hong Kong this past weekend to attend the 6th Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference. A busy schedule and heavy rains meant there wasn’t much free time to have much fun. However, I did run across this article in the June 14th edition of the South China Morning Post, an English-language newspaper out of Hong Kong (emphases mine):

Travel agencies stop pocketing tour guides’ tips to avert strike
Dennis Eng 

Travel agencies that pocket tour guides’ tips have agreed to stop the practice immediately amid mounting complaints, although the industry watchdog is powerless to take action against offenders.

Only about four or five agencies are involved so far, but the agreement averted a weeklong strike by the Hong Kong Tour Guides General Union planned for today.

Unionist lawmaker Wong Kwok-hing on Thursday met the Travel Industry Council, which regulates the trade, to discuss the matter. Mr. Wong said he was pleased with the outcome and praised the council for being forthcoming and effective.

“Tour guides are the last people who would want to go on strike because that takes away from their work and earnings,” Mr. Wong said. “But this time, the travel agencies forced their hand.”

Union member Lau Sin-mei said it would be up to individual travel agencies to decide whether affected guides would be refunded lost tips.

“This issue with tips is solely between employer and employee,” said Joseph Tung Yao-chung, executive director of the council. “We are not in a position to interfere. We just expressed the hardship endured by tour guides and persuaded the travel agencies to stop the practice.”

The guides generally received HK$50 a day in tips from each tour group member and split this equally with the travel agency.

The union said that over the past month it has received 10-20 complaints a day about agencies forcing tour guides to sign agreements forfeiting all tips. This mainly affected guides for tour groups from the mainland.

The guides also receive commission on tour groups’ spending on shopping. On jewellery items, the commission is usually up to 40-50 per cent of the total amount spent and up to 10 per cent for electrical items. A tour group could spend as much as HK$20,000 on shopping, but the average is usually between HK$5,000 and HK$6,000.

The council warned travel agencies against cutting commissions and urged them not to delay reimbursing tour guides for any upfront costs, Mr. Tung said.

Tour guides usually have to fork out several thousand dollars for each tour group to cover sundry expenses. Some have also told of travel agencies increasingly passing to them the responsibility of paying a driver’s fee of HK$300 for a two-day tour, although the council has not received any official complaints.

This article helps reveal several persistent, problematic, and very disappointing business practices in the travel and tourism industry:

1. Many travel companies, especially in Asia, are able to advertise “cheap” tour package prices to customers because they effectively pass much of the actual costs and expenses onto a tour guide. What you pay them then is often simply their cut of the pie, their “fee” for putting you with a bunch of other strangers and then passing you off to a tour guide.
2. Now, the tour guide “accepts” paying for the expenses of the tour upfront because they’ve been lured by the promise of getting lots of tips and sales commissions from “wealthy, clueless, and gullible” tourists who depend on their tour guide to survive in a different country. It is an “investment” for the tour guide: paying money for the chance to make money.
3. Many times, these tour guides are not even paid a basic wage or salary by the travel company. Sometimes, multiple tour guides must bid for the opportunity to lead a tour group the company has assembled, like salesmen bidding for sales leads.
4. Of course, customers expect that the money they paid for their tour package includes a tour guide who is there to look out for their interests and make sure they have a great travel experience.
5. Instead, they get a tour guide who is in debt and needs to make back the money they already paid the travel company. Not only do they need to breakeven, they also need to make a living because they’re not paid a basic wage.
6. To do so, the tour guide depends on getting tips and persuading the people in their tour group to spend as much money as possible on overpriced souvenirs, jade, silk, tea, ginseng, etc. The more money their customers spend, the more money the tour guide makes.
7. More often than not, this results in tour guides kidnapping their customers to tourist traps and souvenir factories in the middle of nowhere, hoping that their tour group will buy something. Precious hours are spent doing this instead of allowing thier customers to see more sights or have more time and freedom to explore.
8. This not only wastes the customers’ time, it also wastes the customers’ money. That “cheap” advertised package price therefore doesn’t honestly reflect the true cost to the customer. It is designed to lure unsuspecting tourists so the travel company, tour guide, and souvenir factories all have more opportunities to separate tourists from their money through indirect means. Some travel companies will even tell you exactly how much you should “tip” your tour guide.

Unfortunately, this business model is common in the travel industry. There are significant conflicts of interest, forcing tour guides to choose between what would be best for their customers and what would put more money in their pockets. It encourages a culture of deception, with travel companies exploiting tour guides who then must exploit unsuspecting tourists. In the end, most customers ends up paying far more than the advertised price and far more than they expected. If they’re lucky, they still had a great time, oblivious to how much it really cost. If they’re not, they leave with a bad taste in their mouth.

Here at adex360, we encourage everyone to just say “no!” to this sort of business practice.

We believe:

• The travel company should focus on creating and providing the best possible travel experience for their customers, at a price that reflects the true costs of doing business.
• The travel company should pay their staff a living wage so they do not need to depend on tips, sales commissions, or other indirect, underhanded means to simply make a living.
• The travel company should never waste their customers’ time and oney with masquerading tourist traps and souvenir factories as “sights” on the itinerary.
• The customer should decide if and when they want to purchase souvenirs or other products.
• The customer should decide if and how much to tip based upon their own appreciation of exceptional service.

We like to say that “its about adventures and its about experiences.” It shouldn’t be about “tips and commissions.” Everyone deserves to make a living. But using shady, greedy, even deceptive methods should not be the industry’s accepted standard for doing so.

We started adex360 because we believe it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s work together to make travel more honest, and more honestly enjoyable for everyone without the nonsense.

June 8th came, passed and, unfortunately, BluxR tells us our website is still not yet ready. As it is the nature of any project to shoot past deadlines, we’re going to continue being patient and understanding.

In the meantime, we’ve been lax on throwing up new updates so, while I’m sitting on the floor at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport waiting for my afternoon flight to Hong Kong to attend the CIRC event (if you’re interested, my coverage will be available at CNReviews), I’d like to throw up a few belated updates to keep everyone semi-informed of just what the hell we’ve been up to.

We’ve been busy getting our name out! While our flyers have been spotted throughout the UK over the past month at places like London University College, Goldsmith’s College, University of Warwick,  and Ireland’s Trinity College, this past week marks the first time we’ve begun promoting in the United States, starting with the University of California, Los Angeles. Students finishing the spring quarter or entering the summer quarter may spot our flyers posted throughout the campus.

We’re preparing exciting specials only for students specifically from the universities we’ve visited. Be sure to check back later!

adex360 brings young adults together to travel, study, and network in China.

These days, just about everything is happening in China. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably already know. So for now, we won’t bore you with the reasons why you or anyone else is coming here, or wants to come here. We’ll just assume you get it…like we do. There’s a lot to do here and a lot of opportunities. It can be a fantastic time, a wonderful learning experience, or an adventure that will redefine your life and your future possibilities. 

We here at adex360 want to share it with you. More importantly, we want to share it in a way that is relevant to you. We’ve been here for some time, and we’re just like you, so we know what you’re looking for and what you expect. There are a lot of people in this world and a lot of competitors. We’re not for everyone, and we’re different. But hey, that’s a good thing. 

We’re getting our name out!
Stay tuned!