Good words Colin, but I have to take exception to one comment: I disagree with the "Sometimes it means letting a little girl practice her English with you for a few minutes instead of waving her off."
I don't have time to play Mr. English to random strangers on the street. I treat all strangers the same - as potential scam artists or people I should avoid (this includes children who could be beggars or looking for free English lessons they don't need - they should go to school to learn with real teachers. Fortunately I have never been approached by a little girl to practice her English, but I know what to do if I am - I will walk away). Chinese people avoid strangers so why shouldn't I do the same? The other day I had to wave off some young people for saying hi to me for no apparent reason - the fact is I don't like to get unwanted attention because of my appearance - I am a private person amongst strangers and that's how I'll always be. Just like I don't go to Chinatowns in the west and start shouting "nihao" at all the Chinese looking people while running away and hiding in the bushes. Maybe I should just for fun, but I don't - because I think it's rude, unnecessary and how would others feel if they were in my shoes. Just my two cents.
Anyway looking forward to the reopening of Salvador's, a great Kunming institution.
Also, I regularly keep myself up-to-date with the latest news on Myanmar and as far as I'm aware, the Mandalay-Muse road remains safe, so is Muse itself. 1 year is a long time in Myanmar so with any luck things can only get better from here.
By the way Peter99, you sound like you are quite familiar with Myanmar and even the greater region. May I ask what you were doing over in Myanmar a few weeks ago? Not many people (apart from you and me and my friend) have been to Muse or even traveled the road down to Lashio or from Muse to Namkhan but as Myanmar opens up this will hopefully change as more visitors can help bring greater economic opportunities for the local people.
@Peter99, interesting account. As of late April, most Chinese citizens were not permitted to cross into Muse, even though the Burmese government in theory grants a 7-day, 6-night pass for Chinese citizens just for the Muse economic zone. I think a passport, visa and permit would be required for overland travel beyond the economic zone for Chinese just like for other foreigners except that the permit in reality is only for the border crossing now not to travel the road. In any case, what's unsafe for third party foreigners is equally unsafe for Chinese as they are foreigners in Myanmar too and the Chinese government is concerned about their safety when abroad. I also noticed of the few Chinese vehicles inside Muse (of course no foreign registered vehicles are allowed to travel outside of the economic zone to other points within Myanmar) they were practically all registered in Dehong, i.e. 云 N. But in general there were very few Chinese people on the Myanmar side except a few who had crossed illegally for the day to do business (including my boss who also crossed illegally to meet me).
Although I personally think there is little reason to not at least allow day passes or even week passes for foreigners to stay overnight in Muse and contribute to the local economy, even though the town is boring with few sights - Muse itself is certainly quite safe and I feel the road heading to Mandalay had nothing of danger to report on. At other border checkpoints with Thailand short overland journeys have been possible for years and this month they will finally open for full overland travel. Personally I think that Lashio is the most dangerous town along the Muse-Mandalay road given the recent violence there although apparently things have settled down there.
@Peter99 No, I would say give it a year or so before that crossing opens without permits being required but being Myanmar the real answer is who knows? I have traveled the Muse-Mandalay road, it is open now without permits and there was nothing remotely dangerous about it in terms of insurgents (they have been flushed out). Only the condition of the road and the driving I would consider to be dangerous. Anyway, I agree that Muse is nothing special but overland access to Myanmar has been a dream for many - not sure why the Burmese government is holding off opening the border crossing without permits - nobody is talking about going to Kachin State where fighting is still ongoing (on and off at least), but rather at least being given the option of traveling overland Kunming to Mandalay. Right now you can approach the border from either direction but need a permit just to cross - a little silly I think.
@Chingis. I agree with you but I think this whole "being a good foreigner" is being taken out of context. What matters really is not what you look like or where you are from but whether you act like a decent person and don't cause trouble. I'm pretty sure that Chinese who commit crimes back home are also pigeonholed (i.e. stereotyped) like foreigners are here. In fact, whenever incidents like this do occur back home then there is always a whole lot of backlash on the internet with racial epiphets being spewed in every direction.
