Approximately 50 passengers were stranded at Shanghai's Pudong International airport (PVG) on Thursday after an Air China flight to Shenzhen left the runway at its scheduled departure time.

Mass confusion took place while Air China staff tried their best to calm the upset crowd by providing tea and snacks.

One visibly upset passenger, Mr. Zhang, commented "This is outrageous! I take several business trips a month and I have never seen an Air China flight without a delay of at least 30 minutes. How can they do this and not expect passengers to be upset? It's crazy!".

Several customers demanded compensation. Another passenger, Ms. Qian, commented "If Air China wants to treat its customers like this, my family and I will take our business elsewhere." Air China declined to comment.

Responding to growing concern about traffic, pollution, and sanitation in Shanghai during the Chinese New Year holiday, city officials have announced a plan to ban half of the city's residents from leaving their homes every other day.

The plan calls for all residents with surnames Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Zhou, and Wu to stay inside their homes on even days of the month and all other residents to stay inside on odd days during the new year holiday.

“Many visitors will come to Shanghai for the first time during the New Year holiday," explained Wu Jianghua, official spokesperson of the Shanghai Human Circulation Harmony Planning Department. "We don't want them to have the impression that Shanghai is a dirty, overcrowded, exhausting place. We want them to be able to enjoy the city in a more natural state and leave with a positive impression."

In preparation, he continued, "residents are encouraged to stock up on essentials such as rice, water, cooking oil, and DVD box sets."

A magnetic levitation railway between Shanghai and Hangzhou will see giant cats replacing trains in an attempt to cut costs. The maglev project has been in the works for a decade, with an estimated price tag of 35 billion RMB, but was shelved earlier this year after environmental and cost concerns.

It is thought that using 15-tonne genetically modified cats is likely to ease the fears of environmental protestors, while also reducing the cost to a whisker under 20 billion RMB.

The first cat, nicknamed Chairman Miao, is likely to begin operation in 2011.


©上海杭州大猫磁浮交通发展有限公司 (image copyright Shanghai-Hangzhou Large Feline Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd.)

Over on the Ditiezu forums regular poster ourorobos has some exciting news about new metro line 8 planned to open in December.

Apparently the line will be shaped like a large 8, (see map, below) with a single stop at People's Square, where riders will be able to transfer free of charge to line 8.

It is thought additional loops may be added in future, with five or six visits to People's Square on a single journey. It may be almost as exciting as a trip on the Bund Tourist Tunnel.

The Chinese team are gearing up for the "how much stuff can I balance on my bike" World Championships to be held in Shanghai next month.

After the disappointment of Hanoi 2003, when they were eliminated at the semi-final stage by unfancied Sri Lanka, the Chinese team are confident they can win this time around.

"We have been in constant training on the streets of Shanghai for the last four years," commented PRC team captain Li Qiang, "and we are confident our knowledge of the terrain, combined with our ability to carry unnecessarily large loads on our bikes, will prove decisive". Li's speciality is carrying over 100 water bottles on his trusty bicycle.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou amateur Mr Liu who recently hit the headlines for balancing his dog Gougou on the back of his bike, failed to make the squad for the championships after he could not balance a pyramid of 21 golden retrievers on his bicycle.