Philippines-based tour operator, A3 Tours & Travel, recently posted the following story on their Facebook page from a passenger on a Hong Kong flight. The tl;dr of it is that you should not naively believe your carry-on luggage is safe in the overhead bins -- the contents might not just have shifted during flight, they might have been lifted.
As many of us routinely fly, and specifically fly the flights li…
![A tour bus enveloped in flames after rear-ending a container truck on an expressway near Beijing on Oct 1, 2012. [Photo from weibo.com/lifecuc]](http://www.lostlaowai.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/german-tour-bus-fire-01-200x200.jpg)
Tragic news out of Beijing today. A bus carrying a German tour group was engulfed in flames after rear-ending a truck on a highway near Beijing. Current reports indicate that six people have died, and a further 14 are injured.
While the identities of the victims have not yet been released, five of the dead are reportedly Germans, and one Chinese.
The joint Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday/Golden…
Things are certainly escalating in regards to anti-Japanese protests due to China's ongoing dispute with Japan over the contested Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. I've heard mention from a few people that more protests are likely planned for this weekend, and no doubt continuing after that. The following is a warning from the US Embassy for its citizens to avoid such events, as they can quickly turn violent.
In light …
The Shanghaiist just posted about a near riot in Zhengzhou, Henan, a few days ago. The spark of the unrest was that a foreigner allegedly slapped and spit in the face of a Chinese woman.
A Caucasian man, appearing to be middle aged and sporting a Walmart brochure in the left breast pocket of his shirt, found himself surrounded by angry passersby as he sat holed up in the back seat of a BYD car. Many from the crowd…
We know you are here legally. No no, please put your passport away. We don't need to see it. But for that friend of a friend that's working on an F or an L visa, you may want to pay attention to the following:
Articles across the English-language state media are reporting that the government intends to crack down on illegal foreigners in China.
China is getting tougher over foreigners illegally entering, living…
As a group, foreigners in China tend to be hit with their decent share of scams. While certainly not alone in their potential victimization, rare does a week go by my (Chinese-registered) phone doesn't ring with some identity theft scam, China's criminal element definitely have an eye out for the comparatively affluent and possibly unknowing laowai.
Case in point is a message I received from a good friend of mine …
The March edition of the Shanghai Consulate News for Americans kindly reminds its citizens not to hit cars that come to close to you, as it may lead to a "physical confrontation."
The American Citizen Services Unit has received several reports of American citizens being injured following physical altercations with drivers of automobiles within our consular district.
Such physical altercations have sprung from t…
I'm betting most of us haven't thought twice about what would happen if we shuffled off our mortal coil while living as laowai here in China. Unfortunately, tragedy happens here as anywhere, and this is the situation that David Woolman's family is now forced into dealing with -- from thousands of kilometres away.
The 23-year-old from Nevada was teaching English in China up until his death about two weeks ago. None…
Seventy six trombones led the big parade in the Music Man. One hundred and ten cornets were following right behind. All of them were delivered by the Wells Fargo man. It's a shame that Wells Fargo doesn't have their act together as well as they did back in River City. Maybe if they did, my parents would still have access to their bank account. Of course "parents" starts with P and that rhymes with T and that stan…
A new year and a new douche bag to add to our "Bad Laowai" category. Ryan Fedoruk, a 40-year-old former part-time English teacher from Canada, sublet about 30 apartments to more than 100 foreigners in Shanghai before taking the money and running.
Eva Gao, the Chinese lawyer representing his victims, sums things up on her blog:
Fedoruk began subletting apartments in Shanghai in early 2011. He would post ads …
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