I'll say. It doesn't take a a leap of faith (maybe just a series of smaller leaps, and a well-secured front-pocket carry bag?) to realize: it's amazing what kind of gymnastics those Australians are capable of. I'm all for innovation across the pond, but they've clearly taken the lead here. The competitors are merely sheep.
China Eastern may be crap (and their website has massive security holes, too), but:
1. They fly direct to Paris and Chiang Mai, which nobody else does.
2. Their Tuodong Lu ticket office have a separate international section which is usually always vacant and makes booking more pleasant than usual.
Both Lijiang and Dali are awash with violence and gangs, often police are part of these networks. (Sources: Personal experiences, local business proprietors, long term residents).
Lijiang is widely known to have a high proportion of involvement by North East Chinese gangs, who are known China-wide for their thuggish nature and migrated there on mass about a decade ago.
It is unfortunate that China has such a relaxed attitude to local corruption.
Perhaps the telephones of police and those who interact with them regularly (eg. spouses, immediate family) should constantly be big-data (metadata) surveilled by the state to help detect corruption and create transparency.
In addition, any and all visitors to and interactions with high ranking police at their place of work should be video surveilled by out of province authorities. This is not technically difficult.
PS. When you get the bus to Guanlei from Jinghong consider overnight in Menglun, which has a fantastic tropical botanical garden. They also have really yummy mushroom mi gan (flat rice noodles) near the bus station.
I took it in about August last year.
The number of vessels depends heavily on the season (water level) and there isn't always a vessel waiting.
To be sure, you can call the immigration staff in Guanlei and they will tell you how many vessels are available, since arriving in Guanlei and having to wait a few days for a boat would not be much fun. It should cost about 300-400元/person for a private room with cooked meals included. It is a really nice trip.
No results found.
@nailer is being unfairly dismissed: they are certainly fallible. At one point they were well managed and the only game in town, and their outdoor bar had an interesting social vibe. Recently, none of these is the case (was given a bad bill to the tune of ~300% - no managers present and a subsequent complaint resulted in a less than ideal outcome, many more places are now open, and the outdoor bar is closed). Unless you are specifically seeking faux-Americana (often far better examples elsewhere) or two degrees removed faux-Mexicana, there's little reason to go there. How come French Cafe can serve a great sandwich for 24元 but Sals requires 50元 for a pretend-exoticized nibble? Certainly the business will continue, but the hey-dey is clearly gone. Romaniticizing the past aint gonna help. E-waste recycling by shipping (non carbon neutral) junk across the country? Puh-lease. Garbage processing people here recycle anyway! I applaud the ethical stance of one of the managers, but the place has frankly lost its mojo.
Hands down the best draft craft beer in Kunming. On top of that, very reasonable prices for food and other drinks (especially wine).
Called the number provided on a Friday at 2:15PM while a 10% discount was advertised "on Friday and Saturday" (listed in GoKunming specials).
A Chinese person answered the 'English' phone number in Mandarin then explained in broken English that you need to order 3 hours in advance. (Subtext: As their business is so slow)
Grumble. False advertising. Waste of time. Seems 100% Chinese run. Probably bad pizza.
The listing here is wrong! Teresa's are not defunct, they are just back to being one store instead of two stores on Wenlinjie now! They are still in business, still answer on this phone number, and are still delivering! Points for consistency, it's been years! As of right now, it's 68元 for the more toppings vegetarian at the largest size. They will do thin or thick crust. Yes, it's not to everyone's taste, but I always used to find adding dried chilli powder and some extra salt brought it up to tasty. Might go for a dash of Sichuan pepper oil to spice it up this time around. (You know you've been in China too long when...)
I also had a bad experience here recently.
Honestly, I wish them the best of luck, but I do think the staff are poorly managed and the owners have the wrong attitude and a clear lack of experience in service-oriented business. While the pizza is OK, everything else I have tried (including overnight stay) can be had cheaper and better elsewhere, and the pizza at Roccos is better in my opinion. The service has always fluctuated between acceptable to don't care.
Since they don't have their situation resolved yet, and it has been a few years, I have made the decision not to go there anymore or send anyone else. It's just not worth the hassle, given the crappy location (masked as private or lost). Better pizza with more quiet and privacy on Roccos' terraces.
Intrepid pilots recreating World War II 'Hump' air route
发布者Hang on. Wasn't the primary route from Assam to Yunnan? Why are they flying to Kunming then Guilin? Aren't they going to fly the most important point, the actual 'hump' across the Himalayas to India? After flying all the way from Australia, not doing the real route would seem a massive cop-out.
