Archive for ‘Forbidden City’

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17/04/2020

Spring yet to come: Small businesses at Beijing’s tourist hot-spots struggle

BEIJING (Reuters) – For Zhang Yu, who runs a cafe in one of Beijing’s top tourist spots, business has never been so bad.

To contain the spread of the coronavirus, bars and cafes in the Wudaoying hutong – a top Lonely Planet destination built around a narrow lane – are permitted to provide take-away services only. Non-residents must show proof they have an appointment to enter the area.

Added to which, tourism has plummeted.

“Don’t mention it! This is supposed to be the peak season,” said Zhang, who has run her cafe for five years. “But there are almost no customers as they (authorities) don’t want to have people hanging around here.”

While China’s manufacturing and retail sectors are starting to get back to work as the pace of new infections slows sharply, tourism sites in Beijing remain a shadow of their former and bustling self.

China’s capital city has maintained the highest level of emergency response to the outbreak, so tourist attractions like the Forbidden City remain closed. A 14-day quarantine for new arrivals has stifled travel.

As a result, small business owners running restaurants, souvenir shops and tourism agencies are struggling.

Only a little over 20% of tourism-related businesses in Beijing had resumed operation as of the three-day Qingming national holiday in early April, a survey by on-demand delivery service giant Meituan Dianping showed.

HANGING ON

The only people present in Wudaoying on a recent afternoon were a few elderly residents sitting outside to enjoy the spring sunshine. A cat made its way lazily through empty rooftop bars.

“We used to see more customers in one hour in pre-virus days than we see in a whole day right now,” said a worker at a sandwich restaurant in Wudaoying.

In another popular area, Khazzy, a 32-year-old doctoral student who opened a restaurant last October, has had only four customers all day.

“There are almost no tourists coming to Beijing and the remaining locals have concerns about eating out,” Khazzy said as sunset approached.

Khazzy said he has let five of his 13 staff go and has no idea how long he can stay afloat financially even though his landlord has agreed to waive one month’s rent on the property in Qianmen, near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

More than half of the shops in Qianmen remain closed. The manager of a state-backed noodle restaurant said most of the closed stores are privately owned small businesses that can’t secure enough business to support their daily operations.

She said revenues at the noodle restaurant have plunged more than 80%, but staff salaries have not been cut.

Zhang, the cafe owner in Wudaoying, reckoned small businesses could hold on for the next three months.

“But after that, I just don’t know,” she said.

Source: Reuters

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26/01/2020

Coronavirus: Chinese embassy in Paris finds woman who ‘cheated’ checks

Pictures posted by the woman on WeChatImage copyright WEIBO
Image caption She posted pictures of her meal on social media platform WeChat

The Chinese embassy in Paris has tracked down a woman from Wuhan who said she took tablets to pass airport health checks.

The woman boasted on social media that she had been suffering from a fever, but managed to reduce her symptoms with medicine.

She later posted pictures showing herself dining at what she claimed was a Michelin-starred restaurant in Lyon.

The embassy has now confirmed that her symptoms are under control.

The woman left Wuhan – where the new coronavirus emerged late last year – before flights were suspended, but when thermal scanning was in place.

Since yesterday, public transport has been shut down, with residents told not to leave the city.

At least 25 people with the virus have died. It was first reported to the World Health Organization 31 December.

The virus has spread to countries as far as South Korea, Japan and the US.

People have been thermally scanned when leaving Wuhan, and arriving at their destination. This picture was taken in Indonesia on ThursdayImage copyright GETTY IMAGES
Image caption People have been thermally scanned when leaving Wuhan, and arriving at their destination. This picture was taken in Indonesia on Thursday

The woman detailed her journey to Lyon on social media site WeChat.

“Finally I can have a good meal, I feel like I’ve been starving for two days. When you are in a gourmet city of course you have to eat Michelin [food],” she wrote.

“Just before I left, I had a low fever and cough. I was scared to death and rushed to eat [fever-reducing] medicine. I kept on checking my temperature. Luckily I managed to get it down and my exit was smooth.”

She also posted pictures of the meal she enjoyed. It is not clear exactly when she arrived.

Her post quickly went viral and she was widely criticised by other social media users.

The Chinese embassy in Paris said it had received calls and emails about the woman. It said she had taken antipyretics, and that it attached “great importance” to the case.

The embassy said it contacted her on Wednesday evening and asked her to refer herself to medical services.

On Thursday, in a new statement, the embassy said the woman’s temperature was under control, and that she had no more fever or cough symptoms.

It added that she did not require “further examinations” at this point.

Media caption Fears over coronavirus in China trigger face mask shortage

China has effectively quarantined nearly 20 million people in Hubei province. Other major cities in China like Beijing and Shanghai are also affected.

Authorities have cancelled all large-scale celebrations in Beijing. Temple fairs are banned, film releases postponed and the Forbidden City will be closed to the public.

All this comes as millions of Chinese people are travelling across the country for Lunar New Year.

Currently known as 2019-nCoV, the virus is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus not previously identified in humans.

