Also, scrolling a couple of pages back, it's hard to take anything Lightning says seriously. Dongguan is just full of factories towns. No sane person could claim Dongguan is a better place to live than Kunming. And Dongguan air, land, and water pollution is more severe than Kunming. There is an environmental cost to having that many factories there.

@Halli
If you couldn't even hold down water, it sounds like you were suffering from acute geradiasis. Geradia is a protozoa that is really common in SW China. Many of us have had it.

Symptoms
* dysentery

* recurring or explosive diarrhea

* bloody, foul odor, greasy, pale color stools

* mucus in the stool

* weight loss

* listlessness

* loss of appetite (anorexia)

* bloating

* gas (eggy tasting burps).
The eggy burps are a dead give-away that it is geradia.

It lives in water, and can be found in a lot of tap water, or if the market vendor has used contaminated water on the vegetables (not unusual).

That is why it is so important to wash all veg thoroughly, and cook thoroughly. This somewhat diminishes the nutrition.

Also avoid taking ice in drinks, as the bars will often use tap water. In many rural areas they also use stream water for cooking and drinking. This is ok if boiled.

AlexKMG I eat local street food all the time, without spending "days vomiting and spraying ass gravy like you've put your thumb over a hose pipe, unable to eat or drink anything (even water), so weak that you can barely get out of bed". I assure you that local Kunming food is just fine. One does not have to eat at upscale intercontinental, overpriced buffets.

Some of it is fine, but much of it is not. For me, eating out is a bit of a gamble, so I try to eat home cooked food where possible.

@AlexKMG I might of mentioned at some point in past I like eating at the Intercontental but believe me thats nowhere near the day to eating habit! I've eaten in the nicest looking places and the dodgiest looking places, eating in one type does not stop me eating in the other lol

I guess I just am lucky or have that tough stomach mentioned ;o)

Oh forgot to mention, as if by coincidence today was beef sticks and bit of fish from food stall......

This thread has got me thinking about food and the results it may have on the digestive system.

When I first arrived here more than 4 years ago I spent a lot of time visiting the toilet. Food just seemed to pass right through me without stopping on the way. I guess my system has gotten used to it because I no longer have those problems.

I guess getting used to whatever is in a new environment takes some time, but your body can adapt. Mine did.

I came to China 2 years ago. In Hangzhou I was mostly fine, but here has been a lot more dicey!

@Alex, I rarely eat at high-end Chinese restaurants and I've eaten at continental buffets maybe 3 times total in Kunming, although I eat at western restaurants maybe twice a week (very often Salvador's). I've been here more than 3 years, and I usually eat at little local places, but it's not a matter of having figured out 'which ones' don't make me sick, it's just that I know well that most places do not make me sick - and yes of course I would stay away from those few that have, although I can only think of one in my neighborhood where this has happened. Last night I ate a really big meal with friends at a small open-front place on the outskirts of town none of us had ever been to before (6 dishes, large portions (huiguoro (very fatty), another pork dish (a bit spicey), a red bean dish, a corn-&-peas dish, a doufu dish and something else, with rice); all quite good, with 4 beers, for 3 of us - 103 kuai total for the 3 of us (in a student area), and there was more food than we could finish). The place was nearly full, and everybody looked pretty healthy. I feel fine today.
With the exception of people whose stomachs either can't adjust (perhaps you can't handle spices) or who haven't made an effort to get used to local food, the chances of getting sick eating at ordinary restaurants is very low - do you think I'd be intentionally making myself sick by doing so, for 10 years?
@Allpage: I think you've said it, although I don't think it takes, or has to take, 3 years to get used to local food.
@Tiger: I don't think bars often use tap water, but I haven't looked into it. Virtually all people in China boil the water they drink as a matter of course, and have been doing so for many centuries, and perhaps longer.

haha, Donguan.
Donguan is the reason OP is leaving Hong Kong.

Donguan is where you hope your enemies go to die a painful death.

Perhaps my use of "one horse town" was not the best. As other have said backwater is more appropriate.
To put the record straight, I was comparing HK (home) with KM and Magnifico, the spelling is DonGGuan, and although a very factory orientated area the actual city of Dongguan is made up of over 25 towns and is huge. Sure in certain areas the air quality is not too good but in other areas it's fine.
An hours drive to the Shenzhen /HK border and an hour away from Asia's second best Airport so it's swings and roundabouts.

Guangzhou only an hours drive North, most countries have a consulate there, seen a number of top shows there such as Sarah Brightman, Richard Clayderman, then HK regularly attracts top performers. So yes KM is relatively isolated.
And by the way, only nine cities achieved the demanded air quality this time round, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, both neighboring Dongguan.

So the saying one mans meat is another mans poison rings true