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Updated Monday, June 22, 2009 11:50 am TWN, By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times



	Chinese health officials check for fever among arriving passengers on an Air China Ltd. flight from Ulan Bator, Mongolia, to Beijing, China, on Thursday, June 18. (Bloomberg News) Enlarge Photo

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China wields quarantine to control flu

BEIJING -- Chinese authorities tracked down Los Angeles resident Mike Su recently at a networking banquet in Beijing. They forced him to pack his bags, then whisked him to a budget hotel on the edge of the city where they detained him for a week.

Su's crime?

On his flight from Los Angeles, the Web-site director had the misfortune of sitting near someone alleged to have contracted H1N1 flu.

“I felt like I was going to prison,” said Su, 33. “I read the headlines in the news, but I never thought I'd be the guy who gets quarantined.”

The detention meant Su didn't get a chance to strike deals in China for his company, Beverly Hills-based Break Media. He never exhibited signs of illness.

In the two months since H1N1 flu first emerged, China continues to wield some of the toughest controls to combat the spread of the recently designated pandemic. Those include denying visas to travelers from countries where the virus is prevalent, screening airline passengers and enforcing quarantines.

While the effectiveness of these measures isn't yet certain, what's clear is that stringent policies are disrupting business and travel. Foreign visitors are postponing or canceling plans to visit China, fearful of getting snared by the flu dragnet.

Today, occupancy rates at Beijing's five-star hotels stand at 48 percent, down 21 percent from a year ago and about 12 percent below expectations, said Guan Jianxin, a tourism industry analyst for Minzu Securities. He said it's more than a slow economy.

“Hotel owners aren't happy about these quarantine measures,” Guan said. “The high-end ones will be hit the hardest because they tend to receive the most international guests.”

Xu Feng, general manager of Beijing Dragon City, an online travel agency, said he's had 20 cancellations in recent weeks by customers in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

“It's getting worse,” Feng said. “All we can do is hope it's temporary.”

Disembarking from some international flights in China has become a journey all its own. After landing, groggy tourists are greeted by masked health officials who scan each passenger with a temperature gun. The process can take hours.

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