So what the OP has said about "different culture" is a bit of hogwash. Being decent and not acting in a criminal manner extends to all cultures, and has nothing to do with being a guest or not.
While no one seems to know the exact story here, I know that foreigners from certain parts of the world are a little more sensitive than those from others towards being called names or discriminated against and thus would try to fight back (sometimes violently) at such perceived injustices more readily than others, who would at most, just use harsh words or walk away. Perhaps this was the reason the fight started (based upon the obscenities mentioned by one of the "expats" in the article). Anyway I don't wish to speculate any further but without any further news about what really happened this is my 2 cents.
Geogramatt, eventually it may cross into Myanmar. However, given how it will only be finished as far as Ruili in 2022, there's still many years before it ever makes it into Myanmar. Hopefully that will be enough time for Myanmar to end it's wars in the northern part of the country but that's wishful thinking at this point. After all, the Kachin Independence Army or KIA broke a 17-year ceasefire back around 2011 and fighting has actually increased in the meantime.
Myanmar didn't only open up for tourism in 2011. It has been open for years just that not many westerners went prior to 2011, even though there was little stopping them. The only thing you couldn't do prior to 2013 was travel overland unless you had a permit. I first went to Myanmar on a day trip to Tachilek in 2001 and flew into Yangon in 2004 and 2005. It was just as easy to get a visa back then as it is today, except that there were more restricted areas than there are now. Also, getting to Mu-se on the Chinese border seems to be OK. I went there in February. The adjacent areas where the Kokang conflict erupted are of course out of bounds. Chinese citizens generally aren't allowed to travel across to the Burmese side overland either, except to Mu-se for up to 7 days but that isn't always allowed either. Burmese who travel to China illegally risk arrest and those that travel overland from Mu-se can only travel to Ruili. To enter China properly and travel wherever they want, they either need a permit or must fly in, just like other foreigners.
To further add to Tom69's comments, I have recently heard that the go-ahead has been given for a railway from Kunming to near the Lao border, but as for continuing into Laos and beyond to Thailand, this is uncertain at the moment. In any case, overly optimistic Chinese journalism should be dismissed as reliable news sources as they have many times mentioned things that have yet to materialize.
Anyway, to get back on track a little bit can anyone tell me if there are now more services out of Mengzi (and in the reverse direction) than the one lone train? If coming from Vietnam it would be impossible to make the 9.03am train, since a bus journey would take 2 hours and then you would need to consider that the border only opens at 8am Chinese time I think, so only by staying in Hekou itself could you make it to Mengzi (possibly) if you departed Hekou around 6am by the time the train departs.
@Peter99, as you say, it's up to the individual countries concerned, not China, to allow entry to Myanmar/Vietnam overland from China. If a bomb attack occurs in Myanmar near the Chinese border (where I've been to just like you have been), that's something that should concern China but isn't enough to prevent the Chinese authorities from allowing foreigners to cross as foreign citizens are not of concern to China when they exit Chinese territory. Having said that I keep reading that the official opening of the Ruili-Muse crossing to passport and visa holders of all nationalities is scheduled to proceed as planned this year, but an exact date is not yet known. 4 border crossings with Thailand opened last August and I have travelled overland into the interior of Myanmar to/from Thailand 3 times since that time.
As others have said, a number of these crossings have always been open so I don't know what the authorities mean about being recently "re-opened". The Lao Cai-Hekou crossing is open to all who have valid documents to cross between China and Vietnam there (some nationalities don't need a visa to enter Vietnam and as such can just cross through without a visa). Only cars generally can't cross the border here, one must be a pedestrian to cross and there are no cross border bus services either.
@LaoQingwa and laoshi19, I just arrived back in Kunming today. Today the weather was partly cloudy with plenty of sunshine and comfortably warm temperatures. I was told the past 2 days have been similar. It seems that the weather forecast is not very accurate - my hunch is on partly cloudy skies, with some possibility of overcast skies and light rain being more likely over the next few days but probably nothing like Kunming experienced last week (well, at least, hopefully not).
There is no evidence left of the flooding which affected Kunming mainly last Friday. I too was worried as evidenced by my earlier post, but it seems that even the most low lying areas around Beijing Lu, which were most flooded and the rest of downtown are back to normal - I drove through there from the airport today and everything is business as usual.
