When I read the header I thought that is fast because last night the just visited me. Turned out the article is about the previous census ;-)

Thanks for the heads up.

Just a friendly notice.

The once in a decade national census is upon us. Local governments have already deployed census workers to local communities in Kunming. Census workers have begun knocking on doors to collect information from household occupants, be it landlords or tenants. Expect a knock on the door from a stranger, if not already. They will be persistent, so best open the door.

This massive information gathering will continue for coming days and weeks. Census workers will check IDs/passports, ask various questions, and will require supplemental paper form to be filled in Chinese. (e.g. input home country address if a foreigner).

The door-to-door household verification census process, with cooperation with PSB if need be, is intended for all Chinese citizens as well as for foreigners. So if you feel wary of the sudden intrusion by public workers, rest assured, this national consensus is not in any way or form targeting foreigners in China. These population data are used for national policy making in Beijing.

Hi there, so interesting these photos, thankyou so much for sharing.
But there are too small to really appreciate them, is there any publication where they can be appreciated in their proper size?

Yunnan isn't the only place these sea gulls migrate to. For the generations of gulls that arrive to Kunming every winter for decades, they've relied on human feeding (for better or for worse). Scavenging may work where food is in abundance in the wild. Particularly during seasons where food supplies flourish in their feeding habitat. That natural food source is unavailable here in the city for the majority as population numbers perpetuate.

In light of their recent arrival, public health experts have announced guidelines to protect us and our avian friends. To avoid risk of cross contaminating the gull species, do not come into direct contact while feeding. The mink fur farm in Utah where thousands of mink perished from Covid outbreak is case in point. Wash hands thoroughly if the birds (or their droppings) are accidentlly touched.

They have been around for about 3 weeks now. They would manage even if people didn't feed them, they are scavengers and survive the rest of the year without human input. I also doubt that they only visit Kunming.

Local news on Douyin is reporting first flock of sea gulls have returned to Haigeng dam. 20 days earlier than usual. Eye witnesses living near Dianchi, have you seen them first hand? Tough Q1 for them in Kunming. We, the locals and tourists, will make it up this time around.

Thanks Pieter! Really enjoying your site: trekhaba.weebly.com/. Seems like the ultimate in Haba hiking!

hasenman, I received your pm and replied to your email.

Yereth
I was thinking that gokm could maybe get the Kunming Tourism Dept and the KM Metro et al to pay for a professionally illustrated bilingual PDF map and maybe start a series of web articles and videos on things to do and see (and eat) at each station - aside from the major tourism venues.

NHK (Japan) did this about 20 years ago - very popular and interesting series - inspires people to get out, socialize (when it's safe) and support local businesses...or not.

Been waiting patiently for the next article about the high altitude trail through the 3 passes (Miner's Pass, Divide Pass and East Pass). Anyone have any info on it?

@Michael We'll design a map after the holidays. Currently the officially released schematic maps are all low-res, even on the official website of Kunming Metro. This was the best map available so far.

Point taken ;)

Grace
The referenced map was an ANCIENT planning map...hence the hint hint hint hint to the gokm staff - when they have budget and absolutely nothing better to do with their time...

Yereth's map is great as a geographic index - but most high density subway maps (Beijing, Tokyo) go for the symbolic stations shown in the ancient picture I referenced. These things are great as either screensavers, desktop wallpapers, or mobile phone pictures (screensavers, wallpapers) for those who commute within the bellies of these steel dragons.

I used to carry around subway maps on small plastic cards (doubled as my prepaid card) when exploring these cities. Each station had uniquely popular venues for both tourists and long-term locals alike (popular eateries, shopping boutiques, etc).

michael, i'm not seeing Kelecun station (aka Coke Village) on your map. Is it updated?

Yereth's image is bilingual, but readers may need a magnifying glass to decipher the small English font beneath the Chinese text.

The Line 4 stations vary with multi-themed designs to lively up the once dull public spaces beneath ground. Perhaps a concept modeled after subway stations in Europe and across the world. Would be cool to share gallery photos of them in this post.

For those of you who'd prefer an actual visual and bilingual map of the Kunming Metro - please look here (is it ok to post a link to another website?).

www.travelchinaguide.com/images/map/yunnan/kunming-metro.jpg

I think this picture actually/obviously came from on of Kunming's prolific gov offices - but I'm too lazy and stupid to track it down (hint hint hint hint to gokm staff).