Riot police in Nepal bash Tibetan protestors

Riot police in Nepal have brutally beaten unarmed Tibetan refugees, including women, nuns and monks. via Myanmar News.net

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Tibet is now under a news blackout

While I believe that travel brings you closer to the locals rather than the government, this type of behavior by the Chinese government does not bode well for my interest in traveling there.

I would argue for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics. A message needs to be sent to the Chinese government that their appalling human rights abuses will not be tolerated by the rest of the world.

If you plan to travel to China, travel outside of the Olympic window and be sure to support the people. Eat from the local markets. Stay in non-chain hotels. And buy handicrafts direct from the source.

The US embassy in Beijing issued a warning Saturday against travel to Tibet

The situation in Lhasa continues to be unstable and Americans are advised to defer travel to Tibet at this time," it said in a statement on its website.

"In addition, Americans are advised to use caution when traveling to predominantly Tibetan areas of neighboring provinces, including Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Xinjiang provinces.

"There have been reports of some demonstrations in provinces bordering Tibet, but no reports of violence that we are aware of."

China travel restrictions to be relaxed

Regulations on travel from Taiwan to China via Kinmen and Matsu will be relaxed as early as this week to facilitate the development of the outlying islands, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) said yesterday.

Direct cross-strait travel is still restricted to a ferry service between the offshore islands and China's Fujian Province, also known as the "small three links," which was implemented in January 2001.

Travel agencies in Kinmen and Matsu will be allowed to advertise the route from China to Taiwan via the "small three links" to Chinese and to allot the same number of Taiwanese to travel to China via the route, Chen said.

Incomparable travel across China

The traveling experience in China is incomparable, food writer Fuchsia Dunlop writes in The Independent, reflecting the country's social changes.

When she first started traveling in China, in the early 1990s, the country's complicated dual currency system and transport system made it virtually impossible to buy a train ticket.

"And if one couldn't secure a 'hard-sleeper' ticket, one might have to face 72 hours in an unnumbered 'hard-seat' carriage, where you would spend all night struggling for a few inches of room in a seething crowd of people," Dunlop said.

China Merchants Bank Launches Travel Credit Card

China Merchants Bank and Chinese travel website Mangocity.com have formally launched a joint credit card.

With this new card, users can not only earn points for their membership accounts with Mangocity.com, but also accumulate points for their credit card with China Merchants Bank when they book a hotel room, air ticket, travel products and pay the services with it via Mangocity.com.