In our vicinity there are places where you can still get the test for free, and other newer ones have been popping up where it is the 16ish RMB with shorter lines. I take this as government acknowledging that the testing burden is too much without buying extra services, hence the fees.

I get that these restrictions are for all of China, but so are my arguments above to try to understand them.

Personally I am against the restrictions despite the (debatable) life saving reasoning behind them.

I would quote a medical professional from Finland at early stages of the pandemic, who tried tor rationalize the acceptability of old people simply dying away. He phrased it along the lines of "old people don't die because they stop eating, they stop eating because they are dying".

The new testing sites popping up are not the original government testing stations (which are still free). Rather, they are outsourced to help alleviate the overwhelming capacity of testing.

Prices may vary. Some of these independently run booths are 5 rmb, other fees are set higher such that supply & demand dictate the length of queues.

Some cities I know of may not have full lockdowns, but would require daily testing of all community members. That's been going on for three weeks, despite near zero cases in the area. So count our blessings here in KM, relatively speaking.

Enforcement may vary depending on place and person at each checkpoint, but for those finding trouble entering markets and buying groceries and do not wish to get tested, bulk purchasing deliveries are recommended.

Meituan Preferred/Youxuan (美团优选) may be a worthy alternative to look into. It's affordable and convenient. Your personal grocery orders placed from app or via WeChat miniprogram are delivered (at no cost) to a pick-up station near you the next morning. The pickup spot is usually located inside, just outside, or nearby one's residential community. This method of group purchasing (tuangou/团购) was famously adopted during several, months-long lockdowns in other well-known cities.

Group purchasing is not the same as the classic food delivery of elema and Meituan, which are more expensive. I myself have been using Meituan Youxuan for over a year, and now prefer it more than shopping at markets/supermarkets in ways similar to habitually choosing digital payment over cash.

For everyone planning to visit the shopping malls.
I just went to the Spring City 66 shopping mall (恒隆广场) no negative test result was necessary there at the side entrance. Only the normal health code and green arrow were looked at by staff.

I heard the same thing from people who have been to Hexie shopping mall (和谐广场) in the north.
Taxi and Didi same, I've used them a few times in the past days.

Did a free test at a shopping mall today. Whole process took less than half an hour. Result came in about 5 hours later. No problems.

@max By directly calling out Mall XYZ's leniency, you may get them in trouble. Again, enforcement vary with each person/place, though the top down mandate is clear.

A lot of the restrictive measures are pro forma as local businesses need to survive. Blind eyes are often turned, and local gov knows this. This is true for bus xyz as well for those who commute.

You may ask checkpoint personnel directly if 24hr test is required, they may nod or say yes. However, if you show the same guy green code and quickly walk by, they may allow it. May not be true with the next guy. It all depends on the baoan. It's a balancing act to which citizens need to adapt to for the time being.

Update: there are reports of residential community re-lockdown in Wuhua where the lockdown was previously lifted.

Also, travelers entering Yunnan from Guizhou will be quarantined.

Varying enforcement and miscommunications could be primary reason for some debatably tough policies (and not just about CoVid) in China.

If government decisions would be followed more accurately, perhaps said government could better observe side-effects of hazardous policies, and avoid formulating such in future.

From this perspective I think that reporting (for what it's worth on forums like this) what really happens on the ground is beneficial in bigger picture - even if it could land some businesses in trouble.

In response, I will quote a wise man who wrote the following...

JanJal: "I can only assume that the very purpose of these restrictions is to get them stay at home. Getting around is problematic, but that's probably the point of this exercise."

Yes, I agree that status quo restrictions aren't airtight. However, the varying enforcement permit residents and businesses breathing room, while reducing risks of a surge prior to the big meeting next month (which some would argue, "could be primary reason for some debatably tough policies")

It is in the personal interest of you, the good citizens of Kunming, and the local economy that stricter 'airtight' enforcement measures (in the form a city-wide lockdown) won't be issued by Yunnan's top brass, for whom their interests may be insuring a pat on the back from their superiors for aligning with zero-covid policy ahead of Oct., whereby failing to do so may result in career repercussions as we've witnessed elsewhere.

I'd argue deliberate leniency isn't a sign of weakness. As strictness isn't a sign of true strength.

As we learned in House of Dragon, if you have to remind your underlings that you're the King, then you're not a true King.

GOOD NEWS! You can now go to the movie

theater (of course with proof of 核酸)。😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Fabey

I'm not sure sure if you interpreted my previous post as I intended, but to continue on the HOD theme, my point was for the underlings to do as the King judges best, so the King may observe possible errors in his own judgement and improve on that in future.

So as to avoid giving false impression of (for example) businesses surviving despite the restrictions, just because the restrictions are not actually followed that much.

For information....I had the test at 18:10 (yesterday) at Beichen outside the metro station, and got the result at 10:30 this morning. Almost 16.5 hours! Not much use if only valid for 24 hours!