I have never seen an accident with a bus that I could clearly blame on the bus driver - bus drivers seem to be pretty good, and cabbies aren't bad, it's the private car drivers who cause the problems, and one reason is that most of them haven't been driving for very long. But yeah, there's little respect for, and little enforcement of, traffic regulations, which seem to be taken as suggestions rather than rules. However, I would rather put up with this behavior than with foreigners (read: westerners, for the most part) who go around being self-righteous. Right: the traffic could be better, but obsessing about it and getting all moralistic/legalistic about it is a sure path to the creation of a much more unpleasant social atmosphere.
I'm already depressed by air pollution when I see it - don't drive, or take taxis unless you need them.
Altitude of Kunming and Dali is about the same as that of Denver or Kabul, a bit more than half that of Lhasa. I don't know what this has to do with anything. However, it's possible to die from sudden arrival in Lhasa without acclimatization (airplanes, the train), though of course very few people do. Effect of altitude on the body works like this: the difference between sea level and, say, 1000 feet, is less than the difference between, say, 1000 and 2000 feet, or 6000 and 7000 feet - it affects the body along a rising curve, up to around 17,000 feet or so, after which the body can adjust temporarily (for a few months, but there begins to be a downhill slope around this altitude), if acclimatization is intelligently gradual (if not done you're taking a very serious risk) - but the human body cannot adjust permanently to altitudes higher than that, and there are no permanent human communities above that approximate altitude. I don't think altitude-caused depression in Kunming is anything to worry about, except perhaps for a very few individuals who have some particular physiological problem with it (acclimatization is weird - there are 25-year-olds who find it difficult and 60-year-olds who have little trouble). I haven't met anyone who's moved here from lower altitudes with such problems here, as far as they & I know - a good percentage of the population have moved here from lower altitudes, and it shouldn't have anything to do with being a foreigner. Speaking personally, I find this altitude makes me feel good (I'm over 60, but I acclimatized pretty well when I was in my early 20s too, although I grew up at 500 feet) - 6000 feet isn't really much.
Lot of bad driving in Kunming, it's not racist to point this out. Best to take the bus, bicycle or the metro, or walk. One good thing is that there is not much fast driving in Kunming, cf. the US, much of Europe, Thailand and many other places.
I guess what is meant by Kunming being a 'rural city' is that there are a lot of people moving to Kunming, and to other towns and cities, from the countryside.
Problem comes from systemic, actively-promoted reliance on air travel, which by any reasonable standard is neither necessary (except for real emergencies (e.g., Philippine relief), not just speeded-up business relations) nor sustainable for the atmosphere, natural-resource usage, etc.
Blobbles, I agree - but largest/best effect in past performance needs to be examined carefully, that's all - on a $ for $-value basis, and also on the appropriateness of the aid delivered, who gets it, etc. There is also sometimes the question of hidden agendas, such as certain types of 'assistance' offered by the US Agency for International Development, which has been involved in warmaking and promoting economic exploitation - but this is a bit off track and leads to the whole question of 'development', which is often a misleading term. I also think the combination 'criminal/revolutionary' might be separated out a bit.
There really is a problem with having the chengguan do the regulation, since they are sometimes a bit brutal. The main problem with the interference with vehicle traffic, however, is that there is too much vehicle traffic, not too many street sellers. As for the audio speakers, I find them annoying, and I think it's absurd to imagine that they actually enable anybody to sell more items and make more money, especially in areas where everybody's got one. But I don't really think the idea of Noise Pollution has hit home here, and probably won't for quite awhile.
mmkunmingteacher, I sympathize about street marketing in general, though I don't call it 'lovely charm', and am happy to accept the minor inconveniences that it sometimes causes. However, anything can get out of hand, as Wenhuaxiang has (with potentialities for, and realities of, actual violence), and there is nothing 'un-Asian' about the idea of regulation (I take it you are not from an Asian culture, all of which are different from each other).
Suggestion for Americans: skip the Thanksgiving dinners, send the cash to the Philippines. Suggestion to retail restaurants serving such dinners: send you profits to the Philippines. Suggestion to everybody: watch how people really behave, given the choice. Suggested thought experiment: why is it like this, really (obvious answers to be reconsidered)?
Not quite what you'd call a jumping place, but not bad at all for rather standard US-type meals, not overly expensive, and with a really good salad bar that's cheap, or free with most dinner dishes after 5:30PM. You can get a bottle of beer or even wine if you really want to, but I've never seen anybody do it - maybe that's just to take out. Chinese Christian run, and they hire people with physical disadvantages, who are pleasant and helpful. Frequented by foreign (mostly North American) Christians and Chinese Christians - was started by a Canadian couple associated with Bless China (previously, Project Grace), who are no longer here, but no religious pressure or any of that. Steaks are nothing special, and I avoid the Korean dishes, which I've had a few times but which did not impress me.
As a shop and bakery, it's very good bread at reasonable prices, of various kinds (Y18 for a good multigrain loaf that certainly weighs well over a pound. Other stuff too, like granola and oatmeal that is local, as well as imported things, including American cornflakes and so forth, which some people seem to require.
Large portions, seriously so with the pizza, which is Brooklyn/American style, I guess. Convivial, conversational, good place to drink with good folks on both sides of the bar, especially after about 9PM.
Changshui once again closed by fog
发布者Problem comes from systemic, actively-promoted reliance on air travel, which by any reasonable standard is neither necessary (except for real emergencies (e.g., Philippine relief), not just speeded-up business relations) nor sustainable for the atmosphere, natural-resource usage, etc.
In short, get a horse.
The Help Out — Philippines Fundraiser
发布者Blobbles, I agree - but largest/best effect in past performance needs to be examined carefully, that's all - on a $ for $-value basis, and also on the appropriateness of the aid delivered, who gets it, etc. There is also sometimes the question of hidden agendas, such as certain types of 'assistance' offered by the US Agency for International Development, which has been involved in warmaking and promoting economic exploitation - but this is a bit off track and leads to the whole question of 'development', which is often a misleading term. I also think the combination 'criminal/revolutionary' might be separated out a bit.
Kunming to monetize street vendor chaos
发布者There really is a problem with having the chengguan do the regulation, since they are sometimes a bit brutal. The main problem with the interference with vehicle traffic, however, is that there is too much vehicle traffic, not too many street sellers. As for the audio speakers, I find them annoying, and I think it's absurd to imagine that they actually enable anybody to sell more items and make more money, especially in areas where everybody's got one. But I don't really think the idea of Noise Pollution has hit home here, and probably won't for quite awhile.
Kunming to monetize street vendor chaos
发布者mmkunmingteacher, I sympathize about street marketing in general, though I don't call it 'lovely charm', and am happy to accept the minor inconveniences that it sometimes causes. However, anything can get out of hand, as Wenhuaxiang has (with potentialities for, and realities of, actual violence), and there is nothing 'un-Asian' about the idea of regulation (I take it you are not from an Asian culture, all of which are different from each other).
The Help Out — Philippines Fundraiser
发布者Suggestion for Americans: skip the Thanksgiving dinners, send the cash to the Philippines. Suggestion to retail restaurants serving such dinners: send you profits to the Philippines. Suggestion to everybody: watch how people really behave, given the choice. Suggested thought experiment: why is it like this, really (obvious answers to be reconsidered)?