• Lijiang Huayang Language and Culture School
• WildChina
• Dune Cafe
• Empire Foreign Language School
• Chicago Coffee
• Kunming Yu-Cong Enterprise Management Company
• China Highlights
• Keats School
• IC Holiday Serviced Apartments
• Ganesh Bar & Restaurant
• Bakery 88
• Sandra's
• Tenwest Mandarin School
• Chapter One
• The Box
• JKH Design
• Huiying Dental Clinic
• Heqi Serviced Office Provider
• Salvador's Coffee House

Latest Comments

• • September 2, 2010
  • American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
    

    Yet another hypocrite fundamentalist Christian succumbs to his inner homosexual. Loudmouth overcompensating in public equals schadenfreude when caught. I like the Shanghaiist's no-nonsense story on the whole deal.

• • September 2, 2010
  • American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
    

    "Looks like: good judgement, self control, integrity, healthy relationships, communication skills with parents, resisting peer pressure, and respecting yourself and others, are good topics to bring to high schoolers!"

    I agree. My point is that these values can easily be taught without the influence of a religious group claiming some sort of god given patent on them.

    The FOTF refer to itself as fundamentalist Christian. While I shake my head at all the different religions I reserve the right to step it up a notch and use nutjob for people who are fundamentalists (here in the sense of taking the ramblings in the bible literally as facts and truths).

• • September 1, 2010
  • American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
    

    "Nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide." is FOTF's official mission.

    One could of course argue that the family is a natural development in human evolution since we in order to function efficiently as upright bi-pedal beings developed a narrow birth canal hence our offspring needed to be born early before the skull grew too large. Ergo we had to devote lots of resources from both father and mother to allow the child to develop sufficiently to take care of itself. Bingo,, the family was born, but let's save that discussion for some other day.

    Now I wonder what the -supposedly atheist- central government in Beijing has to say when Hu and Wen discover that Yunnan has let fundamentalist Christian nutjobs influence the educational system.

    /
    "A professor at Yunnan University's student counseling center told Global Times that young women should not have sex prior to marriage.

    "If a girl had sex with her boyfriend, she would become mentally dependent on the boy," Yang said. "It would do no good for her studies and daily life."

    -Why don't you just mind your own damn business professor Yang? Who gave you the right to morally lecture people and dictate how they live their lives and what exactly qualifies you to do such a thing? Nice sexist view towards women you display by the way. Obviously females are incapable of thinking for themselves so you and other fools like you have to do it for them. How the hell can this guy be allowed to teach at a university??

    /
    Some dumb sheep said on Yunnan.cn:

    "This way of thinking is very good. Old Master Confucius said as much more than 2,000 years ago. But this step comes a little late, now only using educational materials won't get the job done, things like the internet, television and movies must be controlled."

    I wouldn't even know where to begin with this one.

• • July 28, 2010
  • Kunming announces second major skyscraper project
    

    Sounds cool but I don't think Kunming needs more half empty shopping centers at this point. I hope they plan ahead for a major earthquake as well. Kunming is statistically due soon unfortunately.

    Joe Buzzkill

• • July 21, 2010
  • Car-focused development neglecting pedestrians and cyclists
    

    Spot on article. On Beijing Lu there are plenty of places where you have the choice between taking a 500 meter detour walk or crossing 6-8 lanes of traffic dodging cars, scooters and cement trucks with your fingers crossed. And as Liumingke points out bike lanes and sidewalks are frequently full of parked cars and scooters so you often HAVE to walk on the street itself to get around. Kunming is ripe for some serious cases of road rage.

Latest Forum Posts

• • August 31, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Flat screens
    

    I went for a Konka 47 inch screen. It set me back 4999 but it was a fairly new model and the picture seemed smooth and the black was black. I went to Suning and Gome on Beijing Lu as Xiefei recommended and they both had a very impressive selection of TVs, both Chinese and the big foreign brands. Definitely recommendable to check those places out for comparisons. On the other hand the prices were just too high since Wallmart and Carrefour sell their sets 20-30 percent cheaper for the same models. I bought mine in Metro. The selection is kinda limited but the prices are probably the cheapest in Kunming. I would have bought a Skyworth 37 inch for 2800 there if it hadn't been sold out. For anyone else thinking about buying flat screens I saw a HiSense and a TCL, both 42 inch in Wallmart for 3999 and a Konka 50 inch in Metro for 4999. I bought the 47 one because it had a slightly better picture imo and 3 years warranty. Thanks for the input. If my Konka explodes I'll be sure to check back.

• • August 30, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Renting an apartment
    

    As Ich said yes it's hard to get less than 6 months. Many landlords have 3 or 4 apartments and can't be bothered to chase people down every month to collect. Also if they get 12 months up front they are certain to have a tenant who isn't gonna run away first chance he gets. One should think that with all the empty apartments around it would be a tenant's market but for some reason it just isn't. Remember to negotiate the rent. Most of the time you should be able to knock off around 10 percent of the money the landlord wants or more.

