The Book Club will meet Tuesday, January 9, 2018, at The Park, to discuss Mikhail Bulgakov's novel, THE MASTER AND MARGARITA, in which Satan arrives in both Roman Jerusalem 2000 years ago and in Moscow in the stalinist 1930's and turns out to be the most interesting and dramatic dude in town (think Milton's PARADISE LOST).
The Kunming Book Club has a wechat group in which many regular attendees participate, but meetings are open to all. Readings, locations and times of meets are chosen by attendees. New participants welcome.
That's creeping up on Chinese New Year, so you might want to check early on tickets to Jinghong. From Jinghong on you can probably just buy tickets the day before at the bus station.
Yahoo is not a brilliant site for news, but it works consistently for me here - perhaps there was a glitch for a week or so once, but that was a long time ago, can't quite remember.
I am a foreigner and at my local PSB I have never needed my landlord to go with me to register, I just needed lease and photocopy of his ID the first time, when I moved in. Later trips in and out of the country, I just had to show up with my passport - did this last week.
@Michael: I think there's a lot wrong with nationalism in today's world. However, overall I agree that more preschools are good, and 'free' in a socialist country would not be an amazing step forward but would be what socialists are supposed to do. My point is just that the indoctrination is the downside, and requires more space for different opinions in the overall political/media/educational culture from which its shortsightedness may be counteracted, and on that score there's a long way to go.
All sounds good. But the flip side to universal compulsory state-run education, in China and everywhere, is that the state wants you to turn over your kids to them, for longer & longer periods of time, so that they can be molded into members of The Nation - which is something that they, of course, are very interested in doing. Cf, for example, church education where it exists.
I'm not suggesting kids should be kept ignorant of the world they'll have to deal with, but it's still a global conundrum.
If you mean 'None of the stuff ever sold in LIJIANG is by customer demand', I'd suggest it does get customer acceptance, because when you go somewhere you have to buy some crap, and the crap on sale is apparently acceptable. And the lack of local shopkeepers is indeed a profit ripoff from the local culture. Most of the tourists are not really interested in local culture, but only in what they would like to believe is local culture - and even most of them know they are getting lied to.
However, there is no society without culture, Revolution or no. Lijiang is, pretty much, Chinese tourist culture. 'The real China' is a bit vague, but Chinese tourist culture is part of it.
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.
Yunnan's "largest illegal animal smuggling ring" broken up
发布者A "well done" to the cops.
Report: Yunnan to have universal preschool education by 2020
发布者@Michael: I think there's a lot wrong with nationalism in today's world. However, overall I agree that more preschools are good, and 'free' in a socialist country would not be an amazing step forward but would be what socialists are supposed to do. My point is just that the indoctrination is the downside, and requires more space for different opinions in the overall political/media/educational culture from which its shortsightedness may be counteracted, and on that score there's a long way to go.
Report: Yunnan to have universal preschool education by 2020
发布者All sounds good. But the flip side to universal compulsory state-run education, in China and everywhere, is that the state wants you to turn over your kids to them, for longer & longer periods of time, so that they can be molded into members of The Nation - which is something that they, of course, are very interested in doing. Cf, for example, church education where it exists.
I'm not suggesting kids should be kept ignorant of the world they'll have to deal with, but it's still a global conundrum.
Czech visa service center opens in Kunming
发布者Are Huayee and VFS Global private, profit-making companies?
Lijiang vendors strike, protesting old town entry fee
发布者If you mean 'None of the stuff ever sold in LIJIANG is by customer demand', I'd suggest it does get customer acceptance, because when you go somewhere you have to buy some crap, and the crap on sale is apparently acceptable. And the lack of local shopkeepers is indeed a profit ripoff from the local culture. Most of the tourists are not really interested in local culture, but only in what they would like to believe is local culture - and even most of them know they are getting lied to.
However, there is no society without culture, Revolution or no. Lijiang is, pretty much, Chinese tourist culture. 'The real China' is a bit vague, but Chinese tourist culture is part of it.