Strange, I have never not been picked up by a taxi! I smile and wave one down, they stop and are almost always pretty happy to take a foreigner. My Chinese isn't excellent but I can usually make it known where I want to go and they are happy and usually try to make a little conversation in Chinese. I also tip them because I hear they sometimes don't pick up foreigners so this is a little bit of encouragement!
The rage! The sarcasm! The scathing attitude to all that is Kunming! Even the foreigners that come here are subjected to the rage!
Its just so entertaining! More, more, more! Though you may need some more material.
Subjects I believe not yet covered by BillDan:
People saying "Hello!" to you after you have passed them. If you acknowledge them, they giggle hysterically. People (especially old people) saying "Wai guo ren!" or "Lao wai!" or something similar when they see you. I consider the above two cute but I would love to hear your opinion on them BillDan.
Please, oh please, tell us about your cat and the "veterinarian" you went to. That will be awesome.
You have talked about the food in all of Kunming being terrible, but nothing about the service. I mean come on, any self respecting rage filled cynic MUST be able to create at least 1 tirade on the service!
Anyone think of anything else BillDan can rage at?
You mean Wal Marts? There are quite a few around in KM, 3 or 4 that I know of.
That was awesome!
Bill, I have switched to eating tuna sandwiches... 24 kuai for 2 cans of tuna in sunflower oil from Metro (4 meals for me)... very good Irish cheese - 28 kuai from metro (about 6 meals for me), tomatoes/lettuce/cucumber from any market, bread from Metro is passable and doesn't cost the earth. All up about 15 kuai a sandwich, very hao chi and very healthy! Man, are you stuck in your ways you HAVE to have ham! Bacon must be at least a worthy replacement? The fact you lasted so many years in Kunming is a testament to your fortitude!
Kunming isn't an international city by any standards, lets all admit that. Its got bits and pieces of internationality here and there, but most of us love it because its a bit "rural" in so many regards. Where else do parents hold their kids in a squat position for them to shit all over the footpath? You wouldn't find that behaviour in any city considered international, therefore you also should not expect to find ham!
As for the local cuisine, its quite good if you like spicy stuff, which is what I personally looove. Gutter oil is a little overblown and probably used by a minority of restaurants. The local food is loved by the locals. Kunming doesn't have a big enough international community or local interest in international foods to make it profitable for supermarkets to stock western perishables like ham or provide the expertise on how to store and serve it so you probably can't blame them. In the future, this will probably change, so lets enjoy rurality (?) while we can!
Bill, I think we should start a fund for you to buy you a return ticket for 2 weeks to mei guo! How about that everyone a "Bills Great American Fix" charity?
Wow, Bill is jaaaaaaded!
Bill, if you want some ham, I recommend going to Metro, buying some bacon frying it and using that instead. Or some of the local salami type stuff which is really tasty. Sometimes we have to deal with not having exactly what we want here, but substitutes aren't usually hard to find. That is what happens when you are in a foreign country. If I try to find Yunnan food in my country, its pretty difficult (and I have looked).
The stinky barbecued tofu here is excellent too mmmm.... actually I like the barbecue places where you can cook lots of different things yourself, tofu, vegetables etc. There are some pretty good hotpot places around too, I particularly enjoy some of the frog ones (weird, but really tasty!).
Check out the bugs that they eat here too, haven't tried them yet but apparently very hao chi!
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So fast, so convenient. One star off for opening before the train station stop is connected!
Wow, just wow. Possibly the best Chinese food I have had in Kunming. And in one of the nicest, traditional courtyard style restaurant I have been in. A woman dressed in traditional qi pao playing a gu zheng just adds to it.
We had okra, mushroom soup, dried beef and chou dofu. All top notch with the bill coming in at just over 250 kuai. But we could have fed 3 people for that so not too bad at about 80-90 kuai each. Not the cheapest but for the quality, it's damn good.
If you have people visiting and want to take them to a traditional Chinese style restaurant with Yunnan style food, or want a romantic night out with a gal, you can't go wrong here. Close to Green Lake (down a little alley) for a romantic walk... Just perfect.