• • August 30, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Flat screens
    

    Having bought my spinning bike I've realized that the perfect way to make sure I use it regularly is to buy a plus 42 inch flat screen to entertain me while I pedal away (at least that's gonna be my pitch to my slightly better half). While scouring a couple of malls, Metro and Wallmart I've found the prices to be around 3000-3500 for 42 inch screens and 5-6000 for 50 inch ones but I haven't decided which brand to go for. The cheapest of course are the Chinese Konka, Changhong and Skyworth. Does anyone have any input regarding which brand to go for and the quality of them? And yes I know it probably would be better to go for an international brand but 1: If I leave China (or even Kunming) I'll have to sell it for a fraction of the price, and 2: They are probably made in China anyway, so I don't think splashing out 1 wan out would be a good idea. What do you guys think?

• • August 26, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > WTB exercise bike
    

    I am looking to buy an exercise bike. I've seen them in Metro but tagged at something like 2000 kuai which seems a bit steep and I can't remember having seen any shops selling fitness machines in Kunming. Does anyone know a place or an area to go shopping for one?

• • August 1, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming: A depressing place
    

    International flights take off from Kunming Airport daily. No one is stopping you if you want to leave mate. On a second note I think all foreigners feel like you do you from time to time but the bottom line is that Yunnan isn't a bad place to spend a couple of years.

Latest Reviews

• • Danmairen
    May 10, 2010
  • Kunming > Samoana Café
    沙慕安咖啡屋

    We walked past this place today and decided to have our dinner there. What a good decision that turned out to be. Nice decor, friendly staff and owners and a good selection of reading material. I also

    appreciated that the tables had good space between them as opposed to so many other restaurants here where everything seems so cramped.

    We went for a steak sub (good), Hawaii Burger (great), fries (perfectly fried) and the best milkshake I've had in Kunming. We finished the meal with a cup of good coffee and a really nice piece of chocolate cake. All in all 80 kuai for two people. Excellent value for money and we will definitely go back.

• • Danmairen
    October 4, 2009
  • Kunming > Wicker Basket
    馨香烤屋

    Went there yesterday and it totally made my week. Nice decor and friendly staff and a real salad bar. Sadly we both wanted mexican food so I can't really say much about their other courses. The food was great but just a tad spicier would have improved the dish. The best thing was that we almost had the place to ourselves and we could have a quiet conversation without shouting, spitting Chinese people in the background. I realised how much I had missed that since coming here.

• • Danmairen
    July 26, 2009
  • Kunming > Lazy Bones Pizza

    We just had a 16 inch pepperoni and onion delivered and it was the best pizza I've tried in Kunming till now. It was still warm (as opposed to the one we got last time), baked to perfection and you could actually both see and taste the cheese. Dammit,, this is gonna ruin my Only-eat-"Western"-food-once-a-month intention. It made me wanna call back and congratulate the cook asking him to do it exactly the same way next time.

• • Danmairen
    July 20, 2009
  • Kunming > Chicago Coffee
    芝城咖啡

    We went to Chicago Coffee a couple of days ago and it was a nice experience. The place is cozy with soft comfy chairs (I realized how much I have missed one since coming here) and they have a nice little collection of English language books in the corner consisting mainly of classics and travel litterature. I was looking forward to trying their advertized tortilla bar but it wasn't up and running that evening.

    Instead we went for 2 12 inch pizzas -roast chicken and pepperoni- but we quickly realized that 1 would have been enough. Those things are heavy. I am mainly into Italian style pizza but Chicago's double layered pizzas are well worth a try. Their coffee seems to be a bit on the expensive side but people say good things about it and they have got a nice selection. I wouldn't mind dropping by again some day,, hopefully when they've got the tortilla thing going. English speaking staff btw.

• • Danmairen
    June 1, 2009
  • Kunming > Laowo Bar
    老窝酒吧

    I went to Laowo Bar for the first time saturday for the Tribal Moons and others gig. It is a nice big place with a balcony surrounding the central area and the rather big stage has room to dance in front of it. The sound was great and at just the right volume that is so hard to find. You can actually have a conversation in the room if you want to,, nice.

    Small Dalis were 5 kuai so that is very reasonable but they had little else to offer in the drinks department. I saw a bottle of vodka and half a bottle of whiskey on the shelf but it obviously wasn't something they prioritized. It's all good though.

    I dont know if it was because of the bands but there seemed to be as many foreigners as locals at the place so I guess it is an expat hangout.

    I'll definately return to Laowo. It is one of the better places to go here in Kunming imo.