Passport typo stated tourist born in first millennium

A foreign tourist was stopped Thursday at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport after border inspectors noticed that his passport said he was 1,035 years old.

The inspectors caught the misprint, which said the tourist was born in the year 979, while he was passing through security on his way to an overseas flight, according to a press release from the Hongqiao Frontier Inspection Station.

The station did not disclose the tourist's name or nationality.

The inspectors initially thought the passport was a fake, but the tourist, who appeared to be in his 30s, wasn't nervous, according to the press release. They contacted the country's embassy and consulate in Shanghai, which later confirmed that the tourist's passport was authentic. The birth date was a misprint. It should have said 1979.

Misprints on passports are rare, said Chen Tao, a press officer with the Hongqiao Frontier Inspection Station.

Last year, Hongqiao border inspectors came across a passport that said its holder was born in 1885, according to the press release. The passport's holder, from an unnamed Asian country, was actually born in 1985.

Chen did not divulge why the recent misprint hadn't been spotted when the tourist entered the country. He said the tourist may have arrived in China at a different city.

Chen reminded passengers to check their identification and visa carefully for mistakes at the time they receive them.