Source: The BBC

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25/01/2020

China’s Forbidden City declares closure amid pneumonia infection concern

BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) — China’s Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, has decided to stop admitting visitors from Jan. 25 in an effort to prevent cross-infection and curb the spreading of the novel coronavirus-related pneumonia.

It will notify the public when there is a resumption date, the Palace Museum said in a statement late Thursday.

Multiple major public venues, including the National Museum of China, the National Library of China, the National Art Museum of China and Prince Kung’s Mansion, have taken similar measures to contain the virus.

As of Thursday midnight, a total of 25 people had died and 830 cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been confirmed in 29 provincial-level regions in China.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in Beijing, Forbidden City, National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), National Library of China, National Museum of China, Palace Museum, pneumonia infection, Prince Kung's Mansion, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

24/01/2020

China shuts part of Great Wall as virus toll hits 26

BEIJING, China (Reuters) – China ramped up measures to contain a virus that has killed 26 people and infected more than 800, suspending public transport in 10 cities, shutting temples over the Lunar New Year and even closing the Forbidden City and part of the Great Wall.

The week-long holiday to welcome the Year of the Rat began on Friday, raising fears the infection rate could accelerate as hundreds of millions of people travel to their homes and abroad in what is usually a festive time of year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the new coronavirus an emergency for China but stopped short of declaring the epidemic of international concern.

While most of the cases and all of the deaths have been in China, the virus has been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. It was likely Britain also had cases, a health official said.

RELATED COVERAGE

  • ‘What choice do I have?’ Lock-down strands millions in China’s Wuhan
  • WHO expects coronavirus cases to rise in China

The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because it is too early to know just how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people.

Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing and coughing.

Most of the fatalities have been elderly, many with pre-existing conditions, the WHO said.

Cases are likely to continue to rise in China but it is too soon to evaluate the severity of the virus, a WHO spokesman said on Friday.

As of Thursday, there were 830 confirmed cases and 26 people had died there, China’s National Health Commission said.

In Wuhan, where the outbreak began last month, pharmacies were running out of supplies and hospitals were flooded with nervous resident seeking medical checks.

“There’s so much news, so much data, every 10 minutes there’s an update, it’s frightening, especially for people like us in a severely hit area,” Lily Jin, 30, a resident of the city, told Reuters by phone.

GRAPHIC: The spread of a new coronavirus – here

Reuters Graphic

MORE RESTRICTIONS

While restrictions have already been put in place in cities across the country to curb the outbreak, China will take stricter and more targeted measures, state television reported citing a state council, or cabinet, meeting on Friday, but gave no further details.

“The spread of the virus has not been cut off … Local authorities should take more responsibility and have a stronger sense of urgency,” state broadcaster CCTV said.

Most cases have been in Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated in a market that traded illegally in wildlife. Preliminary research suggested it crossed to humans from snakes.

The city of 11 million people, and neighboring Huanggang, a city of about 7 million, were in virtual lockdown.

Nearly all flights at Wuhan’s airport had been canceled, and airports worldwide have stepped up the screening of passengers from China.

Checkpoints blocked the main roads leading out of town, and police checked incoming vehicles for wild animals.

Wuhan was rushing to build a 1,000-bed hospital for the infected by Monday, the official Changjiang Daily reported.

About 10 people got off a high-speed train that pulled into Wuhan on Friday afternoon but nobody got on before it resumed its journey. Although it stopped there, Wuhan had been removed from the train’s schedule.

“What choice do I have? It’s Chinese New Year. We have to see our family,” said a man getting off the train who gave his family name Hu.

CHINA EMERGENCY

The WHO said on Thursday it was a “bit too early” to designate the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, which would require countries to step up their response.

Some experts believe the virus is not as dangerous as the one that caused the 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which also began in China and killed nearly 800 people, or the one that caused Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which has killed more than 700 people since 2012.

There is no known vaccine or particular treatment.

“There is some work being done and there are some trials now for MERS (vaccines). And we may look at some point whether those treatments and vaccines would have some effect on this novel coronavirus,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said on Friday.

Gilead Sciences Inc said it was assessing whether its experimental Ebola treatment could be used. Meanwhile, three research teams were starting work on vaccines, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said.

In the meantime, Chinese authorities have imposed restrictions on movement and gatherings to try to stem the spread. It has advised people to avoid crowds and 10 cities in the central province of Hubei, where Wuhan is located, have suspended some transport, the Hubei Daily reported.

Some sections of the Great Wall near Beijing will be closed from Saturday, state media said.

Some temples have also closed, including Beijing’s Lama Temple where people make offerings for the new year, have also been closed as has the Forbidden City, the capital’s most famous tourist attraction.

Shanghai Disneyland will close from Saturday. The theme park has a 100,000 daily capacity and sold out during last year’s Lunar New Year holiday.

The virus is expected to dent China’s growth after months of economic worries over trade tensions with the United States, unnerving foreign companies doing business there.

