Ultimate adventure: wealthy Chinese tourists do the North Pole

Yes I have. Of course. Several times. Went last year, didn’t like it.

These are Mr Zhang’s answers to my questions: whether he has been to the South Pole, Australia, Alaska and Dubai, respectively. I am under strict instructions to do whatever it takes to get the corpulent and jovial Mr Zhang a window seat aboard the Russian helicopter that will take us to the North Pole, so that he can indulge his passion for photography.

According to industry insiders, up to a third of places on Arctic and Antarctic tours are now booked by Chinese, despite prices that range from 200,000 yuan (US$29,000, HK$226,000) to 800,000 yuan. For some tours, such as a visit to the South Pole, there is a waiting list.

Working occasionally as a guide for such exclusive tours (a foreign Putonghua-speaking guide adds to the exclusivity) has taken my Chinese vocabulary down unexpected avenues. I must be the only foreigner who can name all the Antarctic penguin species in Putonghua. Thankfully, the Arctic tour I took this March was less of a linguistic adventure – the polar bear is simply the “North Pole bear” in Chinese.