Getting a licence may take a few days, or longer. You need to book and pass a test, held on Thursday only in English language.
It may be better to rent a car and driver. This takes out a lot of the risk of driving in an insane road culture, and gives you local knowledge.
There is a guy who advertises on here who speaks English. Do a search and it should come up. He may even respond on this thread.
With rewards for good work.
Occasional gifts, and a hong bao for new years, are a good way forward without skewing local pay scales.
Remember to give face and Ayi will become/see herself as Ayi and not just a cog in the machine.
There is a lot of confusion at every level over how the new regulations (c. Jan 2011 in Kunming Shi) work out in reality.
I have no solutions but can at least tell you what I understand. Caveat: this may or may not be current knowledge and may not be accurate.
Under the old regulations a non PRC citizen could officially not get a loan, but some did.
Under the new regulations all persons must have paid tax in Kunming for a year in order to buy property in Kunming (Chinese people too). You can only purchase a second property in Kunming if you have a Kunming HuKouBu.
Citizens cannot purchase a third or subsequent property in major cities in China. However, many people are buying in county level areas.
General notes.
The best source of advice on property ownership is the housing bureau.
The best source of advice on what the bank can do is that particular bank (even down to the branch). Make sure that you go to a main branch (not sub branch) as the managers there will have more discretion on how the rules are interpreted.
The bank will tell you what paperwork is needed for their institution, and where to get it.
Chinese banks are good at gouging fees from all of their customers, 12000 rmb seems reasonable to get something that is technically irregular.
Companies can also buy property, perhaps your company can. However, you are then into the realm of a commercial mortgage with shorter repayment periods (10 yrs I think) and higher interest rates. There are no limits on how many properties a company can own.
Beware of SOHO. There is a lot of SOHO property on the market that appears to be residential. It is the developer getting around some of the regulations. The problem for the buyer will be the commercial loan fees and commercial taxes for purchase or sale. But lots of local buy this way to get around some of the limits on property. Private owners can also buy SOHO.
If you are buying new, the developer can also help you get loans if they have a special relationship with the bank.
Most regulations in China are open to local interpretation. The fact that you are getting different stories is not important. Just give them what they ask for, and expect this to change as the process moves along. This is not surprising as each level of the process with have people with a slightly different interpretation of what is needed by whom. If you can't get what you want from one bank, try another; or try another way. There are no definitive answers, TIC.
Good luck
It is rainy season then, but still not too wet. Having said that it has been dry for a few years now.
Check the link for figures.
@Ilan G.
I thing that the question of purpose is asked to see if you need a car, minibus, or motorbike license. These are different licenses and have different theory tests.
They may also want to know if this is for domestic use only, no commercial use.
And so you should answer:
car or motorbike
Commuting and travel with family/friends.
No results found.
Great to know it is no longer dry.
Good review BTW
This has moved.
The cut flowers are about 700m east on Duonan Jie. The plants and trees are about 700 m west and follow Duocai Section.
A reasonable choice of lumber that has improved over time. Fancy hardwoods like walnut, and mahogany are in abundance. There are some plywood and rubber-wood boards available. There are also some kiln dried imported softwoods and merbao available. Some of the lumber is very green, so look for the kiln dried if you need stable timbers.
Echo everything said by others.
Breakfast great and the serve from 8am. Most other places say 9am and they still are not ready.
Sandwiches are cheap 22-32, and really packed full of filling. We got some sandwiches for a day out, the only mistake I made was ordering two, as this was too much. These are seriously good sangars, and they are wrapped in alu foil.
In fairness to Metro, they are a wholesalers, and not really a supermarket. Hence the need for a card, which can be got around.
They have improved in the year I have been away. They now carry a more consistent range of imported foodstuffs and they also seem to have sorted out the mported milk supply.
They have a wider range of electrical appliances now, there is a coice of more than one toast. There is also a better range of seasonal non foods, like clothes, shoes, garden furniture and camping gear.
Kunming residents contend with high gravesite prices
发布者Antinatalist
I guess that is what you call Buddhism with a Chinese face.
Getting away: Changchong Mountain
发布者Blobbles, if there are not trees, you may be able to make out farmers routes on Google Earth. You can sometimes.
If you have personal GPS you could also check progress by pre-defining lat-long from Google Earth before you leave home and write them on a print out.
Just an idea.