August 26, 2008 by admin.

I have never had so much fun in my life as I have had over the past three weeks in Beijing - great events, great parties, the entire atmosphere of the city was something like I have never experienced before. We don’t often get celebrity sightings in Beijing, but stars of both the athletic and entertainment industry were everywhere. My coolest “brush with greatness” was meeting Vince Vaughn at this little bar last Saturday night - it was late, but he was gracious enough to take the picture with me rather than telling me to get lost, so I have a lot of respect for him for that! I hated to bother him but it was one of those moments where you just have to do it or regret it forever.

It also seems that the coverage of the Olympics has been very positive for Beijing, and my company Beijing Discovery Tours is getting a lot of inquiries for Beijing - Xi’an tours and Beijing tours in general.  So although initially the Olympics seems to have hurt our business, it also seems that tourism due to the extra positive exposure from the Olympics will have a positive effect on tourism to Beijing and China in general.

What a great time it was to be in Beijing this summer, definitely worth all of the hassles, increased security checks, etc. I didn’t approve of some of the things that were done (many of the blue-shirted volunteers were actually either police or army members, they were pretty rude when clearing venues after the events) and transportation between venues was horrifically hot, crowded and inefficient, but overall, it was an incredible experience and I am so glad that I was here to be a part of such a huge celebration in my adopted hometown.

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August 18, 2008 by admin.

I have to admit that I was completely cynical about the Beijing Summer Olympics 2008 before they began. All of the extra security measures, rumors, demolition of historic landmarks, etc. took a toll on my feelings towards the Olympics here, and in fact, I haven’t paid much attention to any of the Olympics at all since they were in Atlanta in 1996, and that was just because my parents went. But having now attended 4 events, and having seen the fantastic Olympic Park around the main venues, I have to admit that I am impressed. Attendance has been poor at every event that I have seen, even last night’s men’s diving, and I suspect that that is because scalpers have bought up too many tickets and are unwilling to sell them at reasonable prices, even if it means that they have to eat those tickets. Face values of tickets were relatively cheap, so it must be more profitable for them to refuse to sell at lower prices than to sell a few at outrageous prices, hence the number of empty seats at most of the events. It’s a shame though, because it not only looks bad for China on tv, but so many people are also missing out on the world’s premiere sporting events. I wouldn’t have thought it possible before, but these Olympics have actually been a lot of fun! Gotta run and see if I can pick up some fairly cheap tickets for any of tonight’s events - probably not possible but a person has got to try!

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August 12, 2008 by admin.

I have many horror stories to write about my bad experiences with the U.S. airlines, but with the Olympics on here in Beijing there are too many fun things to do rather than complain about poor quality U.S. businesses. I can pass along this link, with the story showing how even though fuel prices are decreasing these days, the U.S. airlines are still piling on the charges for even poorer service. One of the comments posted to the article tells a story about how the airline Nazis wouldn’t allow him/her to pack one bag inside of another bag, even though it fit perfectly and caused no problems. Way to go U.S. airlines, USA! USA! http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2008-08-11-rising-airline-fees_N.htm

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August 6, 2008 by admin.

Citysearch has once again charged my credit card for their fraudulent “clicks” on my ads that I could never even find on their Citysearch index - 200 or so clicks in 4 days with no clicks any other day…..looks like I will have to use my lawyer status when I go home in December to file a lawsuit against these jerks.

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August 6, 2008 by admin.

I was lucky enough to go watch the USA basketball team play Australia in Shanghai a couple of days ago, and I flew down there and back on China Eastern Airlines. Because it was just a 24-hour trip, I only took a few things and did not want to check any bags, but I still took a can of mousse (completely necessary because I desperately need a haircut.) Unfortunately it was a big can, and it was confiscated by airport security, and they just threw it in the trash can. The only reason that this is notable is that the Chinese airport security people were very friendly throughout my journey both going to Shanghai and coming back to Beijing, such a huge difference from what I see in the U.S. every time I go back. Even though both Beijing and Shanghai airports are under the highest levels of security due to the Olympics beginning tomorrow, airport security people here still manage to smile and be friendly. Also, the friend that I was traveling with managed to change his ticket even to another airline to get on the same return flight as me, and it was absolutely no problem. He didn’t even have to pay a change fee! The U.S.A. could stand to learn a thing or two from how the airlines and airports operate here in China (although our basketball team looks like it will do very well in these Olympics.)

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August 6, 2008 by admin.

Another article showing the decline of the U.S. as a foreign tourist destination and discussing the huge economic impact that it has had on the U.S. economy: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0729/p01s04-ussc.html

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July 21, 2008 by admin.

It seems that some in Congress understand that we are losing our rightful place as one of the world’s top tourist destinations: http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2008/07/21/story10.html?b=1216612800^1670116

It is good that they realize that there is a problem, but charging current international tourists who have already decided to come to the United States an extra $10 fee to pay for the U.S. to encourage other international tourists to come to America? It seems a bit perverse to tax the people who have already decided to visit the U.S.A. to make up for the poor image that we have created for ourselves around the world. This has the potential to backfire and serve as yet another reminder that the American government sees international tourists as a source of revenue rather than the guests that they are. Guests who are visiting our country should be treated as such, not as potential criminals and a source of income. Just another reason that we are fast becoming the world’s newest evil empire.

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July 13, 2008 by admin.

Security in Beijing all over the city is incredible - police and army everywhere…Beijing has got to be the safest city in the world right now, and it was incredibly safe before! When I came in to the Beijing airport this past Tuesday afternoon, it was obvious that there was security everywhere, but it was non-threatening, as opposed to the atmosphere in most U.S. airports these days. The Western media tends to demonize the Chinese government for everything, sometimes with good reason, but the contrast between the behavior of Chinese airport security and that in the United States is almost unbelievable. We as Americans are brainwashed to believe that we are the freest country in the world, so we are led to believe that everything that our government and police do is in line with keeping our country and our people free, when in fact it is the exact opposite. (That’s right, we are brainwashed too, just as we accuse the Chinese government of doing to its citizens. ) Drive your car without wearing your seatbelt in the U.S.? Illegal, and you can be arrested. Carry an open can of beer down the street? Illegal in most places, and you can easily wind up in jail. I am certainly no apologist for China and there is much that is wrong here, but the United States seems to be headed towards becoming a fascist country while China is rapidly heading in the other direction. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have sadly become an excuse for the American government and law enforcement to take complete and utter control of every little aspect of our lives. Let’s just hope that we as Americans are smart enough to turn things around before it is too late.

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July 13, 2008 by admin.

Here’s an even better video of the ridiculous airport beatdown, showing everything that happened…what has happened to the United States of America? Land of the Free? Not so much anymore…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcCmmaCqZhg

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July 13, 2008 by admin.

As a follow-up to my last post, a couple of days ago on Yahoo I watched this story:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=8772855

It would be funny if it was not perfectly representative of the prevailing attitudes of the TSA and most airport security people in the United States today. This poor woman did nothing wrong (other than to possibly verbally express her objections to what was going on - apparently airport security has never heard of the First Amendment, I believe that one has not been overturned….yet).

In the video, the defense attorney’s arguments in favor of what airport security did are disgusting, she should be ashamed of herself for even attempting to defend what they did - in a court of law that would be her duty as a lawyer, but on television she is only saying what she is saying to get camera time. She is exactly the type of lawyer that gives all lawyers a bad name.

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