Latest Comments

• • November 2, 2010
  • Interview: Rocco Capasso
    

    Great article. I remember the old location in the Flower and Bird Market...beautiful building and really quite difficult to find unless you knew exactly where it was. The old location on Wenhua Xiang I was never able to visit, but I remember those old buildings down on the corner and where the new police station is. They had massive marijuana plants growing in there when it was being torn down. Things really have changed!

    Kind of makes me nostalgic...I remember getting to Rocco's in the market in no time by bus and now it would take twenty minutes on a good day! Now we're really quite spoiled when it comes to food choices.

• • June 3, 2010
  • Yunnan preparing warily for China smoking ban
    

    I'll have to introduce you to my smoking dentist who's also a wiz at teeth whitening!

• • October 27, 2009
  • Kindergarten teacher detained for pricking children with syringe
    

    Way to go local government. I know I'd love to send my kids to an unlicensed kindergarten to be stabbed by that teacher.

    How long was this school running before someone "found out" it wasn't licensed? She should not only lose her job, but face some prison time for assaulting children. Imagine if the children were Uyghurs! No, wait...

• • October 13, 2009
  • Kunming news roundup
    

    come on and tell us how you really feel!

• • September 3, 2009
  • Yunnan news roundup
    

    It's called a satchel. Indiana Jones used one.

Latest Forum Posts

• • June 24, 2011
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Huntsman - Fraud??
    

    Is it possible that all these limits on visas are to discourage so many Chinese students from applying to American universities? Clearly, there's some sort of conflict of interest...the universities would love to have all of these Chinese students paying full tuition (often made by corrupt parents here), and the US government is worried about educating an entire generation's worth of wealthy young Chinese, who probably have every intention to bring back the skills they'll learn to China in order to benefit their mother country.

    I've been helping Chinese students to apply for US F1 visas for years, and in my experience there are several aspects about this situation that I've always found rather alarming (please keep in mind this does not apply to ALL of them):

    1. Their parents are, 98% of the time, government officials in high positions either in Kunming or elsewhere in Yunnan (many from places like Gejiu, Yuxi, Baoshan, Wenshan, Lincang, etc.)

    2. The vast majority of these students have horrible English skills, and many of them pay for a year of language training at the university they wish to attend - this costs as much as tuition for a regular student, and if they pass their English exams at the end, they're in.

    3. More than 3/4 of the documents I'd examine and help organize were horrible fakes, or entirely unbelievable. Surprisingly, most of the students were open about this and told me directly they were all fake (TIC?).

    4. Of those documents, most of the nonsense ones were when their parents in government were making a combined RMB 70,000 per year, but could afford nearly RMB 300,000 per year to send their children to top schools in America.

    5. In addition, every middle school, high school, and university in this province is apparently ready and willing to produce fake credentials for students either with money or connections. I've looked at High School transcripts and those from Yunnan University where the applying student had an average score of 98% in all of their courses. ALL of them.

    The worst part was that these students were getting into GREAT universities without having to take IELTS or TOEFL. Rather, they got around it by taking a year of English courses, which would typically cost anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 per year.

    I was speaking to a friend of mine who's an attorney in New York the other week, and his firm deals with a lot of Chinese clients buying property in the United States. Now, more than ever, more and more Chinese are trying to get to the United States despite our apparent economic failures.

    The vast majority of Chinese students applying to study in the United States simply don't deserve to be there. It's a shame, as American students struggling with loans and crippling debt have to compete with the sons and daughters of Chinese officials literally swimming in money. Maybe it says more about the US than it does about China?

• • May 17, 2011
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Beware long running fraud and theft of services racket!
    

    Wow, I remember this woman confronting me several years ago...is she still making the rounds these days? I remember smelling something fishy and avoided her like the plague...some guys at the table next to us bit and took the bait. I wonder if that's some of you? It was also for a TV show if I remember correctly.

• • May 2, 2011
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Ban on smoking starts May 1st
    

    Yunnan is screwed if this goes through.

• • May 2, 2011
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD
    

    Bumpy ride ahead.

    Also, let's see a body or GTFO.

• • April 12, 2011
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > The Horror
    

    Methinks the drug trade flourishes here in China just as much as the United States. Given the fact that nearly the entirety of Asia is supplied with all manner of illicit drugs by areas not far from us, it wouldn't be an entirely ridiculous statement.

    That being said, why are there always so many apologists?

    Yes, our foods have tons of chemicals in the West. Find a food that doesn't. If you're fortunate enough to live off an entirely organic diet, good for you. Most of us can't.

