Beijing welcomes you, whirlwind tourists

During one of my past trips to Hong Kong, I stood up on Victoria Peak admiring the view when a woman pulled up in a car and practically rolled out of it as it came to a stop. She managed to stand for a little while to take a few snaps, looked around, announced to us that she was making a flying visit, before returning to her vehicle to be whisked away to the airport for her connecting flight. A strange type of tourism, I thought, but I imagined it has its place.

Now, it looks like Beijing is trying to get involved in the tourism market that Hong Kong and Singapore have captured quite easily: the transit tourist. With the new opportunity to visit Beijing for 72 hours without a visa, perhaps the Chinese capital will eat into this market in the future.

With its rich heritage sites, it offers more than just the shopping experiences of other Asian cities. If one has return flights, the first stop off would be perfect for ticking all the tourist boxes, while the second stop off would allow time for shopping and relaxation.

However, how this loophole might be exploited by businessmen seeking discreet meetings is quite another matter. What's the dividing line between someone developing guanxi (personal relations) with a potential business partner and someone just sitting down having dinner with a Chinese friend?

One of the complications of such a scheme is the possibility that traffic might cause the happy holiday to end quite frantically. Leaving during the weekend, for instance, might require a certain amount of creative planning from tourists to ensure that the end of their stay is spent as close to the airport as possible.

It would be terrible to be ensnared amid the glacial-like movements of the masses of Sunday drivers, all out enjoying a pleasant crawl through the city, while desperately checking the time as you stare hopelessly at the gridlock between you and your route to the airport. Missing one's flight and then becoming stuck in some kind of diplomatic limbo is no way to bring an end to an otherwise pleasant stopover.

Perhaps cellphone technology might be of assistance in this case. I'm sure those of a more technical persuasion than me would be able to come up with an app that allows travelers to register their location using GPS, thereby allowing them to show their progress towards the airport in relation to the time they have remaining.

In theory, if they were within a certain distance at a certain time, it would be considered that they had "honored" the terms of their stay, even if they were unlikely to reach the airport in time. Then at least, they would be free from the worry of documentation and be able to focus on the lurching movements of their bus or taxi.

Sourced: globaltimes