The Times turns Maoist

I've complained before about the unimaginative and downright misleading (i.e. false) reporting in the western media on China and the endless 'travel' stories which always go to the same three places.

However, I am astonished to read the latest piece of drivel from The Times last Monday.

Yes, it’s yet another travel piece droning on about Guilin, Xi’an and Beijing again,  as if there were no other places in China worth mentioning. The fool reporting the story paid around £1,729 plus for an eleven day trip, which is a truly outrageous price. You could spend months here on that.

For this money she was taken to what the travel company describes as a “renovated part” (i.e fake) of the Great Wall. They go on to say that is “is incredible to think that the wall spans the entire country”, which would be true if it did, but it doesn’t.

They also get to visit Hong Kong where she is knocked out that she can buy Coke. Unless she means Cocaine, what is she wittering on about? You can buy Coke everywhere! Whether you would want to is another matter.

The travel company, not content to gouge you for that £1,729 then claim on their tour brochure that “In this area, tipping is a recognized part of life and some local staff will look to members of the group for personal recognition of services provided. Accordingly, you should allow £15 for tipping.”

This is a complete lie! Tipping is not a recognized part of life in China. They just want more of your money.

They also visit the Forbidden City and have a Starbucks, quoting a seven year old article about the coffee chain being in the Imperial Palace, happily oblivious to the fact that it very publicly shut down just a few weeks ago.

However, the most astonishing and idiotic comment I have left to last. The “writer” states:

“Her reverence for Chairman Mao was typical of all the Chinese we met. Hardly surprising given the peace and material advances he achieved for his people.”

Chairman Mao – peace - material advances? Has she completely taken leave of her senses? The man plunged the country into total murderous chaos, killed up to 30 million people with his crackpot theories and held back China’s development for decades. Any material advances have only happened since the lunatic died.