Harrods has opened a private members’ club in Shanghai that offers 250 super-rich people exclusive access to Gordon Ramsay’s first restaurant in China, a bar stocked with rare Scotch whiskies, and the Knightsbridge department store’s own-brand private jets. The retailer opened the private club, which charges minimum annual fees of 150,000 yuan (£16,500), as part of its drive to connect more with wealthy Chinese people as spending by its traditional customer base stagnates. The club, called the Residence, is located inside Shanghai’s historic Cha House where Harrods already operates a…
Tag: Travel
UK government delays post-Brexit border checks for fifth time – business live
From 2h ago UK government confirms another delay to post-Brexit food checks The UK government has confirmed that it will delay the introduction of post-Brexit checks on food by another three months, after warnings the long-promised new regime would not be ready in time. The UK’s Cabinet Office said that “remaining sanitary and phytosanitary controls, as well as full customs controls for non-qualifying Northern Ireland goods, […] will now be introduced from January 2024. The government had said in April that new checks would come into force on Halloween, 31…
Heathrow has busiest start to year since before Covid lockdowns
Heathrow airport had its busiest start to the year since before the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 as travel restrictions continued to ease, according to data published on Monday. More than 5.4 million passengers travelled through the UK’s and Europe’s busiest airport in January, double the 2.6 million from 2022, Heathrow said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. In January 2020 the airport had recorded its best ever start to the year, with 6.1 million passengers, despite early signs that the virus was spreading rapidly from China, where…
A new start after 60: ‘I was such a chicken – until I spent seven weeks travelling alone’
Nooraini Mydin’s 50th birthday passed without much of a marker, so she was determined to do something memorable for her 60th. She had always been curious about the Trans-Siberian railway but thought “how about I make it really exciting and get the train from London all the way to Kuala Lumpur?” she says. “I am such a chicken, or I was at that time. I used to get very lonely when I travelled alone.” But in August 2016 she set off with two suitcases – containing her laptop, to write…
‘We are ready’: relief and excitement builds in Thailand with Chinese tourists set to return
After almost three years of little to no business, Thai tour guide operator Anchalee Vittayanuntapornkul is more than relieved that Chinese tourists will soon be allowed to travel again. “I’m sure if you ask anyone in the tourism industry, the only nationality that they are waiting to see come back is the Chinese tourists,” says Anchalee, who is based in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. On Sunday, China scrapped the requirement for inbound travellers to quarantine, making holidaying abroad much easier. The policy change is expected to boost the tourism sector…
Covid test for travellers from China could have been avoided, says MP
The requirement for travellers from China to England to provide a negative Covid test before departure could have been avoided if Beijing was “upfront” about its data, the chair of the Commons health committee has said. Rishi Sunak announced a major U-turn on Friday by imposing checks on travellers from China from 5 January, after criticism from a growing number of Conservative MPs over his “dithering”. The prime minister’s latest reversal was welcomed by the chair of the Commons health and social care committee, Conservative MP Steve Brine, who said…
WHO urges Covid data ‘transparency’ as China prepares to open borders
The World Health Organisation again urged China’s health officials to regularly share specific, real-time information on the country’s Covid surge, as the UK joined other countries in bringing in travel restrictions, citing a lack of data as the reason. WHO Covid experts met Chinese officials on Friday and “again stressed the importance of transparency and regular sharing of data to formulate accurate risk assessments and to inform effective response”, said the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In particular, WHO requested more genetic sequencing data, data on hospitalisations, intensive care unit…
Etles Uyghur, London: ‘You’ll be well fed, and learn a little along the way’ – restaurant review
Etles Uyghur Restaurant, 424 Finchley Road, London NW2 2HY (020 7431 5698). Starters £7.50-£9.99, mains £12.50-£16, big plate chicken £30, desserts £4.50. Unlicensed The menu at Etles Uyghur restaurant, located at the leafier Golder’s Green end of London’s Finchley Road, is not just a thrilling list of edible promises. It’s also a subtle lesson in physical and human geography. Obviously, there’s no pork listed because of the predominantly Muslim culture of the Uyghur people, which the Chinese government has been attempting to annihilate so brutally, for so long. Nor is…