User profile: Yuanyangren

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Can pickups enter Kunming?

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look at that car market once I'm back in Kunming. What should I look for once I get there to recognize the market? Is it open daily?

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Forums > Living in Kunming > No laowai allowed here

@Liumingke1234, I fully agree. This is exactly what I implied in my previous post but didn't directly say. I personally would never go somewhere where I didn't feel welcome.

@chris8080, where in Kundu is this club located? Near Babi or near the back?

I'm wondering if the bouncers also prevent Thai and Lao people from entering. Of course they are also foreigners, but due to their appearence could sometimes get away with being mistaken for Chinese, particularly in Yunnan province with its many ethnic minorities. Having said that, there was a case of a Thai guy who got killed in Kundu some years back and my understanding is that there is quite a bit of tension between some local Chinese clubbers in Kundu and some of the Thais that go there.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Can pickups enter Kunming?

Thanks for that info. Didn't know that the Fortuner was available in Kunming, as I haven't seen any. The only Fortuners I've seen at all in China were in Jinghong and Lao registered. I would however be interested in purchasing one if available (even at those prices, but I will need to confirm with my company first).

I don't want a Chinese brand, only foreign brands will be considered. I believe Great Wall had a major recall of most of its vehicles in Australia recently so I wouldn't even want to trust them at this stage.

A proper 4x4 would be best, but a soft roader like the Captiva would work, only thing is I don't think they have a 4wd, only an AWD version in China, which is probably what the definition of a soft roader is.

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > Using My Chinese Card Abroad

RMB can be exchanged in most places in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. If no other place then exchange them immediately upon arrival at the airport at your first destination. At Bangkok airport, RMB is accepted for exchange easily and readily by every moneychanger. I wouldn't bother buying USD prior to travelling to these countries, unless Cambodia is your first destination. The USD is the main currency in Cambodia, not simply a reserve currency. ATMs in Cambodia dispense only USD and all prices are quoted in USD. The local currency, Riel, is only ever used for small transactions or in the countryside and few people ever use Riel for anything costing more than about US$5. Thai Baht is accepted in western Cambodia for all transactions.

In Laos, the Thai Baht reigns supreme although the government is trying to get all merchants to accept only Kip. USD can be used in the bigger cities but it's better just to use a combination of Baht and Kip as dollars are really only accepted in tourist related businesses such as hotels, restaurants and for large purchases.

I found that while there may be moneychangers that don't change RMB in Vientiane, there are plenty that do. I think it's more of a hassle trying to purchase foreign currency within China than trying to change RMB outside of China.

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Some airlines, particularly international ones like THAI have not updated their systems to reflect the new airport. At the beginning, starting tomorrow, I'm sure there will be some passengers that won't know about the change and will thus go to the wrong airport and miss their flights.

Yeah the Lijiang line is currently under construction, while the Ruili line is supposed to form part of a proposed Kunming-Myanmar rail link - it will probably also be constructed at some stage (as reported by GoKM last year) but I suspect it will take a little while.

All of this is quite amazing, but even in China not everything goes to plan. Originally the proposed high speed railway from Kunming to Vientiane, Laos via Jinghong and Boten was supposed to be completed by 2015, but a number of issues will likely push back that project for another 10 or more years, though I do believe that it will eventually be built. Also, since the idea is to link south-western China with the south-east Asian coast, Thai and eventually Malaysian and Singaporean co-operation is vital to building this link in the first place; building a line only as far as Vientiane would likely turn out to be a white elephant project since the objective is to make most income from moving goods between SE Asia and SW China quickly via train rather than passengers and that requires linking SW China to a coastline - something which Laos doesn't have.

Regarding the Hekou line, they've been proposing that one for years now since trains stopped running between Kunming and Hekou in 2002. Finally this article mentions a new high-speed line is under construction, but this will be of little use unless the Vietnamese also build a complementary high-speed line on their side (sure, they already have an existing railway line running from Lao Cai via Hanoi down to Saigon, but it's rather slow). Also, the Vietnamese government recently turned down a proposal for converting their existing line into a high-speed line, citing the high cost and the low passenger volumes that would utilize the line.

Wow, it's finally upon us. The new airport will finally open at the end of this month! Only thing is, I'd avoid non-essential travel in and out of this airport for the first couple of weeks since it will probably be more chaotic than usual and things may not go as planned (for example baggage claim may be unusually slow).

I like the statement "For travelers without cars, taxis are always an option." well of course they are. For starters, most people in Kunming still don't own a car despite all the cars on the roads these days. Secondly, even if you do have a car, who would drive to the airport in order to catch a flight and then park their car for the duration of their overseas or interprovincial stay there? I don't think long-term parking is well known in China so even a week's worth of parking could become very expensive and possibly more expensive than even in some western countries.

I am looking forward to the proposed direct Europe flights. Anyone have any idea about when these flights might begin and who which carriers will offer service (presumably Chinese carriers I would imagine)?

Reviews

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Horrible tasteless, thick-crusted "cardboard" like pizzas that are a far cry from what they should be like. Way overpriced too. Wine may be good, but why bother when the nearby Prague Cafe makes much better pizza at a more reasonable price?

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Great Mexican food and ice cream, excellent Raspberry smoothies and an overall good atmosphere. Can't do much about the low ceilings on the second floor, but the early closing time could be adjusted, after all, the nearby French Cafe closes at 1am.