    In addition, we have organizations like the FDA, and while they aren't perfect, and I'm sure some of you internet sleuths could find a dozen articles about why the FDA sucks, it's still leagues ahead of anything China has going on right now.

    Yes, we had similar things going on in the United States 100 years ago, and probably even sooner. Our food distribution regulation didn't even really start working until the 50s. However, that was the 1950s, when scientific technology wasn't really all that sophisticated, and people's concept of what was good for you was a healthy habit of one pack of Lucky Strikes a day and a stiff drink in the evenings. The fact that these people are producing eggs (I saw the story too) entirely out of chemicals shows how well they grasp what they're doing, but insist on selling harmful additives anyway.

    Next, I'll expect someone to pull out the argument, "but, but, they've only been developing for thirty years!" I don't care. Stop treating these people like children, these food producers and farmers know exactly what they're doing, going after the almighty RMB and getting as much as they can without a speck of concern for the health of their people.

    The fact that in this day and age people are cooking food with oil scooped out of the sewers is atrocious.

    I'd rather eat a krispy kreme doughnut than barbecue on the corner any day.

Latest Reviews

• • timkunming
    September 15, 2010
    
  • Kunming > Game Café
    格门

    Went there for the second time with a few friends the other day. Despite being in really tight quarters, the beers were cold and priced well at 8 yuan for a Qingdao, I believe. We went late afternoon and played with the chess board. Very cool.

    The only thing I was surprised about was a 36 kuai game fee we had to pay the next evening? We weren't told that when we were offered the chess board... and weren't charged the first time we went. Needless to say, if that's the case we won't be going back.

• • timkunming
    August 22, 2010
    
  • Kunming > French Café
    兰白红

    This is a bit of an update from my previous review three years ago. I still enjoy coming here more than any other place in the area, and find it to be far quieter and much more relaxing than other places nearby.

    I'm still going to complain about the service. This is the ONE thing that they still haven't managed to do correctly or consistently. It's not so much the girls working there...most of them do a good job and even smile from time to time. My main complaint lies with the incredibly rude "manager," a rather rotund, homely looking Chinese woman.

    When I ask for an order of fries at 10:30 PM for my friends and I who've been buying drinks for the past three hours, I'd appreciate not getting a irritated smirk back. Don't feign looking towards the kitchen like it's such a chore you'd rather not bother. In fact, I had to ask her twice. The second time I said, "Can they be made?" to which I simply received a nod. No smile, no nothing.

    Get rid of this woman and the place would improve and be even better than it already is. It's not the first time she's been rude or dismissive to us and we consider ourselves to be "regulars." She's a mass of pestilence that's ruining an otherwise great place here in downtown Kunming.

• • timkunming
    March 3, 2008
    
  • Kunming > The Silver Spoon Café

    I visited this fine establishment with my wife on Valentine's Day and we had a wonderful experience.
    The first thing we noticed was the ambiance - it was fantastic. A nice, quiet place playing relaxing music.
    The second thing we noticed was that it was CLEAN. Spotless. I felt like I was back home in the states, and it felt good to be in such a well-maintained restaurant.
    The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and we were a bit taken aback, to be honest. We hadn't received such wonderful service since being back home - - - we've been accustomed to rude waitresses and horrible service for a long time!
    A bit on the pricy side, but not outrageously so. I'd certainly recommend some of their desserts, and their sandwich selection looked amazing.

    The only downside I can see to this place is the location. Too. Damned. Far. Unless you live in the area it's quite a pain to get out there in a reasonable amount of time due to Kunming's less-than-adequate transportation systems. On that note, however, I think it's relative remoteness from the center of town allows it to have the great atmosphere it does.

    The first time I've been in a restaurant where I forgot I was in China. I really felt at home.

    Give it a shot if you haven't been there already.

• The Old Theatre Inn
• Lost Garden Guesthouse & Restaurant
• Chicago Coffee
• Kunming Mei's Mandarin School
• As You Like
• Keats School
• Moondog
• GoKunming
• YMCA Club 1933
• Slice of Heaven
• Kingsway Tented Resorts
• Bakery 88
• Camel Bar
• The Mask
• Kunming College of Eastern Language and Culture
• My Favor Restaurant
• Chapter One
• Wonders Of Yunnan Travel
• O'Reilly's Irish Pub
• Salvador's Coffee House
• Wangtianshu Restaurant & Deli
• Tenwest Mandarin School
• Cacao Mexican Restaurant
• Flying Tigers Restaurant
• Kunming Yu-Cong Enterprise Management Company
• Huiying Dental Clinic