Shanghai police stop man 'on tour' from boarding vessel

A MAN with a minor mental problem who was trying to leave town for a "tour around China" was stopped from boarding a foreign ship, Shanghai port immigration police said today.

Police found Lu Zheng, 36, from Lanzhou in Gansu Province struggling to climb onto a Saint Vincent-registered container vessel at Waigaoqiao Port. The long-haired Lu looked like a beggar and was carrying a garbage bag when he was seized by patrol officers and port workers.

Police said he was suffering a slight mental disorder after contacting their counterparts in Lanzhou.

Police escorted the man to board a train bound for Lanzhou late last night after he said he wished to return home during questioning.

``He smelled terrible and he asked us to help him board the vessel so he could leave the city and go on a tour of China,'' said a port immigration police officer.

Police said Lu was in a normal mental state when questioned.

He told police he collected and sold garbage after he left Lanzhou early this year and began a walking tour across the country.

Lu told police he had been stuck up in Shanghai for three months as he continued to get lost while trying to walk out of the city. When Lu saw the ship, he thought it would be a good way to get out of town, said police.