Shares in luxury goods firms have suffered from the anticipated drop in demand from China, and on Friday French spirits group Remy Cointreau said it was “clearly concerned” about the potential impact.

Source: Reuters

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25/11/2019

A rundown Beijing home with standing-room only space sells for record, in a sign of desperation for hukou in the Chinese capital

  • Unit 121 on Lanman Hutong, about 10 minutes’ drive from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, changed hands last month for 1.28 million yuan
  • The new owner bought a 5.6-square metre (72 square feet) cubicle covered in bathroom tiles large enough to fit a bunk bed, with standing room only
A view of the 5.6 square metre cubicle-size home in Beijing on 15 November 2019. The home sold for 1.28 million yuan at auction. Photo: Louise Moon
A view of the 5.6 square metre cubicle-size home in Beijing on 15 November 2019. The home sold for 1.28 million yuan at auction. Photo: Louise Moon

A subdivided home in a run-down alley in Beijing recently sold for a record price at auction, as eager buyers piled in to get hold of its much sought-after address to gain access to some of the Chinese capital’s best schools.

A subdivided unit at No. 121 Lanman Hutong, about 10 minutes’ drive from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, changed hands on November 11 for 1.28 million yuan (US$182,400) after 136 rounds of furious bidding during an auction in Beijing.

For 230,000 yuan per square metre (HK$23,850 per square foot), the new owner bought a 5.6-square metre (72 square feet) cubicle covered in bathroom tiles large enough to fit a bunk bed, with standing room only. That’s smaller than even Hong Kong’s notorious micro-apartments – also known derisively as shoebox flats or nano flats – which average about 200 square feet. A standard car parking space measures 126 square feet.

What the dilapidated space does have is an address that entitles its owner to a hukou, the household registration that is the prerequisite for access to schools, homes, civil service jobs, public health care and almost every aspect of daily life in the Chinese capital.
The alley on which No. 121 Lanman Hutong sits in Beijing on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon
The alley on which No. 121 Lanman Hutong sits in Beijing on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon
Lanman Hutong, or the Alley of the Brilliant Drapes, sits in Xicheng district, a chequerboard neighbourhood criss-crossed with hundreds of alleyways that boasts three of the five highest-ranked schools in the city.
According to Beijing’s real estate regulations, one square metre entitles the owner a hukou. That fuelled the rush by parents to buy property in the area to qualify for sending their children to such eminent schools as the Beijing No. 4 High School, whose alumni include former Chongqing Commissar Bo Xilai, former China Development Bank president Chen Yuan and Citic’s chairman Kong Dan. Most of these bolt holes are now unoccupied after they have served their purposes, local residents said.
Lanman Hutong, or the Alley of the Brilliant Drapes, in the Xicheng district of Beijing, about 10 minutes drive from the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon
Lanman Hutong, or the Alley of the Brilliant Drapes, in the Xicheng district of Beijing, about 10 minutes drive from the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon

The auction result offers a peek into the growing speculative bubble in Beijing’s property market, a development that has defied more than two years of policymakers’ attempts to control. The average price of newly built homes rose 4.3 per cent in October to 60,894 yuan per square metre in Beijing, according to China’s statistics bureau data and Lianjia, a major real estate broker.

“Beijing’s homes have always been expensive, [particularly so] in Xicheng, where only the ultra-wealthy can afford to stay,” said Midland Beijing’s analyst Zhao Jia. “A million yuan is not expensive at all, to find space that close to the Forbidden City.”

Beijing’s average home price is equivalent to 24.9 years of the city’s median net income, excluding expenditures, according to data by E-House China Research and Development Institution. Hong Kong, the world’s most expensive urban centre to live and work in, requires 21 years of average income to affordable the average abode, according to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Study, as the city also boasts of a higher income and lower tax rate.

A tiny alleyway leading to No. 121 Lanman Hutong, which sold earlier this week for 1.28 million yuan in Beijing. Photo: Louise Moon
A tiny alleyway leading to No. 121 Lanman Hutong, which sold earlier this week for 1.28 million yuan in Beijing. Photo: Louise Moon
“It is not that easy for the average person to own property in Beijing,” said Midland’s Zhao. “For most homes in the city, 1 million yuan is only enough for a down payment.”

Unit 121 on Lanman Hutong is located among a cluster of siheyuan, as Beijing’s traditional courtyard homes are called. Bicycles, old washing machines and other household junk are piled along the maze of alleyways leading to the ground-floor unit.

Its auction drew 29 bidders starting from 470,000 yuan. The final winning bid prices the Lanman cubicle 35 per cent higher than a 100-million yuan villa with view of the Summer Palace in Beijing’s outskirts, on a per square foot basis.

To be sure, the unidentified buyer of the unit may be speculating for a quick flip, when the property is torn down, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst at Centaline Property Agency.

“This is more like a gamble, betting on the unit being demolished,” Zhang said. “If the odds are good, the buyer can pocket the [compensation], which could be several times what he bought it for. Even if it is not demolished in the short term, it is not bad to have some asset in the heart of Beijing.”

Source: SCMP

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