Forums > Travel Yunnan > Border crossings with Vietnam (other than Hekou) Does anyone know if foreigners are allowed to cross into Vietnam at either the border crossing in Honghe Prefecture's Jinping County (红河州金平县), or Wenshan Prefecture's Malipo County (文山州麻栗坡县)?
I know Hekou is the standard border crossing from Yunnan to Vietnam, but I've already done it several times and am looking to do something a little different this time.
I know border crossings in Jinping and Malipo exist. And the guy at the Vietnamese consulate even told me I'm allowed to cross there. The problem is I don't know if the Chinese border guards will let me cross or not.
I went to the Kunming PSB today, and they made a call to the foreign affairs bureau to ask on my behalf, but no one knew the answer.
If anyone has tried these border crossings before, I'd much appreciate any info you might have!
Thanks
Forums > Living in Kunming > Do Kunming Drivers Know they are Inconsiderate and Dangerous Jonathan,
I don't think your post is "racist" (as its directed against "Kunmingers", not "Chinese", and "Kunmingers" do not constitute a "race"). But I do think its rather ignorant and overgeneralizing.
I understand that you and your children were put at risk and you in your frustration wrote this post. I'm sorry you had that close-call. I'm sure I would be angry too.
Of course there are lots of bad drivers in Kunming who break the rules and endanger people all the time.
But why do you have to generalize from some bad drivers amongst the pool of all Kunming drivers and imply that they are all bad? Surely this is not the truth.
In my two years in Kunming I have never been in an accident, close call, etc. I ride a bicycle. I ride defensively. Before I came to China I knew the traffic would be more dangerous than in my home country of America. This is to be expected. So I adjusted my riding style to the local conditions. Maybe I should knock on wood. But I do believe if one simply pays good attention to the road, one can avoid most accidents. That means even if there's a green light, make sure you check that the intersection is clear to cross and there are no idiots running the red light.
Also...if you think Chinese drivers are bad, then you obviously experienced traffic in Vietnam or India. Easily 10 times more dangerous than China.
By the way, the correct pinyin spelling of minivan is not mien boa che, it's mianbao che.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Impressions of Kunming from a foreigner waidiren Kunming definitely has street food.
You just weren't in the right places.
Kunming also has tons of demolition going on. And Kunming has plenty of skyscrapers. Not quite sure how you missed that. They're also building a subway system so streets are all ripped up. There's not a whole lot of "Old Kunming" left these days.
Not sure which "foreign" bars you're talking about. All the true foreign bars (that is, owned by foreigners) have English-speaking staff.
Not only are paper 1 yuan notes ubiquitous, but so are 5 jiao and 1 jiao notes! You apparently didn't receive any of those, but they're common.
I don't see what's so great about coins. They're heavier and jangle in your pocket.
I go through 1 jiao notes pretty quickly. Public bathrooms, bike parking, paying exact change at the supermarket...all quite handy.
Some places in Kunming have beer cheaper than 10 yuan. Local Chinese places you can still get a 660 ml bottle for 5 yuan.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Getting a chinese visa in hong kong Don't recommend HK if its a tourist (L) visa you want.
They only give them for 6 months, and you can only stay in the country 30 days at a time
Forums > Travel Yunnan > Are turnaround visa runs possible at the China-Vietnam border in Hekou? I've got a 12 month tourist visa with 90 day maximum stays. I live in Kunming.
The closest international border to Kunming is the one with Vietnam in Hekou. The next closest is the one with Laos in Xishuangbanna.
The last several times I needed to make a visa run, I went to the Lao border. It always worked well, because the Chinese and Lao border control stations are on opposite sides of a small, jungle-covered hill. Also, the Lao border offers visa-on-arrival. I would always follow the same routine: leave China, then re-enter China minutes later. I never even entered Laos or had to buy the Lao visa.
But the Lao border is considerably further away from Kunming than the Vietnamese one. And the bus ticket considerably more expensive. That's why I'm inquiring now to find out if its possible for me to repeat the same routine at the Vietnamese border or not.
The problem is that Vietnam doesn't offer visa-on-arrival. You have to get a visa ahead of time at the consulate in Kunming. Which would obviously make that a more expensive proposition. Furthermore, the border is on a bridge over the Red River, so I'm not sure if it would be feasible to pull what I did in Laos, leaving China only to re-enter again minutes later.
Anyone with any experience in this matter, your feedback would be very much appreciated! Thanks
Yuxi-Mengzi railroad to be operational this year
发布者Anyone have any news on the status of this thing? Is it still opening this month as originally announced?
