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Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

#41

Post by jonah »

yohui wrote: post #39
jonah wrote: post #8

Has no one bothered to ask the visitors why they came?

They did: > Michelle Young, who lives in The Moors, Kidlington, says they did try to solve the mystery. > "A neighbour did try to ask them where they were from but they didn't speak any English and we didn't get very far," she said. > Baz Daniels, who has lived in Kidlington for more than 20 years, said he had been in touch with a friend in China to try to get to the bottom of the tourist influx to his village. > "Ki…

That's a good start.

It looks like the link here on HN was changed to an expanded story.

The one I read this morning was: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-36706591

Re: Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

#42

Post by xirdstl »

rdtsc wrote: post #20
Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #3

Speaking as a local, this genuinely is bizarre. Three miles from Kidlington is Woodstock, which is a picture-perfect village with stone cottages and quaint shops. Ten miles away (where I live) you're into the genuine Cotswolds. The theories advanced in the BBC article don't stack up. Kidlington is not a "folksy cultural stop" or "a beautiful English village". It's really average suburbia - the fact it's formally a "v…

Didn't catch in the article if it was mentioned, but has anyone thought of you know, asking tourists why they picked to come there, or what they expect to see? Guessing the implication they can't speak English very well? I have seen a similar phenomenon when going to Jamaica. Our driver who was supposed to take us from the airport to the hotel to the other side of the island, happened to stop for a "break" at a road-…

I had a similar experience on a Golden Circle tour in Iceland, but it didn't put me in a happy spending mood.

Our stop at Kerid Crater Lake was really short, in favor of the next stop at a strip mall. I was not amused.

Though despite my annoyance, I can see it being an overall lucrative arrangement for them.

Re: Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

#43

Post by houshuang »

This was really frustrating to me, because it felt like treating the Chinese visitors not as people, but a natural phenomenon (locusts) or some such. It's natural that the locals would be baffled, and if this had been a short notice in a local newspaper, then fine. But I read it in a Norwegian newspaper, and later saw it on Metafilter, Hacker News etc. By that time, surely someone must be able to talk to the visitors in Chinese, do a little bit of research with tourist agencies from China etc?

I decided to see if I could find any Chinese sources writing about this, since they might be more clued in. Sohu.com's article (http://news.sohu.com/20160708/n458318443.shtml) says that the rumor was spread that this is where parts of Harry Potter (the Dursleys) was filmed.

Re: Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

#44

Post by Freak_NL »

kaybe wrote: post #40
yohui wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did: > Michelle Young, who lives in The Moors, Kidlington, says they did try to solve the mystery. > "A neighbour did try to ask them where they were from but they didn't speak any English and we didn't get very far," she said. > Baz Daniels, who has lived in Kidlington for more than 20 years, said he had been in touch with a friend in China to try to get to the bottom of the tourist influx to his village. > "Ki…

Once a place becomes part of the tour packages, it apparently becomes a fixture and people ask for it. At least that's what I've been told by tourists about my current hometown Heidelberg, which is about as nice as a hundred other similar places in Germany and yet receives almost every Asian tourist in the country on a 10-day Europe package tour. Apparently the location is convenient too.

Altstadt (historic city centre) associated with the period of Romanticism with historic buildings and an old stone bridge with mediaeval bridge head, a castle with a wine cask several metres in diameter, a Nazi-era outdoor amphitheatre, a lively student body, and all contained in a compact town near the Rhine in an area surrounded by wooded hills and quaint wine villages (e.g., Weinheim). So its popularity is not really surprising.

As far as cliché tourist destinations go you could do a lot worse. Certainly beats Frankfurt or Mannheim.

Also, there is a funicular. Tourists love funiculars.

Re: Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

#45

Post by sjclemmy »

houshuang wrote: post #43

This was really frustrating to me, because it felt like treating the Chinese visitors not as people, but a natural phenomenon (locusts) or some such. It's natural that the locals would be baffled, and if this had been a short notice in a local newspaper, then fine. But I read it in a Norwegian newspaper, and later saw it on Metafilter, Hacker News etc. By that time, surely someone must be able to talk to the visitors…

That would make more sense. So it's actually much more sinister. The Dursley abode is symbolic of all that is bad with the modern world. Bitter people, living in a soulless landscape obsessed with meaningless possessions and social status, devoid of compassion and love.

Is that what Kidlington is like? ;)

Re: Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

#46

Post by animal531 »

yohui wrote: post #39
jonah wrote: post #8

Has no one bothered to ask the visitors why they came?

They did: > Michelle Young, who lives in The Moors, Kidlington, says they did try to solve the mystery. > "A neighbour did try to ask them where they were from but they didn't speak any English and we didn't get very far," she said. > Baz Daniels, who has lived in Kidlington for more than 20 years, said he had been in touch with a friend in China to try to get to the bottom of the tourist influx to his village. > "Ki…

I'm reminded of a Woody Allen movie (which I can't remember the name of). It had the 4-5 subplots/different characters, the one being a random man from nowhere who suddenly (and for no real reason) becomes a giant celebrity. Everyone suddenly wants to know his opinions on everything (and/or to get to know him much much better).

That continues until after a while they pick someone else, and he just goes back to being a random nobody.

I believe he was called Mr. Pisanello (or some such); the movie also featured Penelope Cruz playing a prostitute, accidentally pretending to be a man's wife.

Re: Kidlington's mystery tourist influx continues to baffle locals

#47

Post by LightThatPours »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #3

Speaking as a local, this genuinely is bizarre. Three miles from Kidlington is Woodstock, which is a picture-perfect village with stone cottages and quaint shops. Ten miles away (where I live) you're into the genuine Cotswolds. The theories advanced in the BBC article don't stack up. Kidlington is not a "folksy cultural stop" or "a beautiful English village". It's really average suburbia - the fact it's formally a "v…

Speaking as an ex-local of Bicester and a Kirtlington, it's surely not Kidlington itself. Kidlington, like Bicester (sans the "village") is your typical nondescript that exists near some beautiful Oxfordshire villages (such as Islip and Kirtlington).

For Dr Fegg, outside of the A4095 you probably drive through on your way to Oxford, there is a very beautiful village hidden from you - for example http://www.kirtlingtonpark.co.uk/ - Unlike some other obviously lovely villages, you actually have to explore to find the beauty.

As a local of Chicago, I miss being able to visit Kirtlington (although given, Kidlington used to have some of the best chippies)

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