On a nice partly cloudy day like the last few, rent/borrow/own a bike and ride to the west entrance of HaiGeng Park via DianChi and GuanJing roads. There is a wonderfully quiet and pretty back road that parallels DianChi if you're up for exploring it out. Go on a weekday and you can even sneak a ride on top of the tourist walkway on GuanJing for some pretty scenery. Once at the park, pay a 10rmb entrance fee and then go have lunch/snacks inside the park. Better yet, is to go as a group and rent a bbq slot or picnic on the grass. The water will most likely be smelly green now, but when it's not, HaiGeng is even nicer. You can ride out of the east exit and explore the nearby sports complex and then make you're way home on XingTi Rd.
The weather and ability to see blue skies is a big reason so many foreigners reside in a tier 2 city of this size. So I like to take advantage of the climate by taking in the pleasant parts of Kunming.
Pulling teeth is much easier, less painful, and possibly less bloody than trying to get cash back from a Chinese merchant.
Try for the 2nd repair. Albeit, they will try to charge you another 200 to 300 rmb for yet another screen/visualizer part. Here you will have to be very demanding and willing to make a scene. Bringing a friend(s) along wouldn't hurt.
If you went to the shop the next day after your faulty repair, you should have a good chance at obtaining a 2nd repair for free. If the problem didn't fully manifest itself till several days later or you waited to complain, then this is much more problematic. Essentially, this now becomes a tug-of-war between how willing you are to make a scene and the Chinese shop owner's obstinacy.
In Shenzhen, the repair shop I frequent for my iPhone would most likely take a 2nd look at it for free. They would repair it without charging me for another expensive part if I start and continue to badger/scream at them they used a crap/wrong part to start with. However, I speak fluent Chinese and have used this shop more than once.
As a practice, I wouldn't have my smartphone or Apple products repaired in Kunming except at an authorized repair shop or the big chains mentioned above. Of course those places all charge considerably more.
There are definitely thugs posing as tour operators in China. Luckily, it's the exception. In Vietnam they just pull out knives, then the tourists pay up.
Given how China works, a Hekou West could be 35km to the north west instead. Just so people don't get confused reading, there is NO Hekou West station that I know of. Just made it up as an example of how that new extension line could drop you off in middle of nowhere, like Mengzi North (which is real).
For Sapa transportation, if you can find anything for 50k to 80k dong per person after the border, take it. Otherwise you have to figure out how to get to Lao Cai bus station. Also, rides are a daytime thing, not that you'd want to head up that road at night anyways.
Never gotten sick once at Sals. Their food is TexMex, so yeah, not authentic Mexican food, but pretty authentic as TexMex goes. Burrito wrap has improved a lot. Like the draft beer option now.
If you haven't had dairy products in a while, and do eat here, best forgo the sour cream. Nothing wrong with it, in fact it's the best sour cream in Kunming, but if you've eaten Chinese for month or months with no dairy intake, your system will react to sour cream or probably any liquid dairy product not so well. Maybe that's what happened with nailer and tallamerican.
It's now 5 working days for regular processing. So I submitted my application a bit before 5pm on a Friday and was told to pick it up next week Friday after 5pm.
Cost is now 400rmb for a single 30 day entry. Or that was what I was charged anyways. There are no posted prices and its cash only with no receipt except for your passport pickup. That's like $65 USD.
You can pay another 150rmb for 2 day or 100rmb for 3 day processing. For 400rmb, they should process it in three days like they used to before, but now you'd pay 500rmb. The office is still like deserted most of the time, so why does it take longer now and cost extra. If you opted for 2 day, thats like $90 usd. All other neighboring countries charge like $25usd.
The rest of and cope review is still good for hours and location.
Recipe: Dai-style pineapple rice
发布者Oh, so good!
The inaugural Kunming International Business Conference
发布者@Alien: Local students with a passive interest in business attended, so that's a very open Welcome mat.
Tourist jaunt in Lijiang turns ugly
发布者There are definitely thugs posing as tour operators in China. Luckily, it's the exception. In Vietnam they just pull out knives, then the tourists pay up.
Zen and the Chinese art of motorcycle driving
发布者BMWs top my ahole list. Unsurprisingly, in both USA and China.
Kunming to Vietnam border by rail soon to be reality
发布者Given how China works, a Hekou West could be 35km to the north west instead. Just so people don't get confused reading, there is NO Hekou West station that I know of. Just made it up as an example of how that new extension line could drop you off in middle of nowhere, like Mengzi North (which is real).
For Sapa transportation, if you can find anything for 50k to 80k dong per person after the border, take it. Otherwise you have to figure out how to get to Lao Cai bus station. Also, rides are a daytime thing, not that you'd want to head up that road at night anyways.