Pretty good place for getting all your documents translated and/or notarised. Note that there are a number of notaries in the building which you can find by going up the stairs (the elevators are impossible). But you have to find the stairs to do so... go in the door, head over to the right, go up the big wide stairs which head up a floor, turn right then right again into the elevator area and right again into the stairwells. Whew!
One point off for the elevators never being available and having to hike 7-9 flights of stairs (not good if you have to go 3-4 times a day like I often did!)
This does not stop at the Jinanya hotel at Da Shang Hui as the flyers state (and is on the images tab here). They need to have another stop in the same area or else they are missing out on covering a big chunk of the city.
You can take another bus, the 919C, I believe, if you are nearby Da Shang Hui, which leaves from the bus station on HeHong Lu, nearby the Qianxing road intersection. This bus goes every hour and is white, found at the western end of the station. It is operated by a different company and takes about 1 hour 10 minutes to get to the airport due to a large number of stops especially near the airport.
Great bus though if you can catch it!
Friendly people, even got to the talk to the vice consulate, who told me she had done a stint in Malaysia's Siberian Consulate!
English is spoken by some of the Chinese girls working at the desk who are pleasant to deal with. I assume they do Visa's as well but I wasn't here for a visa, this time!
Getting Away: Luang Prabang
发布者Luang Prabang is one of my favourite places in Asia. Laid back locals, cheap, great scenery, good architecture, a few really nice local sights... what more can you ask for. Perfect romantic getaway...
2012: Three game-changers for Kunming
发布者Political achievement or not, Kunming must be one of the only cities in the world that is getting an MTR before it is drastically needed. And poor quality shade trees? I aren't too sure where you are looking but they seem fine to me...
Wether or not they are corrupt, the projects benefit the people first it seems. Unlike other places where projects would be populist or for the elites only...
2012: Three game-changers for Kunming
发布者I suspect the car ownership face thing will continue the increase of cars in the city. The government will eventually start tolling people through high parking charges and the like to discourage it, it won't happen overnight but it will happen just as it has in *insert name of any big city in the world*.
I think Kunming will be an interesting case for the subway vs face value of cars. Kunmings streets aren't really that congested (have you been to Malaysia/Jakarta?) and the majority of workers don't appear to have cars yet. To be honest, I think the subway here is coming in before its really needed. It will be VERY interesting to see if the middle classes that have been aspiring to own a car will continue to aspire to stupidity when most of the subway system kicks in, i.e. once they realise that a car is not needed, is a hassle and a waste of money. One thing I know about Chinese is they are mostly financially savvy, which means they think about where to put there money more. They also care less about personal space than us so a squashed subway is less of a problem. And when they realise they can get from one end of Beijing Lu to the other in 10-15 minutes on the subway or 40 minutes in a car...
Regardless, the majority of the population here has never used an MTR system before, so the first few months of operation will be filled with hilarity I am sure!
I am almost sure the local govt will put a good bus route through to the new airport. Thats the way I will get there, probably by taking a taxi to the last bus stop in the city and then catching it to the airport. Might cost 2 kuai but its better than the 40-50 default charge that most taxis will probably quote...
Kunming planning on adding more taxis soon
发布者"If suddenly there are many more competitors, everybody will have a difficult time surviving," he added. "Furthermore, in two years, after the subway is operational, the number of people taking taxis will suddenly drop. Then what do we do?"
This is such a common complaint of so many taxi drivers and completely unfoundered. You go to any big city that has a subway (think HK, NY, Singapore, Rome....) and you see taxis everywhere. What taxi drivers don't realise is the subway means its less likely people own cars (even with their face value). But subways don't go everywhere so you often need to take a taxi to the out of the way place you are trying to get to after getting off the subway.
Subways are actually good for taxis, it causes more short trips more often for drivers, which with a flag fall fee means more revenue.
Cycling from Kunming to Lüchun
发布者Its finished??? I look back on it so fondly now, almost being killed by boulders or asphyxiation from the dust. Its a shame other cycle tourists won't get to experience the same exhilaration and breath taking air? Camping in the middle of it was...interesting as well. Ahh well, like all things in China change is inevitable.
Looks like you got the same as me when you went through omgiri! If you are guys are still around we should go for a ride sometime. My usual ride of up and down Changchong Shan is becoming rutted, I think mainly from me!