David Feng 馮琰 ✏️

EN (Trains/Travel/Media) | 中文 (列車/旅行/媒體)

Category: China Mainland

  • Concerned About the Media Hosts of the Younger Generation in China…

    Please note: This content has been ported to the current blog. The dates concerned are as per the previous post (accounting for differences in time zones).

    Some time back, I messaged my university MA supervisor, whom I still keep in touch quite regularly, even after nearly 20 years. I expressed my concern about the younger generation in front of the microphone — specifically, the non-KTV one.

    Livestreaming meant more and more people could just pick up a microphone and an iPhone and go live — what used to require hierarchy upon hierarchy of approval from Official Peking was now far easier to get done. It, of course, democratised access to media, but it had its own can of worms to deal with.

    I, in particular, took particular issue with people dancing in front of the screen — just for the hell of it — to get bandwidth. Worse, there were livestream hosts that would basically bark at you, the viewer — sometimes condescendingly.

    I’ve always felt that this was a problem, because of a lack of media literacy courses in China — plus the still-not-fully-died-out wish to get rich quick just by picking up a mic — and doing crazy things with it, just to siphon all that bandwidth..

    At some point, I just felt it had to stop. I’m not calling for the undoing of media democratisation, but for there to be more informed livestreaming hosts — who would also start treating audiences with respect. We both hail back to an era when TV hosts harboured authority, and treated audiences with respect.

    I, too, would like to see this happen, more and more. I don’t mind seeing newer, and younger, at that, faces — and there’s still incredible potential and talent hidden away — but I’m not going to be happy if you pick up that mic and start using it as a weapon, to rub audiences the wrong way!

    —
    Posted at 22:42 on 12 January 2024 in China

  • My First Border Crossing Stamp with “Railway” On It — at Boten Railway Station!

    Please note: This content has been ported to the current blog. The dates concerned are as per the previous post (accounting for differences in time zones).

    I’ve just completed a journey on the China-Laos Railway, or as it’s known in Laos itself, the Laos-China Railway. And yes, that very stamp — Laos-China Railway — is now forever affixed onto my 2018 Swiss passport, right on page 23!

    Better yet, on the way out, it was also affixed onto the railway ticket. I didn’t mind — in fact, I would’ve personally affixed it a wee bit clearer, but oh well, better than nothing!

    Interestingly, I was delayed for about 5 minutes at the border heading back into China. Problems with my Swiss passport? (Swiss citizens get 14 days in Laos visa-free, so I guess they wanted to check for the e-visa?) Or problems with my Chinese Green Card? (It’s a very rare card, I admit!…)

    However, re-entry back to China was simple at both border checkpoints. I told Lao exit control staff, who asked me where I was in Laos, that I particularly loved Luang Prabang — a huge sigh of relief after three years of Zero Covid, where they threatened to trap you in supertowers in Beijing — and back in China, crew cleared my entrance pretty quickly.

    Of course, at border crossings, there’s strictly no photography or videotaping, but I did see China Customs with some super high-tech gadgets as I made my way in. This part of Asia, alas, does have a drug trafficking problem, so it’s no surprise Customs are more than prepared.

    With a trip to Hong Kong and Macau planned soon, I’m looking to get a few more stamps added to this booklet — which survived the horrors of Zero Covid!

    —
    Posted at 22:16 (UTC+08:00) on 27 September 2023 in Beijing, China

  • Arriving into Hong Kong by High Speed Rail

    Please note: This content has been ported to the current blog. The dates concerned are as per the previous post (accounting for differences in time zones).

    Just before 07:00 on 23 September 2018, my wife and I arrived at Hong Kong West Kowloon railway station by High Speed train.

    But this would be an arrival like never before. It would be the first time we would cross borders inside a railway station itself in East Asia. Furthermore, media attention just made it an even bigger event.

    I gave what was probably my first meeting interview inside the border crossing itself on the day — media from both mainland China and Hong Kong were very much interested in how this globetrotting Swiss citizen on the rails thought about this very new addition to the network. This being a border crossing area, security staff were pretty much everywhere — so it almost looked like a celebrity appearance!

    There was indeed a question I was asked which got the ire of mainland Enforcement – the fact that some in Hong Kong just didn’t like this station, as it had a part of it under mainland Chinese legal jurisdiction. I answered back saying that this being the first day of rail services, it was too quick to jump to conclusions — plus, the notion of crossing borders at the railway station was not alien at all — take, for example, the juxtaposed border checks on Eurostar (or what we used to have at Basel railway station between Switzerland and France).

    Hong Kong media even invited me to pen an Opinion piece on my feeling of being on the very first train to enter Hong Kong by High Speed Rail. Being the pro-rail person I was, I tried not to go off the rails with lavish praise — but indeed, I was very happy that I would now be able to visit Hong Kong using only the rail network — no more long delays at Beijing Capital Airport to be expected!

    The new station finds itself with connections to three local city lines — the Tung Chung line, the West Rail line, and the Airport Express. Of course, these are all in the “Hong Kong port area”, which you get you after exit the “Mainland port area”, having completed Customs & Immigration. I was delayed for a slight bit at immigration, because my Swiss passport had part of the polycarbonate info page snapping… a serious design fault that seemed difficult to rectify… I was allowed to cross the border after being advised to replace the passport next time I return to Mainland China. Hong Kong officials, on the other hand, had no problems at all with the passport.

    The best part about this HSR connection into Hong Kong is that it links directly to the rest of the national High Speed Rail network in mainland China. Thus, by using Train Connections (and getting onward tickets), you can virtually get to any station in mainland China on the high-speed network.

    I look forward to visiting Hong Kong again by HSR — meantime, please allow me to cheat my way out, for now, using air miles which are just about to expire…

    —
    Posted at 22:40 (UTC+08:00 DST) on 24 September 2018 in Hong Kong SAR