Japanese crisis reverberates in Minhang
By Hu Min |
March 26, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that enveloped Japan the past two weeks have had repercussions as far away as Minhang.
Many residents in the district were booked to go on tours to Japan in March and April for the celebrated cherry blossom season, but those travel plans have come to an abrupt halt.
Zha Junyan, a reporter at Minhang Weekly, was scheduled to visit Fukuoka last week. Her money was paid and her visa obtained. The quake struck, the tsunami destroyed coastal towns and a crippled nuclear plant put the world on edge.
"I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time and made detailed plans, but I decided not to go due to fears of radiation leaks," Zha said, looking glum.
The Japanese visa she paid 1,000 yuan (US$146) to obtain lasts for three months, but she is uncertain if she will be able to use it. Spring Airlines, China's budget carrier, refunded her ticket money.
The National Tourism Administration of China warned tourists not to visit Japan.
The Minhang branches of SAL Tours and Shanghai Spring International have announced that tourists will get a 100 percent refund on package tours to Japan. But disappointed travelers will have to bear their own visa costs.
"Out of concern about radiation and a shortage of resources that may affect a tourist's experience, the tour packages to Japan have been cancelled, and we will wait and see before deciding when to restart the service," according to a staff person at Spring International.
Spring Airlines has suspended plans to add up to five new routes to Japan, pending the outcome of events there.
The aftershocks of the Japanese tragedy go beyond just tourism.
East China Normal University said after the quake struck on March 11, it had lost contact with five of its students studying on exchange programs at Yokohama National University and Kobe University.
A call for help on the university's microblog prompted students and faculty alike to try every means possible to track the missing students down through netizen networks. After four days, the students were located.
It turned out the students, who were on a university vacation break, hadn't turned on their mobile phones and weren't actively on the Internet, so they didn't realize the alarm bells going off back in China after news of the quake and tsunami broke.
The university is hosting seven Japanese students whose hometowns in Chiba, Ibaraki, Fukuoka and Iwate were affected by the quake. Four of them have so far confirmed that their families back home are safe.
Even though radiation leaks in Japan haven't led to any health warnings in China, people are still panicky.
The Shanghong Pharmacy on Xinbang Road was besieged at one point by customers seeking to buy iodine tablets, which are believed to ward off the effects of radioactive contamination.
The pharmacy doesn't sell iodine pills, so many customers bought Centrum instead, which contains some iodine, said a salesman at the store.
There was also a rush on surgical face masks in the shop, he said.
Experts and authorities have warned that overdosing on iodine can cause disorders of the thyroid gland, leading to vomiting, diarrhea and even suffocation. Unborn babies could be affected.
At supermarkets in Minhang, customers grabbed up milk powder imported from Japan, concerned that future sales of safe milk supplies from there might be interrupted.
All imported Japanese milk powder was sold out at the Dongchuan Road branch of the Auchan Supermarket.
The price for an 850-gram can of Meiji infant milk powder rose by least 30 yuan from 190 yuan amid all the panic buying. Many parents have now turned to milk powder produced in the United States, New Zealand and Europe.
Many residents in the district were booked to go on tours to Japan in March and April for the celebrated cherry blossom season, but those travel plans have come to an abrupt halt.
Zha Junyan, a reporter at Minhang Weekly, was scheduled to visit Fukuoka last week. Her money was paid and her visa obtained. The quake struck, the tsunami destroyed coastal towns and a crippled nuclear plant put the world on edge.
"I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time and made detailed plans, but I decided not to go due to fears of radiation leaks," Zha said, looking glum.
The Japanese visa she paid 1,000 yuan (US$146) to obtain lasts for three months, but she is uncertain if she will be able to use it. Spring Airlines, China's budget carrier, refunded her ticket money.
The National Tourism Administration of China warned tourists not to visit Japan.
The Minhang branches of SAL Tours and Shanghai Spring International have announced that tourists will get a 100 percent refund on package tours to Japan. But disappointed travelers will have to bear their own visa costs.
"Out of concern about radiation and a shortage of resources that may affect a tourist's experience, the tour packages to Japan have been cancelled, and we will wait and see before deciding when to restart the service," according to a staff person at Spring International.
Spring Airlines has suspended plans to add up to five new routes to Japan, pending the outcome of events there.
The aftershocks of the Japanese tragedy go beyond just tourism.
East China Normal University said after the quake struck on March 11, it had lost contact with five of its students studying on exchange programs at Yokohama National University and Kobe University.
A call for help on the university's microblog prompted students and faculty alike to try every means possible to track the missing students down through netizen networks. After four days, the students were located.
It turned out the students, who were on a university vacation break, hadn't turned on their mobile phones and weren't actively on the Internet, so they didn't realize the alarm bells going off back in China after news of the quake and tsunami broke.
The university is hosting seven Japanese students whose hometowns in Chiba, Ibaraki, Fukuoka and Iwate were affected by the quake. Four of them have so far confirmed that their families back home are safe.
Even though radiation leaks in Japan haven't led to any health warnings in China, people are still panicky.
The Shanghong Pharmacy on Xinbang Road was besieged at one point by customers seeking to buy iodine tablets, which are believed to ward off the effects of radioactive contamination.
The pharmacy doesn't sell iodine pills, so many customers bought Centrum instead, which contains some iodine, said a salesman at the store.
There was also a rush on surgical face masks in the shop, he said.
Experts and authorities have warned that overdosing on iodine can cause disorders of the thyroid gland, leading to vomiting, diarrhea and even suffocation. Unborn babies could be affected.
At supermarkets in Minhang, customers grabbed up milk powder imported from Japan, concerned that future sales of safe milk supplies from there might be interrupted.
All imported Japanese milk powder was sold out at the Dongchuan Road branch of the Auchan Supermarket.
The price for an 850-gram can of Meiji infant milk powder rose by least 30 yuan from 190 yuan amid all the panic buying. Many parents have now turned to milk powder produced in the United States, New Zealand and Europe.
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