Zhuhai Airshow - Read before you visit
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Zhuhai Airshow - Read before you visit
Anyone contemplating a visit to the Zhuhai Airshow (4th to 10th November 2002) on a trade day should be aware of the highly erratic access policy by its “organizer” (of the type that couldn’t get a good pi$$-up going in a brewery).
First, visitor access is based on possession of a pre-distributed invitation card, although this fact is neither published on the event’s web site (www.airshow.com.cn) nor communicated to anyone inquiring by phone. In addition to this invitation card, you will have to bring along a passport-size photograph that goes on your visitor badge; however, there is a photographer on site who will take your picture for RMB15.
Then, upon arrival at the Zhuhai Airshow ground (which is in the proverbial sticks), you will notice that there are eight entry and eight exit gates for attendees with badges, but only one counter that issues the badges; it is located under a canvas canopy. The line here can be 100 deep, and progress is desperately slow. Most people in this line will be standing in the blazing sun for most of the time. Once you’ve made it to the desk, the details on your invitation form will be checked against your passport or (Chinese) ID and your business card (this being a trade-only show except on designated public days). Despite there being two laminating machines at this counter, they are mysteriously not being used. Instead, the badges are printed and laminated elsewhere, so you’ll invariably have to wait yet again. All in all, allow for at least one hour for the privilege of being allowed in.
Chinese contacts of mine without invitation cards have been turned back, no mean feat given the remoteness of Zhuhai Airport (60 km from Zhuhai City). Their alternative would have been to pay RMB500+ and obtain an invitation form from one of the touts patrolling the queue leading to the registration counter….. Foreign business contacts of mine told me they were admitted to the show without an invitation card but charged RMB280 and kept waiting for more than two hours whilst a “background security check” on them was being carried out! This even happened to a group of five visiting executives of one of the major western exhibitors with all attempts by their colleagues already on-site to facilitate their entry miserably failing.
Despite this superficially high level of security, the percentage of visitors whose attire and demeanor fall well short of normal business standards is absurdly high.
Given the meager offering of aircraft on static display and the absence of any flight displays, the bottom line is that unless you have business to do, the Zhuhai Airshow does not deserve your visit. It is a pity that an event with great potential is so badly marred by the total incompetence of its so-called organizer. I dread to think of what this event will be like on a public day….
First, visitor access is based on possession of a pre-distributed invitation card, although this fact is neither published on the event’s web site (www.airshow.com.cn) nor communicated to anyone inquiring by phone. In addition to this invitation card, you will have to bring along a passport-size photograph that goes on your visitor badge; however, there is a photographer on site who will take your picture for RMB15.
Then, upon arrival at the Zhuhai Airshow ground (which is in the proverbial sticks), you will notice that there are eight entry and eight exit gates for attendees with badges, but only one counter that issues the badges; it is located under a canvas canopy. The line here can be 100 deep, and progress is desperately slow. Most people in this line will be standing in the blazing sun for most of the time. Once you’ve made it to the desk, the details on your invitation form will be checked against your passport or (Chinese) ID and your business card (this being a trade-only show except on designated public days). Despite there being two laminating machines at this counter, they are mysteriously not being used. Instead, the badges are printed and laminated elsewhere, so you’ll invariably have to wait yet again. All in all, allow for at least one hour for the privilege of being allowed in.
Chinese contacts of mine without invitation cards have been turned back, no mean feat given the remoteness of Zhuhai Airport (60 km from Zhuhai City). Their alternative would have been to pay RMB500+ and obtain an invitation form from one of the touts patrolling the queue leading to the registration counter….. Foreign business contacts of mine told me they were admitted to the show without an invitation card but charged RMB280 and kept waiting for more than two hours whilst a “background security check” on them was being carried out! This even happened to a group of five visiting executives of one of the major western exhibitors with all attempts by their colleagues already on-site to facilitate their entry miserably failing.
Despite this superficially high level of security, the percentage of visitors whose attire and demeanor fall well short of normal business standards is absurdly high.
Given the meager offering of aircraft on static display and the absence of any flight displays, the bottom line is that unless you have business to do, the Zhuhai Airshow does not deserve your visit. It is a pity that an event with great potential is so badly marred by the total incompetence of its so-called organizer. I dread to think of what this event will be like on a public day….