Sacred forests of the Dai people: Last refuges of biodiversity
发布者I lived in the area for a few years, circa 2004-2007 and have been visiting regularly since early 2002.
One of my friends was a monk whose father was a traditional Dai shaman or expert at medicinal use of forest products. A very positive thing that the national government did was allocate funds to the preservation of ethnic plant knowledge, and to publish this in a trilingual Chinese-Dai-English tome. Anyone who is interested in local forest biology or the traditional Dai medicinal system (which, similar to the Chinese system is based upon elements and a central notion of restoring healthy balance/equilibrium) would do well to track it down. I believe in their system there is one more, or one less element than the Chinese. I bought my copy at the research institution on Minhang Lu, now possibly moved or closed, but the Dai hospital on the same street should be able to offer advice on obtaining a copy.
Now the local government scorecard: destroying the forests, allowing foreign missionary groups to dismember local villages, persistent corruption in the allocation of national resources (final Asian elephant populations, remnant stands of forest, Mekong river navigation rights, mineral veins, etc.) and effective local monopolies (long distance road transportation, local political-religious historical sites) to private groups. Unchecked development on the Mekong riverbanks. Some corrupt mayors have been caught by Beijing, but it hasn't been nearly enough.
Within less than 20 years what was once a beautiful valley of Dai villages, the last gem on the Mekong before it left the country, has become a pathetic icon to utter local government corruption, Han influence and planning failure: a monument to failed policy on one of China's most visible borders. Where less than a generation ago forests stood, out-of-province conglomerates build fake Buddhist features with profit at their heart, and rubber trees have become so dominant that real forest no longer be seen from anywhere in the city, which has become a forest of skyscrapers and neon comparable to Shanghai's Pudong. Where even ten years ago rice fields, tropical plants and nature stood, we find cookie-cutter paved 'parks' in the Han style, extending an dating and ever-ignorant vision of socialist utopia in a voracious zombie-like quest for genericism that is powered by the steady supply of disenfranchised emigres of inner China. I am told that Menghai, once a vast plateau of rice fields and villages, has pretty much developed in the same way, though it was first spared the worst excesses as the Shan State border at Daluo exported most local vice.
Yes, there is still charm left in the area, particularly outside of the cities, and it is certainly worth visiting and seeing for yourself. The smaller villages still offer insight in to traditional language, culture and living practices, there is still great scenery if you are willing to invest the time, and exploring the relationship between the various ethnic groups can be interesting. But for those of us who have watched the changes it is very difficult not to be saddened. On my first trip in 2002, I was amazed to see a musk deer quietly stroll across the forested road. That forest is gone.
Some interesting places still worth visiting are the new prefectural museum in the east of Jinghong, the Jinuoshan Museum on the road to Menghai, Menglun's tropical botanical gardens and - if you have time to head west - the Menglian Tusi Museum showing the life and trappings of a local ruler. Finally, if you head south toward Menglong (through fields of plastic) then you may be able to spot a sneakily established Ashoka pillar harking southwest to India in what I like to interpret as a quiet and peaceful act of cultural defiance. :)
National Day in the Spring City
发布者Nice article and good picture thieving Patrick, though I note you didn't repeat the story of Jinma and Biji which might have been enlightening for some.
Dongfeng Square was a retiree park for years before they demolished it to make way for the subway and who knows what else that is still yet to emerge. It used to be quite pleasant to walk through as a refuge from traffic, with dancing, card games, tai qi and captive birds visible all day. Sadly that is gone and the eastern side of the center of the city has become pedestrian-unfriendly. No doubt when it opens we can look forward to inadequate escalators and crowds on stairs in the new subway. I really feel sad for the older residents at the moment, it's becoming very hard to move around and refuges from bustle fewer and fewer.
Kunming to put 45,000 public use bikes on roads
发布者Another thing we can thank the French for... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle-sharing_system#European_programs
La Rochelle is also the undisputed home of France's modern sailing culture, notable for its early and strong support and development of multihull vessels.
Fuxian shampoo incident becomes national topic
发布者Mike and I have both lived there for extended periods, so we are very aware of the general situation.
The lady is not the problem, it's the ineffective bureaucracy where nobody is willing to take charge or devote time, effort and resources towards migrating the uneducated local agriculturalists, industrialists, property developers and military toward environmentally sustainable farming, building and navigation.
Beijing needs to get involved.