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After 11 years, Yunnan's railroad from hell sees the light
发布者Geogramatt, eventually it may cross into Myanmar. However, given how it will only be finished as far as Ruili in 2022, there's still many years before it ever makes it into Myanmar. Hopefully that will be enough time for Myanmar to end it's wars in the northern part of the country but that's wishful thinking at this point. After all, the Kachin Independence Army or KIA broke a 17-year ceasefire back around 2011 and fighting has actually increased in the meantime.
Myanmar-Thailand-Laos-China: 4 countries, 4 days, 400 yuan
发布者Myanmar didn't only open up for tourism in 2011. It has been open for years just that not many westerners went prior to 2011, even though there was little stopping them. The only thing you couldn't do prior to 2013 was travel overland unless you had a permit. I first went to Myanmar on a day trip to Tachilek in 2001 and flew into Yangon in 2004 and 2005. It was just as easy to get a visa back then as it is today, except that there were more restricted areas than there are now. Also, getting to Mu-se on the Chinese border seems to be OK. I went there in February. The adjacent areas where the Kokang conflict erupted are of course out of bounds. Chinese citizens generally aren't allowed to travel across to the Burmese side overland either, except to Mu-se for up to 7 days but that isn't always allowed either. Burmese who travel to China illegally risk arrest and those that travel overland from Mu-se can only travel to Ruili. To enter China properly and travel wherever they want, they either need a permit or must fly in, just like other foreigners.
Yuxi-Mengzi: China's newest railway
发布者To further add to Tom69's comments, I have recently heard that the go-ahead has been given for a railway from Kunming to near the Lao border, but as for continuing into Laos and beyond to Thailand, this is uncertain at the moment. In any case, overly optimistic Chinese journalism should be dismissed as reliable news sources as they have many times mentioned things that have yet to materialize.
Anyway, to get back on track a little bit can anyone tell me if there are now more services out of Mengzi (and in the reverse direction) than the one lone train? If coming from Vietnam it would be impossible to make the 9.03am train, since a bus journey would take 2 hours and then you would need to consider that the border only opens at 8am Chinese time I think, so only by staying in Hekou itself could you make it to Mengzi (possibly) if you departed Hekou around 6am by the time the train departs.
Yunnan reopens 13 international border crossings
发布者@Peter99, as you say, it's up to the individual countries concerned, not China, to allow entry to Myanmar/Vietnam overland from China. If a bomb attack occurs in Myanmar near the Chinese border (where I've been to just like you have been), that's something that should concern China but isn't enough to prevent the Chinese authorities from allowing foreigners to cross as foreign citizens are not of concern to China when they exit Chinese territory. Having said that I keep reading that the official opening of the Ruili-Muse crossing to passport and visa holders of all nationalities is scheduled to proceed as planned this year, but an exact date is not yet known. 4 border crossings with Thailand opened last August and I have travelled overland into the interior of Myanmar to/from Thailand 3 times since that time.
As others have said, a number of these crossings have always been open so I don't know what the authorities mean about being recently "re-opened". The Lao Cai-Hekou crossing is open to all who have valid documents to cross between China and Vietnam there (some nationalities don't need a visa to enter Vietnam and as such can just cross through without a visa). Only cars generally can't cross the border here, one must be a pedestrian to cross and there are no cross border bus services either.
Photos of flash flooding in Yunnan's capital
发布者@LaoQingwa and laoshi19, I just arrived back in Kunming today. Today the weather was partly cloudy with plenty of sunshine and comfortably warm temperatures. I was told the past 2 days have been similar. It seems that the weather forecast is not very accurate - my hunch is on partly cloudy skies, with some possibility of overcast skies and light rain being more likely over the next few days but probably nothing like Kunming experienced last week (well, at least, hopefully not).
There is no evidence left of the flooding which affected Kunming mainly last Friday. I too was worried as evidenced by my earlier post, but it seems that even the most low lying areas around Beijing Lu, which were most flooded and the rest of downtown are back to normal - I drove through there from the airport today and everything is business as usual.