It's a good thing to have Starbucks opened here in Kunming because this kind of coffee shop is obviously for the people who don't really know what is good coffee but to give them a chance to pretend that they enjoy having a cup of coffee in their hands.and thanks for taking all the "ma fan" customers away from my work coz I m working in a cafe where also in wanfujin...thanks starbucks

Dan,

Thanks for your report.
Sean and I biked from Bingzhongluo towards the Tibetan border on January 1st, 2010. We thought we might have reached the Tibetan border after riding for a few hours from Bingzhongluo, but now that I see the sign in your photograph I realize we never actually made it. Where we turned around was a small wooden dilapidated house with a tiny store in it. Do you remember how many more km from that wooden house to the actual border it was?

Interesting that when we visited in the middle of the winter the weather was considerably better than it seems to have been for you in the summer. Blue skies, and beautiful blue water in river.

Also...did you really take a bus direct to Bingzhongluo from Kunming? Was that a standard passenger bus, or a private chartered bus? We saw no signs of passenger buses direct from Bingzhongluo to Kunming when we were there. In fact, we didn't even see direct buses from Gongshan. The furthest up the valley one could get direct from Kunming in December 2009/January 2010 was Fugong.

@JJ and Janice

Zhijiang county of Hunan Province claims that it has the only memorial in China with thematic exhibition about the flying tigers.

www.chinazhijiang.gov.cn/Article/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=824

Hi Jo and Brian! We met last summer at the Dali Hump. I was just surfing the Internet to read latest news from China and by chance came across this article, just splendid in style :) I'm so happy for you to hear all geat news. Wish you luck and all the best! Hope to visit China again as I've been trully enchanted by that place :) Lucky you!!
- Biker girl :)

Nice for those who enjoy paying for the starbucks logo - but the independent cafe's all unique personalities and encourage relaxation. Starbucks always struck me as a rather cold, sterile, impersonal place - no personality.

Just give it a skip altogether.

be sure to ask for half the amount of milk or else you just end up getting a drink that tastes like expensive hot milk. And if you're staying there to drink it ask for it in a mug—much better.

Looped it yesterday. Including the distance from the Green Lake area to the lakeside road and back, we clocked 130km.

We did an anticlockwise circuit: Dianchi Lu, pop a right down to the promenade by Caohai, across the causeway, follow the old road alongside the highway to Haikou, ride through Haikou, pop a left over the Tanglang River bridge, follow the new road alongside the Anning-Jinning highway, take a left just before Jinning (this section seems to not be officially open, but is sealed), catch a tailwind along the east side, walk through the short tunnel near Chenggong (after which there's a short diversion to the right around a construction area), and return to the city on the north side of the lake.

Carry water on the east side, there's not many places to refuel. There's next to no climbing, though there are a few bumps that'll slow you up a bit. It's less sheltered on the east side of the lake, so anticlockwise makes sense if you want to get most out of the potential tail wind. The surface is a bit shoddy around Haikou, but all the newly-laid road is glorious. Get yer skinnies on!

ow come?

beautiful pictures

All the more reasons to feel suspicious about carbs!

Hey, we sure enjoyed playing last night. What a fantastic audience and venue! It's definitely been a highlight of this tour. And it felt great not to get arrested after the show! Thanks Kunming, we'll be back as soon as possible. Oh- and come up to Lijiang for the Shuhe show tomorrow if you can, it's at Petit Paris.

Great show all around... one of the highlights for me was during the aforementioned sound problems, when Sinne decided to finish the second song (I think) without the microphone and nailed it. Janus, JQ and Martin were all in top form too. JQ mentioned that they might pass through Kunming again in half a year or so, I'm sure they'd pack the house again.

I went to the concert last night. The beginning was a bit rocky with a less than perfect sound system at fault, but things quickly improved and as a whole concert was fantastic. Sinne's voice is powerful yet sweet, JQ's trumpet and bass (and his Chinese intros) along with Janus' drumming and bass were perfect accompaniment for her voice. The pianist who joined them for the concert (I did not catch his name) was extremely skilled and added a lot to the overall performance.

Always with you guys!!!!!!!!!! Always