Hi Long-Dragon, my boss told me about some changes to take place on July 1st, which could allow Chinese citizens to more easily travel to Muse (across from Ruili) provided they stay within the economic zone there. However, I wouldn't be surprised if this was delayed since although Myanmar is opening up, I wouldn't count on fixed dates but rather an approximate timeframe.

@Liumingke1234, thanks. I agree with you that sometimes things get out of hand when some people, often foreigners, react in unbelievable ways which then backfire (mind you even back home if some of the people here were to react the way they do here, things would escalate too).

Back in 2011 I think it was I became aware of an incident, also on Wenhuaxiang, not sure if it was at Salvador's or at the Box bar where an American acquaintance (he was a student, possibly from Minnesota) of a good Chinese friend of mine (I knew who that American guy was, but I never knew him personally) apparently started a fight with locals after he got drunk. I'm not too sure of the details but it might have started with the American guy accusing a local patron of sitting on his sunglasses or something ridiculous like that, it escalated and then the American guy decided to push and shove, after which a beer bottle was used as a weapon to slice into his hands - in the end it was him and his friend against about 10 local Chinese patrons. After a short hospital stint, everything was back to normal but I was outraged when I heard that story - because it was an absolutely ridiculous way to react to a rather benign situation.

Bars and clubs are always problematic, no matter who frequents them. I don't like Kundu anymore and thus haven't been since New Year's last year. Nearby bars such as Moondog have a good atmosphere though - the only thing I am put off by is the cigarette smoke but this being China and especially Yunnan, most public places and in particular night entertainment spots are likely to allow (or at least tolerate) smoking for the foreseeable future. However, for me this is one further reason to greatly limit the frequency with which I visit bars and even many coffee shops such as the French Cafe.

OK my alien employment permit is currently being processed, takes a total of 10 working days, so now another 5-6 days before I or my representative can pick it up. After that, will take another 5 working days to get the residence permit processed.

I was told they will process my alien employment permit and residence permit but I will require a criminal record check although I was given 6 months to get it. This presumably means that unless the law is changed (I did read that as of September, this requirement could be abolished again but not just yet) I will require it for my residence permit extension at that time unless of course I can get the criminal record within about 10 days (I have already applied for it), in which case they can give me a longer validity visa from the outset.

BTW how long are residence permits for employment normally valid for? My employer keeps insisting 2 years, but I thought it was only 1 year at a time, like most student visas. Which one is it?

Starting in August (presumably tomorrow) three Thai-Myanmar border crossings will allow full overland access to all unrestricted parts of Myanmar. However, there was no mention of the China-Myanmar border also allowing unrestricted crossing privileges at this stage. To be honest, it seems bizarre that they are still holding off, given that the road from Muse to Mandalay is open and safe, although Lashio had some troubles back in May, a few weeks after I passed through.

Therefore, one should assume that the Jiegao-Muse crossing still requires a permit for the time being (possibly in both directions, despite what I've been told) until otherwise noted. However, if the opening of the THai-Myanmar crossings are anything to go by, then they should set a precedent for the China-Myanmar crossing to open in the next few months or year or so.

I really have no idea as I've never traveled this road before (actually, I've never even been to Chengdu before). However, I have been to Chongqing. My understanding is that there is a good expressway between Chongqing and Chengdu. You might want to drive first to Chongqing, then down towards Zhaotong, which is only partially expressway and then somewhere south of Zhaotong the expressway takes you past Dongchuan into Kunming proper.