A journey to Mengku, the heartland of teas
发布者Great article and vivid descriptions of teas and tea mountains.
Just one tiny anal geographic note...
Shuangjiang County is a part of Lincang Prefecture.
Where the article refers to "Lincang Prefecture", it actually ought to refer to Linxiang District (临翔区), which is the administrative center of Lincang, a prefecture-level city.
Around Town: Yunnan Provincial Library
发布者Thanks for posting this. I got a library card here 3 years ago, and then promptly forgot all about it and never set foot inside the door. Inspired by your article, I stepped in the door again finally after all this time and was delighted by what I found.
My library card had long since expired, but to browse the collections you don't need a card at all; you can just walk in.
To me, the most interesting collection by far is on the 5th floor. The room in the southeast corner is filled with multiple volumes of the annals of every single locality in Yunnan Province. I'm talking about the 126 counties of Yunnan, and the 16 prefectures. Each one publishes a "yearbook" (县志,or 年鉴) every year, and the library has all the back issues going back to the 90s and in a few cases the 80s.
These books are full of information about the economy, geography, and cultural resources of the various counties of Yunnan.
Kunming approves eight new subway lines
发布者You may call me for dwelling on semantics, but sometimes semantics are important.
I've always thought it's stupid that the Kunming government referred to the original six lines of its planned urban mass transit system as "Light Rail". No, it's not. Light rail systems primarily operate at street level, and are not grade separated (meaning cars and other cross traffic are controlled so that light rail vehicles can cross intersections unobstructed).
Kunming's original six lines are an real, honest to gosh subway system. Yes, the majority of the track is actually above ground. Only the lines in the city center are underground. In the suburbs they run on elevated viaducts. Being part underground and part above ground does not mean it is not still a subway system (or a "metro" system as it is called in some cities). The New York Subway has massive sections above ground as well, but they are still called the New York Subway.
Now that they have announced that the 8 new lines will become Kunming's "subway" it makes the original light rail moniker all the more ridiculous. What's the difference? They should just call the whole 14 line system the Kunming Subway, or Kunming Metro.
Getting Away: Lincang
发布者I found Lincang city to be pretty boring personally. But some of the other counties of Lincang prefecture are beautiful. Places I've been to and would recommend include Cangyuan (沧源), Gengma (耿马), Wengding (翁定), Mengding (孟定), Nansan (南伞), Fengqing (凤庆), and Lushi (鲁史).
Cangyuan is on the Myanmar border, home to the Wa nationality (佤族), and hosts the annual mud-throwing festival (摸你黑).
Wengding is a Wa village in the mountains above Cangyuan. The houses are made of wood and thatched roofs. It's not authentic. The government gave the residents money to rebuild their houses in the traditional manner 5 years ago, and now there's a 50 yuan fee to enter the village. However, since the traditional Wa architecture is difficult to find these days, Wengding is still an interesting place to visit.
Gengma is home to the Dai and Wa nationalities. The small city is surrounded by beautiful hills, mountains, and flowers. There's a terrific spicy shrimp restaurant.
Although Mengding is technically only a "town" within Gengma county, it's actually much bigger and busier than Gengma county seat. It's set in the fertile Nanting River (南汀河) plain, at a far lower altitude than Gengma county seat, so it has a hot an tropical climate. Many Dai here, and many Burmese traders as well, thanks to the Myanmar border just 20 km away. The town itself has a very southeast Asian vibe, with lots of tropical fruit, and Burmese food. Waterfalls outside of town are a popular hangout spot for local teenagers.
Nansan (the county seat of Zhenkang County), is in a semi-tropical valley 1000 m above Mengding and the Nanting River valley. It is surrounded by massive karst formations. The old city is a Dai village. The new city is growing like gangbusters. Due to its location right next to Myanmar, the local government wants to turn Nansan into a major port, boasting that it's closer to Kunming than Ruili or Daluo.
Fengqing is a county seat on the old tea horse road. The old city is set on the hill above the new city, with lots of historic architecture and temples.
Lushi is a town on the old tea horse road. It used to be a transit point between Kunming, Dali, Lincang, and Baoshan, but today it is very isolated and one of the best preserved secrets in Yunnan. It boasts an astounding collection of historical buildings, all on cobblestone stepped streets up and down the side of the mountain. The old town is pedestrian and horse only, and there are as of yet no tourist-themed guesthouses.