Arriving at Hong Kong’s amazingly efficient, friendly and easy-to-use airport a few weeks ago, my first thought turned, oddly enough, to the Beijing Olympics.
I know Beijing has a new terminal opening soon, but at the time I thought myself I can’t imagine it will ever be as nice as this airport.
And then as we sped into town on Hong Kong’s ultra-efficient airport express train, I had another thought which I shared with a friend.
“Even in 20 years time, I’m sure Beijing will never be like this. Can you imagine how great it would be if Hong Kong had the Olympics?”
Hong Kong will be hosting the equestrian events for the Olympics this year but it is unlikely to ever be the venue for a full Games, making my comment a bit fatuous.
But I still stand by the gist of it, which is that Beijing simply does not “get it” when it comes to attitudes towards service, and to building tourist facilties like airports which are world class.
Take the new Beijing airport terminal, for example.
Without a doubt, the Norman Foster building looks stunning. Yet what kinds of shops and services will be in there is still a bit of a mystery.
Everyone hopes it will be better than the current two terminals, with their overpriced restaurants and bookshops whose main English language titles are government propaganda publications.
Hong Kong, it perhaps goes without saying, has a great selection of reading materials at its airport– not to mention a wide array of restaurants and shops.
And while Beijing is building a light rail service to the airport, at its downtown terminus you will not be able to check in baggage, again unlike in Hong Kong. This extends to many other aspects of the service culture comparison between Beijing and Hong Kong.
Shopping in Beijing can be a harrowing and soul-sapping experience, with surly staff, poor quality products and a buying procedure often too weird and complex to explain in this blog, aside from saying you need about three different receipts stamped by three different people before you can make your purchase.
In Hong Kong, while the crowds can be frightening, the staff at least seem to make an effort to be nice — to tourists if not locals. The selection of shops is world-beating too.
To be fair, Hong Kong has been doing this a lot longer than Beijing, and has a much freer political and media environment.
Still, Beijing has to do better, especially with the huge influx of foreign visitors expected for this year’s Olympics.
There’s no doubting the enthusiasm of ordinary Beijingers for the Games, and the government’s determination to make sure things go smoothly.
But a little more thought towards getting shop assistants to smile, or the airport to stock a few more foreign magazines, would be great too.
Pictures of Hong Kong airport (above) and Beijing’s new terminal (below) by Paul Yeung and Alfred Cheng Jin.
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5 comments so far
Biased, ignorant with a couple of lies now and again.
- Posted by heGood post. Hong Kong would certainly do a great job with the Olympics, though the CCP would never allow it. Another point about both cities’ airport trains is that from the last stop on Hong Kong’s you can walk to almost any point in the main business district or to most of the major tourist sights, and can reach the commuter train terminal in less than 10 minutes by taking the subway. (Soon you will be able to transfer directly to the commuter train.)
- Posted by J BBeijing’s, on the other hand, will only stop at Dongzhimen, over three miles from the Central Business District, half an hour’s walk from any notable tourist sight and on the other side of town from Beijing’s main train station.
The fact is Hong Kong’s airport is ranked as #1 in the world, followed by (tied at #2) Incheon’s and Singapore’s.
http://www.worldairportawards.com/
The 2007 list is here:
http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards _2007/Airport2007.htm
The survey is based on more than 7.8 million detailed passenger surveys, covering over 170 airports, and conducted over an 11 month period throughout the world.
It will be a huge uphill battle for Beijing to surpass even the top 10: HK, Incheon, Singapore, Munich, Kuala Lumpur, Zurich, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Kansai (Japan), Madrid.
- Posted by Airport SurveyBut can Hong Kong afford the impressive price tag that comes with building all the Olympic facilities it needs to host an Olympic Game? I don’t think so.
- Posted by keIt’s worth remembering that people in Beijing work their heart out for about 15 U.S cents an hour - and work *at least* 55-70 hours a week. Despite all the fake glory of the Olympic games, China is a horrible place to live - and the locals know this all too well. They see what we have and they know other Chinese who have migrated to the west. Only the very young and stupid teens with rich parents think that China is the centre of the world. So with this type of life, would you be able to put on a happy face to all those rich Olympic tourists with all their money? I don’t think so…. SECONDLY: There are definite cultural aspects here that you seem unaware of… In China, service is valued more highly than friendliness… In China service is Number 1. So when you get some attendant to serve you in even an average amount of time, this is considered ‘good service’. There is the English expression ‘a smile costs nothing’, but then again, if you are getting paid almost nothing….. Try to look at it this way: In China, people are respected for their ability to do their job promptly, smiles just don’t enter into the sales situation at all.
- Posted by GlenHaving said this, I have had plenty of smiles… from Nanjing to Shanghai… But you get these from market sellers, where they own the business or shop.