Forums > Living in Kunming > Gadget advice I am looking for a gadget to email, surf, write to forums, etc.
It really needs to be plug and play, as I am not tech savvy.
Must be cheap, reasonably light, preferably with a decent size screen.
I have two fingers and 10 thumbs, and would prefer a proper keyboard if possible.
I prefer an alternative to a smartphone.
Needs to be able to handle windows office documents, and play music files.
Also looking for something that will not kill me on data costs if I travel around China.
Any advice and ideas of cost gratefully accepted.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Mandarin Schools in Kunming? As HFCAMPO wrote, it would really help to know your purpose and aims of study.
Generally I think it helps to have a teacher at the absolute beginning to properly help you with with pinyin notation, pronunciation, and tones. Most language partners will not correct you, and just struggle with you, and probably not have a methodology to teach you these basic building blocks. This creates the potential for having to un-learn mistakes later and re-learn. Or they will over correct and do your head in.
After you have crossed the true beginner stage, then I agree, a language partner can help a lot. However, they may teach you Kunminghua dialect and local pronunciation. This is far from standard Mandarin.
If you aim for qualifications, you need Mandarin.
If you need a visa, then the institution must be considered.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Mandarin Schools in Kunming? My thoughts in general.
Learning on campus you will learn to talk about lots of useful (not) things, like the campus office, and the dormitory, and the canteen. You will also have to go at the speed of the class, as such I would not recommend uni classes for absolute/true beginners, ever. Most Chinese uni courses are delivered using Chinese learning methodology, which does not suit most westerners. Personally, I hate it, others like it.
Taking private classes, at a training centre or at home, you can study for your own needs and at your own pace. You can study with your wife, and tailor the classes to fit your lives. All of the above schools offer classes more suited to living, and are used to teaching westerners, in a style that suits our mindset perhaps a little better. With a Uni you pay for a whole semester and you are stuck, even as a day student. However you do get a student visa.
You need to contact the uni admissions office and ask the specific question about day students, living out. However this may cause a visa problem. This visa problem is not insummountable, but if the Uni admin department is lazy (Yunnanitis) nothing will happen.Uni classes are often 8am-12noon. That may mean a long early commute.
One big thing to consider is location. The closer to your home the better, unless you have other reasons to want to go the the schools locale everyday. Commuting on public transport can be a real drag.
Advantages of a private tutor. If you don't like them, you can change them. Classes are on your schedule. Disadvantage, no visa. In schools and unis, as a couple you will need to pay two sets of fees. However, a private tutor at home will usually have a sliding scale if there is more than one person.
Private school/training company. You pay up-front for a course, but you get your visa. OR pay as you go, but no visa. The schedule will be flexible.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Dental care If you have an extraction, there is no going back. If you have a root canal you can have a crown, and re-crown at a later date.
With an extraction, you transfer a lot of stress onto the other teeth on either side of the gap, this can cause cracking of these teeth as well.
In UK root canal is prefered over extraction. Extraction may be cheaper, but really is the poor mans option.
I have had a root canal, and porcelain covered gold crown for under 5000 rmb total bill at the VIP centre of a hospital, about 4 years ago.
It is more money, but it is not a rip off strategy. The one to beware of is when they tell you that you cannot have a crown and you need an implant. That is a potential rip off.
Spring City looks to embrace sweeping green agenda
发布者Almost all homes in southern and eastern china have solar water heating now. But not photovoltaic cells yet.
Many new roads in Kunming have the streetlights with wind and solar charging. however the environmental impact of replacing old serviceable units (that have already left a footprint making them) with new (including their own footprint) is a tough call.
One of the reasons why China is leading in green energy is that there is so much new infrastructure to be put in place. Unlike the US and EU that have a huge legacy system that would be very expensive to phase out and replace.
Mid-Autumn Festival, a celebration of family and harvests
发布者A western version of a Li Bai poem can be found on the Vangelis Album 'China' and follows.
"I take a bottle of wine and I go drink it among the flowers.
We are always three ... counting my shadow and my friend the shimmering moon
Happily the moon knows nothing of drinking, and my shadow is never thirsty
When I sing, the moon listens to me in silence. When I dance, my shadow dances too.
After all festivities the guests must depart. This sadness I do not know.
When I go home, the moon goes with me and my shadow follows me"
Mid-Autumn Festival, a celebration of family and harvests
发布者I love Hagen Das mooncakes
Fearing 'commercialization', monks briefly close Jinning temple
发布者I think this is excellent action by the abbot. A wonderful example for all.
If you look at what has happened at the Shaolin Temple (Kungfu incorporated), it is shameful for all, IMHO.
Welcome to the new GoKunming!
发布者ma shang