Aviation

Private aircraft stores opening

Private aircraft stores are springing up across China, with Beijing opening its first on March 29 and Wuhan on March 30.

Beijing's first private aircraft store has already attracted attention with three aircraft ordered during the first three days the store was open. According to sources, it costs at least 200,000 yuan to get a pilot's license in China.

Cai Gangjun, owner of Zhejiang Rongsheng Private Jet Sales and Services, said China's private aircraft market would become more competitive if regulations are loosened.

In 2011, about 502,700 flight hours were recorded in the country's general aviation sector. The number is expected to soar to 2 million by 2020, according to the aviation administration.

Science

Spacecraft moves to launch center

The Shenzhou X spacecraft, likely to be launched between June and August, has been moved to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province.

On its mission, the spacecraft will carry three astronauts and dock with the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module. Tiangong-1 was launched in September 2011 and docked with the unmanned Shenzhou VIII that year and with the manned Shenzhou IX in 2012.

Shenzhou X will carry out the first formal application of the manned space transportation system.

It is the technological successor to the Shenzhou IX and will help the space transportation system move from the testing phase to the application phase, according to Bao Weimin, the technological division chief of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, which manufactured the spacecraft.

Health

Cases of rare bird flu on the rise

Two more cases of H7N9 bird flu virus have been detected in East China's Zhejiang province, including a man who died last week, authorities said on April 3.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a 38-year-old patient surnamed Hong from Hangzhou, the provincial capital, who died in hospital on March 27, had the virus.

The other patient, surnamed Yang, is a 67-year-old man. He was admitted to hospital on April 2.

None of the people who came into close contact with the patients have developed symptoms of the flu, the health department said.

On March 31, two men in Shanghai, aged 27 and 87, died from H7N9. A woman in Anhui province and four men in Jiangsu province remain in critical condition. All patients had fevers and coughs in the early stages before developing pneumonia and breathing difficulties, China's health authorities said.

Travel

Africa gets the thumbs up

The number of Chinese tourists to Africa has increased rapidly in recent years, several leading Chinese travel agencies said. South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and a number of islands in the Indian Ocean are also becoming popular destinations with Chinese travelers.

China is the fourth-largest source of tourists to South Africa, with numbers increasing more than 63 percent in the first nine months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011.

Chinese tourists who travel to Africa usually have international travel experiences and are looking for unique journeys, said Zu Lin of China Comfort Travel Group's Africa tourism department. Over 30 African countries and regions are among the top destinations for Chinese tour groups. The cost of trips to Africa is also dropping, Zhang said.

Travel

Budget hotels fail hygiene tests

With a daily budget of just several hundred yuan, tourists in Shanghai have about a 10 percent chance of staying in a hotel room with sub-par hygiene.

Fifty-four budget hotels in Shanghai out of 500 inspected have been penalized for poor hygiene, the city's Health Supervision Department said.

The department recently released the results of inspections of more than 500 economy hotels in the first quarter, among them were branches of many well-known chains, such as Hanting Inns and Hotels, 7 Days Inn, Home Inn and GreenTree Inns.

The inspections checked health permits, hygiene management, facilities, work records, sterilization certificates and staff management.

Most of the 54 hotels failed to provide heath certificates for their staff. Many of them failed to clean and sterilize the daily necessaries, such as sheets, towels and cups according to hotel rules.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/05/2013 page2)