Though some of the information is bound to be inaccurate or invalid, I think the whole idea of wikipedia and the internet as a whole is that each individual must make his or her own decisions about what to believe. The problem with arbitrarily blocking access to information is that it ignores this ability that is inherent in all intelligent people. Also, the CCP might take issue with what's written about the Long March or the May 4 movement, but so do many young Chinese. When these objectionable sites are blocked, these people are stripped of not just the information, but their ability to counter it with their own opinions and views. I think that much of the anger shown by young Chinese intellectuals during this year's torch fiasco stemmed from the feeling that they have no voice in the international debate about China, and that no one in the West listens to them, assuming that they are all blind victims of propaganda. I think that the filtering of information is highly detrimental to the cultural and political development of the country. But of course, that is the point, isn't it?
Jeff
Blackberry works in China, but only as a bundle package. It's pretty easy to get a SIM card that has internet service, but GPS is tougher. If you want to use the specific blackberry service, you might want to wait until you get here.
Palms and other smartphones are for sale, unlocked in Kunming.
It is possible. Go to the airport and ask at the information desk. They can direct you to the quarantine/control center that can issue you the shots and certificate you'll need to show customs in the US. My cousin did it and it works.
Good luck.
I'm a pretty heavy smoker, but I'd keep coming to Sal's if it went smoke free anyway. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to walk out to the raised part in the front, and a lot of the smokers seem to hang out there anyway.
The food is good enough and enough of the clientele are non-smokers that I think Sal's could pull it off no problem.
The only thing that would "alienate" the smokers would be going smoke free with a vengeance, i.e. banning it on the outside bar as well as inside.
Actually, they usually only list ethnicity when the person is not Han, or gender when the person is female. I don't know why they listed his ethnicity there. I guess they're used to listing it for everyone in Yunnan.
"we looked at several places in Beijing and Shanghai and found that mixing creatives' office space with performance spaces and galleries made things too chaotic and often resulted in creatives moving out."
That's so true. 798 was first filled with artist studios, then the creative companies and galleries moved in. The bars, shops and cafes came last.
798 is very active now, with dozens of exhibitions opening every weekend, lots of music events and plenty of places to grab a bite to eat. But there are only a few artist studios left, and most of the creative companies are gone.
There are a lot of issues arising from Qiu He's moves, but the construction is going along rather smoothly, considering the scale.
As for the debt, you have it backwards. The government sets up local development corporations and gives them large parcels of land. They use this land as collateral to finance the infrastructure projects, and when the new infrastructure is built, that land, now highly valuable to developers, gets sold to pay off the debt. It's happening across the country. Almost all of the other bonds and funding mechanisms are sold domestically, so if something happens, it will be more manageable than, say, Argentina's international debt crisis of a few years back.
I don't care where FOTF folks go to church. I have no problem with teaching "good judgement, self control, integrity, healthy relationships, communication skills with parents, resisting peer pressure, and respecting yourself and others", but I am no fan of this organization.
Do you want to know what they're spending all that lobbying money on? It's on fighting to make abstinence only education the only form of sex education in American schools.
Do you know what else they spend it on? Convincing congressmen to cut off AIDS and reproductive health aid money to any country that allows abortions in public clinics.
I really don't care what people believe about God and the universe. But it offends my American sensibilities when people try to impose those views on others.
When the Ministry of Education finds out about this organization's religious agenda, not only will they kick them out, they'll impose a whole bunch of new rules making it harder for foreign education materials to be adopted in China, because they'll view all foreign education institutions as possible guerrilla fronts for religious insurgencies. Thanks a lot, guys.
The proliferation of illegal taxis has stemmed pressure on the city to revamp their woefully inadequate taxi system. Licensed cabbies have a lot of legitimate complaints, but their attitude and the shortcomings of the system are becoming untenable. Drivers frequently refuse to take people to places they deem too far or unprofitable, something which is illegal, and it seems every taxi in the city switches drivers at dinner time, which is when they're needed the most.
For now, people just shrug their shoulders and hop in a black cab. I hope that the crackdown will expose the deeper problems, and the local media will start to follow this story. When I came to Kunming 10 years ago, it had one of the best run taxi systems in the country. The problem is, it's still the same system today.
An exciting new gallery space built from an old factory warehouse in the Paoluda Creative Industry Park. Looking forward to seeing what they'll do with it.
Kunming Mayor Zhang Zulin to serve second term
发布者Actually, they usually only list ethnicity when the person is not Han, or gender when the person is female. I don't know why they listed his ethnicity there. I guess they're used to listing it for everyone in Yunnan.
Interview: Deng Bin
发布者"we looked at several places in Beijing and Shanghai and found that mixing creatives' office space with performance spaces and galleries made things too chaotic and often resulted in creatives moving out."
That's so true. 798 was first filled with artist studios, then the creative companies and galleries moved in. The bars, shops and cafes came last.
798 is very active now, with dozens of exhibitions opening every weekend, lots of music events and plenty of places to grab a bite to eat. But there are only a few artist studios left, and most of the creative companies are gone.
Wenhua Xiang filling up with financially overextended youth
发布者Laotou00, you're kind of off-topic there.
There are a lot of issues arising from Qiu He's moves, but the construction is going along rather smoothly, considering the scale.
As for the debt, you have it backwards. The government sets up local development corporations and gives them large parcels of land. They use this land as collateral to finance the infrastructure projects, and when the new infrastructure is built, that land, now highly valuable to developers, gets sold to pay off the debt. It's happening across the country. Almost all of the other bonds and funding mechanisms are sold domestically, so if something happens, it will be more manageable than, say, Argentina's international debt crisis of a few years back.
American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
发布者I don't care where FOTF folks go to church. I have no problem with teaching "good judgement, self control, integrity, healthy relationships, communication skills with parents, resisting peer pressure, and respecting yourself and others", but I am no fan of this organization.
Do you want to know what they're spending all that lobbying money on? It's on fighting to make abstinence only education the only form of sex education in American schools.
Do you know what else they spend it on? Convincing congressmen to cut off AIDS and reproductive health aid money to any country that allows abortions in public clinics.
I really don't care what people believe about God and the universe. But it offends my American sensibilities when people try to impose those views on others.
When the Ministry of Education finds out about this organization's religious agenda, not only will they kick them out, they'll impose a whole bunch of new rules making it harder for foreign education materials to be adopted in China, because they'll view all foreign education institutions as possible guerrilla fronts for religious insurgencies. Thanks a lot, guys.
Did Kunming's bus station reshuffle create more illegal taxis?
发布者The proliferation of illegal taxis has stemmed pressure on the city to revamp their woefully inadequate taxi system. Licensed cabbies have a lot of legitimate complaints, but their attitude and the shortcomings of the system are becoming untenable. Drivers frequently refuse to take people to places they deem too far or unprofitable, something which is illegal, and it seems every taxi in the city switches drivers at dinner time, which is when they're needed the most.
For now, people just shrug their shoulders and hop in a black cab. I hope that the crackdown will expose the deeper problems, and the local media will start to follow this story. When I came to Kunming 10 years ago, it had one of the best run taxi systems in the country. The problem is, it's still the same system today.