Chinese Internet Travel Site Receives Funding Round

Chinese Internet travel search engine Qunar has reportedly received a round of financing worth US$10 million.

According to published media reports, Lehman Brothers Private Equity Partners led the financing for the oddly named search engine that means "where are you going" in the Beijing dialect. With previous funding from funds like GSR Ventures and Mayfield, now the company will use the money to capture more users from around the country.

The company operates as a meta-search engine that aggregates and provides Chinese-language search results of travel deals around China. As many Chinese airline deals and prices are still rather standardized, this search service should become more valuable as the Chinese airline sector becomes more fragmented and less regulated, giving users the ability to truly leverage a travel search online.

Ctrip.com Named as 2007 Best Employer by Fortune China

Ctrip.com International, Ltd. , a leading travel service provider of hotel accommodations, airline tickets and packaged tours in China, today announced that it has been named one of the "Best Employers of 2007" by Fortune China magazine. The news was published in the November edition of Fortune China. A total of 20 companies in China have been elected based on employee survey results.

Mr. Min Fan, Chief Executive Officer of Ctrip, said, "A strong team of employees is the most important asset of our company. We are committed to creating and maintaining a working environment where our employees can grow with the company, share our successes and contribute to the society."

About Ctrip.com International, Ltd.

Ctrip.com International, Ltd. is a leading travel service provider of hotel accommodations, airline tickets and packaged tours in China. Ctrip aggregates information on hotels and flights and enable customers to make informed and cost-effective hotel and flight bookings. Ctrip targets primarily business and leisure travelers in China who do not travel in groups. These travelers form a traditionally under-served yet fast-growing segment of the China travel industry. Since its inception in 1999, Ctrip has experienced substantial growth and become one of the best-known travel brands in China.


Ctrip.com International, Ltd.
Tel: +86-21-3406-4880 ext. 12216
Email: jrcui@ctrip.com

Smuggled Chinese Travel Circuitously to the U.S.

Since the late 1980s, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from China's Fujian province have been smuggled into the United States.

The business of human-smuggling has evolved as security has tightened in the U.S. And the smugglers, known as "snakeheads" by Chinese, have become more sophisticated.

In the summer of 1993, a rusty steamer ran aground off New York City. Nearly 300 passengers plunged into the chilly waters, desperate to touch American soil. Ten would die in the water, within sight of shore.

The boat was called the Golden Venture, and its passengers were immigrants smuggled from Fujian.

The capsize of the Golden Venture became national news. It was the first time many people had heard of people being smuggled from China. The incident was a source of embarrassment for both the Chinese and U.S. governments.

Changes in the Human-Smuggling Business

Fourteen years later, the flow of Fujianese to America continues, but the business of human smuggling has changed significantly. When the smuggling began two decades ago, the cost of coming to the United States was around $15,000. Now, immigrants pay $60,000 to $80,000 to be brought to America.

In one village in Fujian, people gather in the communal area. Old men play cards in the corner; others drink tea and talk. There are very few women and no young people.

Villagers say smuggling is an open business here. One of them says everyone knows how to find a snakehead —but that you need to have the money to go.

People who can go are aided by family, friends and former neighbors who have already prospered in the United States. Sometimes people living abroad lend money to pay for the snakehead.

For the most part, human smuggling is no longer about packing hundreds of people into dangerous ships. Nowadays, smuggling involves airports and cars and crisscrossing the globe on scheduled flights. Snakeheads use methods that mimic legal means of entry.

Getting a Fake ID

Smuggling people through legal points of entry — instead of skirting them — requires fake documents. And Bangkok is one place to get phony papers.

In Thailand's capital, there is a closed-off street known as Kao Sarn Road. At night it lights up with bright signs advertising tattoo and massage parlors. The air smells of humidity, grilled meat, people and booze.

You can buy fake IDs, driver's licenses, press cards and even fake degrees. The people who sell these documents set up shop among racks of knock-off Puma T-shirts and fake Chuck Taylors. They sit on cheap, plastic lawn chairs behind card tables.

You won't find fake passports on these tables, but they're available if you have the connections and the cash. At the end of Kao Sarn Road, a restaurant owner and part-time stolen passport dealer says the documents are in demand. The man didn't want his name used.

"Most of them are foreigners. There's a hotel called Malaysia Hotel at Lumpini that has some people who make fake passports. It is the biggest source of fake passports in Thailand," he says. "At the hotel, they do everything for you."

The restaurant owner started dealing passports about 10 years ago. He is a middleman, buying passports and selling them to the next middleman. He doesn't know who ends up using the passports.

"It's not that every passport has the same price. For example, the U.S. passport is almost worthless because everything is very strict. It's the same with the U.K. passport," he says. "You cannot fake it. There is high demand for passports from Israel and Japan."

"People will use the same passport. They peel back the cover and switch the picture," the dealer says. "They change the name, the signature — like how they do it with fake student IDs."

Newer passports that use photos from digital cameras are made in Malaysia, he says.

