Tunnels under Chinatown: racist or reality?

by Neil Woodburn on

There’s nothing more enthralling than discovering hidden tunnels and secret passageways, especially if you’re an archeologist. Likewise for tourists, sometimes the most exciting part of a city is what lies beneath it.

And that’s why everyone is so excited in the California town of Fresno where a team of archeologists are currently hot on the trail of an urban legend: underground Chinatown. It has been rumored for years that an extensive network of tunnels used to exist under this part of Fresno, extensive enough that residents could travel the entire length of Chinatown without ever surfacing.

After a recent discovery of a crawlspace in one of the basements, the city is finally taking the rumors seriously and has hired engineers and archeologists to probe the area with ground-penetrating radar. If this legendary network of tunnels is ever found, you can expect a very cool tourist attraction to be added to a town that is normally just a stopping point for gas on the way to the Sierras.

What I found truly fascinating from the LA Times article which covered this story, is that rumors of tunnels under any city’s Chinatown are actually quite common and, in fact, very racist. Activists claim that tunnel rumors stretch back to the late 19th century when xenophobic westerners viewed the Chinese railway workers as mysterious, secretive, and undoubtedly engaged in bizarre, vice-filled activities that were hidden from public view underneath the street of the city.

Fascinating!

AIDS Memorial Quilt: 20 years later

by Jamie Rhein on

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. A friend of mine lost a dear friend to AIDS this year. So did my cousin. I don’t know if someone has made a quilt panel for either of them, but panels continue to be made each year and added to this body of work. Perhaps, in your travels you will come across a section of the quilt. Although the quilt is too large to be displayed in any one place, sections of it are sent to various locations so they can be viewed by the public. Some displays may include only a few panels, while others are enormous.

With World AIDS Day tomorrow, here is a tribute thanks to a YouTube video by David Viney Birmingham that presents a brief history of the Names Project and a montage of various panels.

SatLav: Find a toilet via mobile phone

by Catherine Bodry on

If you’re in London and nature calls, you can now respond with a text message.

A new service from Westminster City Council allows mobile phone users to find the nearest public restroom. All the user has to do is text (as an aside: is “text” a verb now?) the word “toilet” to the number 80097 and he or she will receive a reply with detailed directions. It’s a bit pricey (£0.25 compared to the normal £0.01 per message), but when it’s between a back alley, your shorts, or a sweet public toilet pod, what’s twenty-five pence? It’s not like you’ll be sending messages back and forth, after all.

The service is available throughout Westminster, an area that includes such sights as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.

Bibles and Luxury don’t go together: Goldfish do

by Jamie Rhein on

Over at one of our sister sites, Luxist, Deidre Wollard writes about Bible and hotel statistics that show a trend. I’m not sure exactly what one can say about this trend, like what’s really behind it, but the news is interesting.

If you are one to stay in a luxury hotel and want to find a religious uplift, you won’t find it in a drawer in your room. Luxury hotels are not stocking Bibles in a bedside table like they used to. They say it’s in the line of being environmentally friendly. (?!) If you have a flash of needing a bit of inspiration, you can get it from the front desk. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, the desk has you covered–all you have to do is ask the receptionist.

If you’re not staying at a luxury hotel. Let’s say you’ve just rolled into a Sleep Inn for the night (I just picked a name). You’re more likely to find a Bible in a drawer there than you would have a few years ago. According to the ABC News article where Deidre culled her info, Bibles in drawers have gone up from 79% in 1988 to 95% in non-luxury hotels, inns and motels.

Some luxury hotels, along with religious texts, will provide live gold fish in a fishbowl if asked. At Kimpton hotels, not too many people ask for a Bible. But when it comes to a goldfish, 15% of the guests want Goldie swimming in their room.

Travel related publicity stunts

by Neil Woodburn on

We posted last week about a controversial Girls of Ryanair calendar that features, um, the girls of Ryanair in various semi-naked photographs. Sure, it’s sexist and all that, but at the end of the day, the proceeds go to charity.

But one wonders just how much of this was simply a publicity stunt. Blogs like ours, and even respectable newspapers all carried the story and Ryaniar received a ton of coverage.

As it turns out, Ryanair, and a handful of other Irish/British travel outfitters have been engaged in a dangerous game of advertising one-upmanship over the last few years trying to shock and awe passengers away from each other. The result has been some less-than-savory campaigns which have caused their share of bad press. But as they say in the industry, all press is good press.

Judge for yourself. The Telegraph has put together a short slideshow detailing some of the more notorious campaigns, many of which seem to involve Sir Richard Branson–and at least one of which features his bare ass. Click here to check it out.