Latest Comments

• • May 23, 2012
  • Interview: Howard Dyck
    

    Thanks for the great interview. I'm delighted to hear about the, obviously, active classical music scene in Kunming. When I lived there, I'm ashamed to admit that I had no luck in finding concerts like those discussed in the interview. I always wondered what the students who bought all those instruments from the musical instruments stores lining one long street near downtown were doing with them. Now I know.

• • January 14, 2010
  • Kunming police launch website for foreigners
    

    As usual, it's nothing but a show. The "laws" may be written, but until there is rule of law, it's all a bad joke. They are deluding themselves.

• • August 6, 2009
  • Kunming's chengguan suffering image problems
    

    There is no rule of law of China. One can have as many laws on the books as they wish, but if they are not applied and enforced uniformly, if they are not acknowledged by the people whose actions they are meant to regulate, they are simply words on a page. Gleaming new buildings, factories pumping out record numbers of goods don't mean anything if people cannot be expected to behave in a civilized manner. The chenguan are nothing more than thugs!

• • February 22, 2008
  • Kunming's no-car days expand to second ring road
    

    In their usual short sighted "wisdom" Kunming govenment "officials" (nothing more than illiterate, card carrying thugs) have missed the boat. Instead of doing something stupid like banning cars 12 days per year, why not limit the growth of cars that drive on the road the other 353 days per year. i suggest a 25,000 RMB tax on license plates. This would reduce the demand for vehicles and the funds could go to rebuilding the crumbling road infrastructure.

• • June 29, 2007
  • Report: Kunming one of China's 'Rising Urban Stars'
    

    Actually Kunming has three Wal-marts (Xiao Ximen, Baita Lu-on the way to the airport, on one on the east side).

    It's great that Kunming is not destined to have the economic development of Shanghai. It would probably ruin what is best about living here: the relaxed pace of life and relatively "unspoiled" environment. Yes, people litter like fiends and driving skills of Kunmingers are poor, but the skies are clear, the breezes refreshing and the flowers bloom year round. That is priceless!

Latest Forum Posts

• • March 29, 2012
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Place to find seeds for gardening
    

    We found a very large selection of seeds at the wholesale flower market south of th city. If you've never been to the market go early, like 6:30 to 7:00 Qin the morning. You'll be in for a real treat with so much color and greenery. The seed vendors are in a couple of stalls just outside the main sales halls for the cut flowers.

• • February 23, 2012
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Big Foot needs shoes.
    

    I wear size 49 (13 US!). Finding shoes in Kunming was a waste of time. I wound up stocking up on shoes during my "reset-the-visa-clock" trips to Hong Kong. Large sizes were even issue in Beijing and Shanghai.

• • February 11, 2012
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Exchange money for buying property
    

    Keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and only relating my personal experience. When we bought our condo in Kunming I ran into the same issue and, as ridiculous as it seems, there are no exceptions to the limit on the $50K per year rule. I got around it by paying a large deposit one year and paying the balance the next year at closing. That still only left me with earlier savings in the Bank of China and credit cards to live on. Good luck.

• • January 30, 2012
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Film scanner
    

    Scanning using home scanners or even "professional" can be very time consuming and often yields fair to poor results. I recommend you find a photo lab with a Fuji Frontier mini lab. The film scanners in those machines are fast, generate beautiful scans with files large enough to easily print 12 x 18's. When I lived in Kunming there was at least one lab with equipment on Renmin Xi Lu less than a block west of Xiao Ximen.

• • October 19, 2011
    
  • Forums > Travel Yunnan > Skiing in Yunnan???
    

    My wife and I went skiing in Yabuli in Heilongjiang province. There are multiple lifts and it was the site of the Asian winter games. It's not Colorado or the Sierras, but it's not bad and there is equipment rental for even large sizes. The biggest drawbacks are daytime temperatures in the -35 range and some spotty snow cconditions.

• 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