Traveling Along the Smuggling Route

For the Chinese who are smuggled through Bangkok, the journey starts out legally. Many of them fly into Bangkok International Airport on legal tourist visas with their own Chinese passports — but these tourists never go home.

In Thailand they get fake documents and then move on to the next stop along the smuggling route.

Once they're on the road, the Chinese travel a meandering route — through Russia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Canada — before finally reaching the United States.

Good smugglers — the expensive ones — run a full-service operation. They escort the immigrants each step of the way, providing food, lodging and transportation.

Working through local operators with local nicknames, snakeheads in China work with the "pig daddies" in Thailand who hand off their charges to "coyotes" in Latin America.

On the Belize-Mexico Border

With Mexico to the north, Belize has become a stopover for smugglers traveling by land from Latin America to the United States.

Residents of Douglas in Belize know their village is a popular spot to smuggle goods and people into Mexico. The village lies next to the Rio Hondo River, which divides the two countries.

Belize has a surprisingly large Chinese population, making up more than 3 percent of the country's total population of 300,000. Those familiar with the trade say the smugglers are local Chinese-Belizean businesspeople.

Two men with bikes and a gaggle of kids show up when they realize someone is at the banks of the Rio Hondo. The river's edge is lined with trees and sugarcane. The water is still. Tied to the embankment are little canoes that locals say are used to shuttle contraband between Belize and Mexico.

The sun sets, and the light quickly slips into darkness. One of the men, in a white T-shirt and jeans, initially doesn't seem surprised by the visitor. But after some questioning, he becomes suspicious and says the canoes are used for fishing.

Later that night, one of the men is still out by the water. He leans on his bike as if waiting for something or someone.

Reaching America

After the Chinese cross into Mexico, they travel north and are smuggled across the border into America. Every week, 50 to 100 Chinese nationals are caught trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border.

Those who make it to the United States are taken to a safe house and handed cell phones. They call home to say they've arrived safely. The snakeheads immediately go to the relatives' homes either in China or the United States to collect payment.

Once they're released by the snakeheads, these new immigrants fan out across the country, boarding Chinatown buses that take them to every corner of the U.S.

They go to jobs offered by Chinese immigrants who've already made it. They seek prosperity — the same prosperity that others who have traveled a similar path before them have found.

Dunhuang Travel Guide

The national, historical city of Dunhuang is a renowned tourist city famous for the Mogao Caves. It is situated in the common boundary of Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang Province. Dunhuang, long ago referred to as 'Sha Zhou' (beautiful desert oasis), was the hub of middle and eastern silk routes in ancient times. The city landmark is an attractive statue, the idea of which comes from the mural in Mogao Caves, a shrine to the culture and arts of Dunhuang. From Mt.Qilian in the south, Mt. Mazong in the north and desert from east to west, the landform of Dunhuang City is a declining basin-plain from west to northeast, high in the north and south, and low in the middle. The western cities of China, especially those in the desert, are known for their sandstorms, so tourists should protect themselves with glasses, hats and gauze kerchiefs, etc.

In ancient times, Dunhuang was the center of trade between China and its western neighbors. At that time, it was the most westerly frontier military garrison in China. With the flourishing of trade along the Silk Road, Dunhuang was prompted to become the most open area in international trade in Chinese history. It provided the only access westward for the Chinese Empire and eastward for western nationalities. Today, as a reminder of this historical area, we are left with the Mogao Caves, Yangguan Pass, Yumenguan Pass and many wonderful Chinese poems depicting the time. Although what remains of the two Passes are crumbling walls, one can still experience the atmosphere of that time while visiting in person.

Today, Dunhuang is a typical tourist city, clean and beautiful. Because of its splendid stone caves, tourism has become an indispensable industry to Dunhuang City. Surrounding establishments include various classes of hotels and restaurants for your choosing. As well, tourism personnel are knowledgeable and well trained these days. For a western city in China, it has become more accesible for people to come and go as they please. Transportation is much more efficient, ensuring that your wonderful trip runs smoothly. May to September is the best time to visit, so be sure to plan your trip during these months. Including Dunhuang City in your tour is a decision you won't regret!

Dunhuang City, an obvious pearl on the Silk Road, opens her arms to welcome tourists from all over the world.

Gansu Province Introduction

Would you like to ramble along the ancient Silk Road and re-enter the historic long river? Come then to Gansu, a memorable tour awaits you.

Gansu is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, northwest China, Gansu is one of the cradles of Chinese cultures. It occupies a total area of 450,000 square kilometers (173,700 square miles) Neighboring provinces are Shaanxi to the east, Sichuan to the south, Qinghai and Xinjiang to the west and Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to the north. With a population of 23.7 million, Gansu has a multinational population which includes ethnic minority groups of Kazak, Mongolian, Tibetan, Hui, Dongxiang, Tu and Manchu. They mutually influence each other in the fields of economics, politics and culture and hold close ties with the Han people. They have thus developed a unique cultural community.

