Forums > Living in Kunming > Why have airline tickets skyrocketed?? True, true it's high season so the prices went up.
The funny thing is, try to get the same ticket as return trip. One that doesn't have too much fare restrictions.
Even if you are not planning to take the return flight, but to bail the ticket and get the refund (usually not more then 1000Kuai refund penalty). I did that before and I was able to get the one way for 5000 (after the penalty deduction) so it was worth it. Takes a bit of airline checking and calculating but can be worth up to 3000RMB.
Also I dunno where you looked, but C-trip and Elong are not cheap when it comes to international trips. Check some agencies they usually get you a better deal, depending on your airline requests.
Or contact some airlines directly I found out that they are cheaper than a lot of Ctrip/Elong offers.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming taxis @ nnoble,
I wasn't trying to be sarcastic, I really was a nice, almost naive kid when I got here, I didn't drink, didn't smoke, my mind full of good stuff but that changed quickly. About the buddha image, dunno, not much of a buddhist. So I focused more on the inner peace.
I don't quite understand the English teacher questions, or at least I don't know what to reply to that.
@Cloudtrapezer,
complaining or disapproving something doesn't make one misrable. I love to live in Yunnan and Kunming, but that doesn't mean that I have to accept all the crap that is trying to come down on me. I think closing your eyes, pretending it's not there is more scary then trying to change that microcosmos around it.
Plus i think it's obvious if you put up a post about a group of people that are quite well known for not being the nicest bunch around, I think to expect only positive posts would be very optimistic.
Are there some cool and nice taxi drivers around, sure! No question, but is that enough to make the majority of them great, I think it needs a bit more than that.
Kunming is awesome, especially compared to other places. But that is the problem in China it promotes things as so wonderful, that the real thing is always less great.
And why is everything related to the: "Are you an English teacher and do you deserve the money." - question.
What if not? So, you are not allowed to be complaining.
Btw. without hijacking the thread. I think teachers living conditions and pay are not that great compared to what a teacher can earn in other countries, (qualified or not). Getting teacher certification that is required in the West is not "that" hard to get.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming taxis I'm not stingy, I give generous tips to good drivers, fuwuyuans, hell even beggars. So I don't care about that small change stuff. But when you have a chainsmoking, rude and cruel driver sitting there, still smoking after you asked him not to. And seeing that jerk smiling at you when he tells you to pay him more than you should, is just such a no "f...ing way", most bark at me to roll up the window after they smoke like chimneys, so they don't have to do it themselves.
Plus, I don't argue with them, I give them the exact change, step out of the car and wish them a safe journey.
Noble 7 years is how long it took me from being a little buddha like you, to turn into that general principle person I am now.
China needs people like that because everyone hates those bad habits, Chinese and waiguoren alike, but if nobody wouldn;t do anything about it, how would those guys know.
Of course we all have the right, disregarding where we come from, to point out racial prejudice. At least I do if other are happy with it, sure good luck with it. Plus being exact with my change for rude taxi drivers doesn't mean I am rude to them or treat them badly. But often being nice is treated as weakness in China, especially visible in the business and service industry.
Yankee,
True words!!!!
Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming taxis @Alpage48
Same in Shanghai at least everytime when I got there.
It seems like that some people don't understand this, some of us don;t just take rides to enjoy a beer in a bar or to the next brothel.
Some of the cheap charlie foreigners actually have to take taxi's and somtimes with guest or people on tours and that means to let them alone with those bad cabbies it always gives me a bad feeling. Plus that they always overcharge. So now for the people that don't get it....imagine you have a scooter, car whatever transportation and each time you need a service regarding those you will be overcharged. As I said eralier, if it's a 500RMB ride becasue it says 447.5 I am more than happy to pay it, it's fair. I pay for the services rendered. If it's more it pisses me off. Because it's cheating. Imagine something you have to do everyday and you always get ripped of, even though it's a small sum.
Plus it's a selfpromoted tourist heaven here. so I say screw it..they are scum and their service is lacking basically everything.
It's not cheap it's fair and rational.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming taxis I heard the same thing, my fiance who loves to talk to cabbies always talks about silly stuff and I overheard a few times that they make between 6000-10000RMB/ month. Plus, one guy said a lot of them take rental tours off the meter. So their job isn't really that bad. They sit in their cozy car, sure they heave their grumpy customers [or probably just laotou and me, :) ] but to be honest I had shittier jobs in my life with shittier pay. Plus cabbies have free transportation.
I don't mind rounding up or down to a fair and mathematically correct amount. But in Kunming they are not even trying for convenience towards the customer but to fill their own pockets.
So in my opinion, if you are a service industry employee with a rather high blue collar salary, trying to skim me for etra cash (disregarding the amount), it is plain cheating.
I don't like it and I will show my feelings by paying the exact amount on the meter. And seeing their face when I do, proves that this is hurting them.
I'm sure the cabbie would also complains when his favourite mixian place extra charges him a kuai for no obvious reason.
And so would everyone else if your restaurant of choise charges you an extra 5 kuai for profit. Whats the difference?
If you let 'em get away, it spreads and gets worse.
So it's a matter of general principle.
Anning refinery fined for violation of national environmental laws
发布者31000 US$, Wow, that's a lot of money.
I hope they will manage to keep operation after a massive financial blow, like this.
I'm not concerned about the environmental impact of the plant, the mayor said he will look into it. So nothing, to be concerned about.
