Interlude in Tim Cook’s Shanghai Visit

“Hello again! Hai Na Bai Chuan, Shanghai changes with every passing day,” Apple CEO Tim Cook posted on Sina Weibo on Monday, with a photo of Shanghai’s most famous landmark the Bund, shot by the newest iPhone XS Max.

The next day he was seen at the Yangjiadu Ferry. Using his Apple Watch, he tried to get a ticket for a ferry to cross the Yangpu River, according to the Weibo account of Sina tech news.

However, he ended up at the wrong gate.

Netizens noticed in the pictures that Cook was standing in the bike line. They also joked that he wasn’t able to get through as he scanned his Apple Watch at the wrong place.

“He got through despite trying to enter through the bike gate,” said a security guard in an interview with Pear Video Shanghai, “but he had to spend another 12 cents.”

In his defense, others said that the mishap is easily explained by the fact that Cook doesn’t understand Chinese.

Guo Xiaoguang, Sina’s technology reporter who was on sight, clarified on Weibo that Cook didn’t fail to go through as some netizens said.

“As a Beijinger, I also ended up wasting some money,” he said, “you’re asking too much if you expect a foreigner to tell the difference between gates for bikes and for people.”

People in Beijing and Shanghai can take public transportation using an iPhone or Apple Watch, as passes are available in Apple wallet.

For cities such as Guangzhou and Hangzhou, where passes can’t be added to mobiles, passengers can use Apple Pay for tickets, according to Apple.