From the Readers

Inconvenient truths

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-29 07:52

I'm writing to you about my bitter experience in Shanghai less than six weeks before the start of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

A couple of days ago, I decided to visit Shanghai New International Expo center on Longyang Road. I drove to the center in the morning because of bad weather. After reaching the venue, I began looking for a place to park my car. I followed some indications on the street and landed up at what should have been a piece of land ready to be built. But because of the rain, it looked more like a marsh than a car park. I paid 30 yuan to park my car.

Longyang center is not exactly new. Didn't the authorities think a car park would be necessary and should have been ready long ago?

Then came another shocker: the entry ticket for the exhibition I wanted to visit was 200 yuan. I've been living in Shanghai for more than two years and been to several exhibitions at the Longyang center. There never was an entrance fee to enter it.

I'm not saying exhibitions have to be free, but then there has to be a limit.

I faced another problem a couple of days ago. Some of my friends are coming to Shanghai in June. I visited some hotels to get their room fees. In one of the hotels, the actual price of the room was 498 yuan a night. But when I asked her what the tariff for a room would be between June 12 and 15, the receptionist told me that she could not give me a specific amount, because the rates for June had not been decided yet. But by how much would the room tariff rise in June? The receptionist said it could rise up by more than 200 yuan a night.

Paolo Colomban, via e-mail

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(China Daily 03/29/2010 page9)