bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

David Evans

The Beijing Tour Industry Bureau has some useful tips for visitors this autumn.

In rain, plastic bags can be cut into good raincoats for children.

Without bathing facilities, a big plastic bag filled with water makes an instant shower.

If you want to wear a shirt soon after it's washed, just put the wet shirt in a plastic bag and blow hot air inside. It'll be available in a few minutes.

When dust or other particles accidently enter your eye, close it. Then stick your tongue up against the inside of your cheek right beneath the suffering eye for a moment and the dust will flow out with the tears.

Mountainous costs: Ever wonder why it costs so much to travel by aircraft, train or liner in China?

The Beijing Tour Industry Bureau explains that the Financial Department of China has recently published fees that have been cancelled.

Railway department: Train ticket plus, label service, ticket booking, bunk service plus, extra carriage plus for groups, extra carriage plus, bunk service plus for extra carriage, security for consigned goods, punch, repair for soft seat, for access to platform in advance, boiled water on platform, waiting room charge, toilet charge, seat number fee, charge for boiled water in train, signature fee for transferring, bunk consuming fee, forbidden goods examination fee, seats repair fee, public security fee, extra bunk fee, and auxiliary seat plus.

Water Carriage Department: Bathing fee on passenger liners, bunk plus on passenger liners, sightseeing fee on deck, ticket booking fee, ticket submitting fee, ticket sale plus, waiting fee, fee for buying ticket after normal time on dock, public security fee, service plus, ticket plus, water carriage insurance fee, extra insurance fee excelling ticket price, water gate access plus.

Tech glitch: The inevitable question asked of HSBC's Sir John Bond at yesterday's results announcement was, would the bank and Internet joint venture partner Merrill Lynch be further cementing their relationship with a merger?

Said Mr Bond: 'It is possible to be good friends without being married.'

That must be why the banks' baby - an online research service already available in Britain and the US - is proving so difficult to roll out in Hong Kong.

Perky's note: A brand new computer virus, cleverly designed to slow down the Internet to almost a crawl, is coming out of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce.

The virus - dubbed the iPerkinator - will fill e-mail inboxes, take hours to download and if printed, could wipe out a rainforest worth of paper.

Experts have discovered that the source of the new Internet debilitating virus - also known as the Aussie Perk Worm - is coming from the office of the HKCC's chief economist Ian Perkin.

The trail appears to start at Standard Chartered Bank where an economist passed on a one-page note on the outlook for Indonesia.

The original note was sent to at least two pages worth of recipients.

However, Mr Perkin felt the need to 'reply all' to the note with his own opinion; 'Megawati looks like a 'matured institution' to me'.

In doing so, Mr Perkin took up six pages to deliver his eight word response.

Info swap: The Chinese language Economic Times  yesterday ran a feature story on job opportunities in Lan Kwai Fong.

'Lan Kwai Fong, a place professionals like to frequent to exchange market information, is full of investment and employment opportunities,' ran the story.

We look forward to next week's; Wan Chai, a place professionals like to frequent to exchange market information with young Asian ladies, is full of investment and employment opportunities.

Graphic: whee07gbz



Handy travel tips found in a plastic bag