Kunming to invest in public electric car fleet
发布者E-cars should be banned, especially in China where most of the power is produced with coal. The main problem of the climate change, carbo-footprint discussion.
Unfortunately no emission, doesn't mean they are clean. Electric cars only pollute other elements.
At the moment e-cars are toys and due to the lack of range, loss of storage capacity and the dirty production of those cars and some of their components.
So unless, the technology advances dramatically, in a very short time and better storage capacity is available, and the production of battery components cleaner and away from, exploiting workers in poor countries and poisoning their water sources. It's just a problem shift, if not making things worse.
They will continue to be just, feel-good cars, but not helping the effort at all.
The future of the car and the cleanest way, is hydrogen cars and hybrids. Although for now, the production of hydrogen is still complicated, and not as clean as it could be, in a few years it will be.
If you want to help, there are investment platforms helping to put money in gas station networks. The main reason, we don't see more of them. The industry is ready, they fixed most of the hiccups. The only thing they need for the customer is a solid refueling stations network.
I also want less cars in the city and certainly smaller vehicles would help. So, for now hybrids are the best solution.
Until the power is produced emission free and the batteries getting better, E-cars are useless and more expensive than a good, efficient and reliable hybrid.
Megatrudge 2014: 400 kilometers across the Gobi
发布者Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's SuperPavel.
What is an "elite" "semi" professional runner. Are you professional or amateur, and where are you elite?
You are definitely a pro in being a condescending, arrogant, 'have-it-all-figured-out'-ism
.
Have you actually read your own articles.
e.g. 'The Turtle Race'
-making fun of people unprepared.
-Leader by default, of course!!! If not Pavel, who else could?
-Slinging people up and down the hills because they don't even know how to push their bikes.
-Saving a girl's life, lone wolf style, of course!
... back to the current Gobi march
If you are a long distance runner you would actually know how to take care of your feet during a race, you could actually finish an Ultra and some day actually become a pro. So maybe that's where the master splits from the novice.
And you wouldn't have to make fun of people that actually prepare proper gear before a 400km race through a desert.
And for this article:
-Dashing off with shoes tight together with dental floss. Swiss cheese socks, I guess next time you will just run with a bikini and flip flops to show those fools how it is done properly.
-You of course, being the only one knowing what he is doing including reading a GPS.
-Running 27hours straight while mocking Chinese runners for not pacing themselves...!
- Leading the flock by superiority. Leading everyone through the dark Gobi night, scaring other runners, pretending to be a wolf!!!
-Whining about ridiculous behaviour, whilst excelling at such, yourself. Plus, putting others in danger?
-You don't care about this Chinese kid taking advantage of your excellence (by the way, it's a race that's what people do in races)...until that guy is close to a TV camera??...Roooight!
And isn't that ridiculous if you don't want to give him his moment in the limelight since he overtook you. Isn't that also pretty bad sportsmanship?
-And then in the end you have to give up because you are too cool to get your feet the proper gear and treatment, due to your philosophy.
-Making fun of other participant's gear and equipment while you actually can't even finish the race.
-Making fun of people whom actually who prepared.
In my humble opinion I think you are Toropov-ing your article a lot. Should be a new word for exaggerating.
To stay faithful to your [questionable] philosophy. The stuff you need for such a race, you rarely win in a race, because it's cheap, easy to get, very easy to carry, and looks too trivial for a prize.
Pavel your stories could be great fun to read, if you would take in a little bit of humility and maybe some respect for others.
And of course if you'd stop getting off about yourself we would find out how others saw and experienced the race.
Please don't forget the times when you started and learned from others, not knowing what you were doing? How would you have reacted to an article of this kind.
So far you sound like a joke to me.
That said, ...respect for trying the Gobi and the other races.
Cheers,
A former 'elite-semi-pro runner' and paratrooper {= the "marchalots"}.
Official proposes reopening Wujiaba Airport
发布者it wouldn't be that weird.
most big cities have 2 or more airports. so it wouldn't be that crazy to consider.
plus most foreign airlines don't even bother considering kunming for specifically the crappy kmg airport. e.g. for it's extraorbitant landing and processing fees, terrible management and for christsake not even having an updated ILS.
a runway in wujiabao would be welcomed at least by me. closer to the city less bad weather and less hassle.
but there is no way that some rich real estate developer will let go of his multi billion RMB project. although i still hope they reopen even if just with one small terminal for cheap carriers.
the way changshui is run it will mainly stay provincial anyway since other international airlines will avoid kmg. coz they got a great and working airport in chengdu. from there they could just code share with local airlines.saves trouble and money.
another chinese success story how to f*** up a whole airport by idiots making idiot decisions. how hard could it be to choose a location for an airport?
Yunnan air routes a hot commodity
发布者Yeah a European directflight would be fantastic, sweet!
But as far as I know (I was told) and spoiler alert....the landing, processing and fuel fees are so gigantic in Yunnan, (of course primarily for foreign airlines) that this guy told me the ticket price would be ridiculously high, after the promotion period.
He estimated that if the airport fees won't be lowered it would still make more sense financially to fly through other 'real' hubs.
Hopefully this stupid and untrue philosophy of, 'charge high - gain high profit' will change someday so that we get the perks of a normalized market. Until then I try to not use the Changshui airport, it's China's worst airport by fay, anyway.