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LIFE> Travel
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In the eye of a storm
By He Na (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-05 09:40 Few can understand why someone would take a risk to watch typhoons. But, as Chen Shengjun, senior engineer of Zhejiang Provincial Meteorology Center says, a typhoon ranks second only to a volcanic eruption for the sheer beauty and power of nature. He says typhoon-watching can be made a tourism resource for the special opportunity it provides to observe fascinating cloud changes and the lashing rains. However, no travel agency has shown any interest as yet because of safety considerations, he adds. But Zheijiang native Niu remains optimistic, pointing to the growing popularity of the online typhoon forum. According to Chen, in seven years its registered membership has grown to 248,400. Every day, it sees more than 3,000 postings and thousands of hits. According to Fan Xi, administrator of the forum, acquiring information about typhoons remains the top reason for visitors, of whom 10 percent are professional typhoon researchers and 70 percent, typhoon fans. Most of the fans are typically in their 20s and the majority come from costal areas, or those linked to businesses that are greatly affected by the weather. Many typhoon fans are approaching the standard of professional meteorological staff. "We can't say our predictions are more accurate than the official ones, but we play a very important role in supplementing available information," says Chen. If one could raise public awareness about disaster prevention and expand public participation in this exercise, the losses from a typhoon can be greatly minimized, points out Pan.
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