Lanzhou, a well-known ancient city in China, is the capital of Gansu. It is the second largest city in northwest China, and also the political, economic and cultural center of the province.

What to see

With a long history and brilliant cultures, Gansu is abundantly endowed with cultural relics and natural scenery. Vast and graceful natural scenery like endless desert and pure glacial landscape presents an impressive and breath-taking picture before your eyes. Take for example the world-famous Mogao Grottoes. It is the largest and most well-preserved Buddhist art palace and also a post along the ancient Silk Road; the grand Jiayuguan Pass, an important outpost in ancient China, is the western end of the Great Wall; the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist resorts in China while the Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves in Lanzhou are a treasure trove of Han Buddhism. All of these are commendatory scenic spots for your tour.

When to go

It is important for tourists to be familiar with the local temperatures. The annual average temperature is about 0 to 15C. The lowest temperature occurs in January and is approximately -14 to 3C and the highest temperature is in July between 22 and 25C. Average annual rainfall is between 30 to 860 millimeters (1.18 to 33.86 inches). With plenty of rain, you would be well-advised to take an umbrella along with you for the tour. However, despite the changeful weather, your sightseeing visit from May to October would be uninterrupted.

The traditional handicrafts in Gansu are archaized carpets (using patterns from ancient carpets), luminous cups and the duplicates of sculptures and murals of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang.

Tourism continues to boom in Tibet

LHASA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) - Tibet Autonomous Region hosted a record 3.72 million tourists over the first 10 months of the year, well over a million more than the total for the whole of last year.

The flood of tourists brought the region 4.4 billion yuan (about 550 million U.S. dollars).

"The plateau is of great appeal to overseas tourists - one out of ten tourists were from overseas, said Wu Yingjie, deputy chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government during a recent interview with a three-member press delegation from the Russian Information Agency (RIA).

The huge leap in the number of visitors can be attributed to the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on July 1, 2006, according to He Benyun, deputy head of the Regional Development and Reform Commission.

The tourism sector had 2.5 million tourists last year and raked in 2.77 billion yuan (about 346 million dollars) in total earnings, accounting for 9.6 percent of the region's gross domestic product (GDP).

The Tibet regional government set a target of 3.8 million tourists for 2007, a figure that now seems certain to be exceeded.

Industry experts predict more than four million tourists will visit the area this year and the sector will account for 12 percent of Tibet's GDP.

At the invitation of Xinhua News Agency, the RIA press delegation visited Beijing and Tibet between Nov. 1 and 10, with the purpose of finding more about Tibet, such as information regarding reform and development, economic construction, minority nationalities and religion.

Hangzhou ranked China's "happiest city"

If you are seeking happiness in China, Hangzhou is the place to go as the capital of Zhejiang Province topped a magazine poll of more than 3 million citizens rating the country's "10 happiest cities".

Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, finished runner-up in the poll conducted by Oriental Outlook magazine, followed by the Zhejiang Province cities of Ningbo and Taizhou. Zhuhai and Zhongshan, both in south China's Guangdong Province, were fifth and sixth, respectively. Qingdao, in eastern Shandong Province, was seventh.

Shanghai, the country's commercial hub, ranked eighth, followed by the national capital Beijing. Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan Province, rounded out the list.

The poll conducted by the Shanghai-based magazine was carried out in early November under the administration of the Xinhua News Agency, the China Association of Mayors and the China Population Welfare Foundation. It asked people to name the city where it was easiest to get a sense of happiness.

People could vote via text message, the Internet or by filling out a questionnaire.

A total of 35 cities were picked from the country's 269 prefectural-level cities as candidates in April, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics and local government work reports.

Employment, income, social security, housing, medicare, environment and education, as well as the intensity of work pressure and relations between individuals and individual and society, were the major indices for selecting the happiest cities, according to the organizing committee.

Chinese Premier vows to stabilize prices

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says Monday his government will take measures to ensure sufficient supply and stabilize prices during his visit to some needy citizens in Dongcheng District of Beijing.

BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday his government would take measures to ensure sufficient supply and stabilize prices.

"Prices have been on the rise these days and I'm aware that even a one-yuan (0.13 U.S. dollars) increase in prices will affect people's lives," said Wen during his visit to some needy citizens in Dongcheng District of Beijing.

To prop up people's incomes, Wen called on employers in the country to offer higher salaries and to strictly abide by the rules on minimum wages.

"Only when people's quality of life is improved will we feel reassured and believe we did a good job," said Wen.

To prevent prices from rising drastically, the government was trying to ensure adequate supply by giving support to the pig-raising, cooking oil and dairy industries and encouraging imports, said Wen.

It was also cracking down on activities that attempted to force up prices far beyond real values, said Wen.

Prices were stable from 2003 to 2006 but climbed rapidly this year, said Wen, adding that the recent price hikes were resulted from such factors as the rising oil and grain prices on the international market.

Rising prices of pork and cooking oil pushed up prices of other foodstuffs even though China had enjoyed bumper harvests in the last four years and the country's grain output would reach a record 500 million tons this year, said Wen.