redjon77: Exactly. But why learn Chinese? There are plenty of places on the planet where it is not spoken.

@Alien

Well had a pretty good reason to learn the language as gf from Kunming and although she speaks English her family don't, so gave me a reason to want to know the language and spend some time here enjoying the culture/area to :o)

@tuna
it is called satire, and it was a response to @Dudeson's, unless you are an alias of dude

if the tunafish is tired of stupid postins then he should stay off forums. a bit like standing in the snow and complaining your feet is cold

@Karina/Yankee - that's true... it was pretty cold the first night or two without built in heating when I got here. At the same time, getting some slippers, sweatpants and a space heater seemed to solve the problem. I was warned about this by my gf before getting here, but honestly it's worth it. Compared to the polar vortex of shit North America's experienced this winter, I haven't minded a bit. I know it was also a bit colder earlier in January though, but it's a small sacrifice, imo.

Overall I'll accept being a bit colder at home for a few weeks if it means paying no rent.

Hi Guys! im flying back to kunming in 3rd week of feb, would really appreciate if any of you could email me at jazzyjfizzle@gmail.com and guide me a little. i was born in kunming but have been living in tropical singapore all my life.. just need a get-back-to-my-roots trip and make some english speaking friends while at it. i smoke, light drinking, need advice on good pubs with good music/ cheap smokes ect. my aunt teaches music in one of the schools so i'll be doing a fair bit of visiting for the first couple days. feel free to shower me with your advices and even questions =)
namaste

Love the cheap smokes... formaldehyde beer, 地沟油, food poisoning, rude people, totally non-transparent and ever-changing laws/rules. It creates an atmosphere of paranoia mixed nausea!

And so why are you in Yunnan, cuihulongjing - or are you?

I strongly suspect that when people use either of the words 'civilization' or 'culture' or both, they are often referring to very different things, & therefore are talking past each other - might be a good idea to try to be more specific.

Culture - The way people go about daily lives and a bit of how they went about it in the past mixed in. Leads to a different way of doing things for me after a while.
Think I'd use 'civilization' differently for sure!