Around Town

2016-09

Your news round-up for the month of September
 

Get Gluttonous

Glutton Guide Shanghai: The Hungry Traveller’s Digital Guidebook has been updated for 2016/2017. It will now include a new section on the best places to eat hairy crab (just in time for that fat roe season) as well as some of their new favourite additions to the Shanghai food scene. They also bid a fond farewell to several of the city's best street food vendors and night markets as the government continues its crackdown on their activities. Glutton Guide Shanghai are offering a FREE upgrade to all readers who bought the OG Glutton Guide Shanghai. So if you are one of the lucky ones with a first edition copy, forward you purchase confirmation to [email protected].
 

Entry Exasperation Ended
International passport holders can now breeze through immigration at Pudong Airport. A new express route was created last month to accept foreigners holding electronic passports and a residence permits for six months or longer. Users will first have their passports scanned, before stepping into an area for finger print and facial scanning, theoretically getting them through passport within ten seconds.
 
Poor Punctuality Penalised

Due to heavy delays, Shanghai’s two airports have been told they will be unable to apply to operate new, extra or charter flights for the next two months, China’s civil aviation regulator has announced. Pudong International Airport was cited as being the worst culprit (no surprises there then) with the airport constantly failing to meet the flight punctuality standards between March and July. According to aviation regulations, domestic airports with annual passenger volumes of over 30 million must maintain a punctuality rate of above 50 per cent. Unfortunately, Pudong airport had a dismal performance with a rate of just 38 per cent in July. Let’s hope this punishment makes airport authorities sit up and take notice.
 

Disney Display
Twenty-five floats are set to join a parade on Huaihai Lu in an official event to kick off the Shanghai Tourism Festival on 10 September, according to local media. A Shanghai Disney Resort Float will lead the parade, ahead of those from the cities of Suzhou, Nanjing and Taipei, then Shanxi and Henan, and Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, according to the Shanghai Tourism Administration. The centrepiece of the float is said to be a glittering golden replica of the resort’s Enchanted Storybook Castle, the largest castle in any Disney park or resort around the world. Although we are accustomed to seeing weird and wonderful sights on the famous stretch of road, this is sure to be one for the books.