User profile: voltaire

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Poetry anyone?

Please tell me they sell alcohol! I will come up from Fuxian lake for the occasion. Now to find some inspiration or a good poem to read!

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Poetry anyone?

I'm in. Haven't written anything of late, but super supportive and have some interesting stuff to read, anyway. The arts in China as a whole, but also Kunming (despite its relative virtues in this area) need as much support as possible. I like Moondog, it's a cozy and unassuming venue. Seconding the idea of slightly-earlier-but-not-too-early so hardcore boozers can get their Vitamin-A on afterwards ;)

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Forums > Living in Kunming > The Mountain Bike Thread

Surprised nobody has mentioned my favourite trail.

It's my fav because it's close to town, it has a really nice steep hill, low traffic, and a nice view.

Basically you head north up to Huangtupo, then head directly west.

After a few blocks cycling past large buildings, the road goes a little up an incline, then bends slightly south. You keep going straight here, down the off-shoot that continues directly toward the mountains.

There are two options here for route: you can either go straight, and keep going straight when the road bends right (sudden, not far), climb to the residential area, then make your way through it to the left (southwest) corner, where you can lift your bike on to the trail. The other way is after a hundred or so meters on the left is a little off-shoot road that winds up past a little market and along a stream.

They join up, you go over a rail bridge, under a road bridge, a little further upward and you are on the old road up to Xiongzhusi (Bamboo temple). Now, if you were going up to the temple you'd continue along the road when it crosses the stream-valley, turning left. This is an OK ride but is fraught with traffic. Instead, turn right immediately and head up the road the follows the valley. Keep going and you eventually get up to a cemetery. This is my regular ride, used to be daily (I live in Bangkok at the moment). There's almost never anyone up there, and you get one of the best views of Kunming.

You can also continue up through the cemetery and along trails, which drops you down the western side above a prison. If you are careful you can negotiate the rough descent (note: definite MTB only territory) and then get on to a road. Turn right on the road and you'll climb and descend down another incline slightly to the north, back in the Kunming metropolis. Turn left and .. well I never went that way, but it's probably good if you want a long loop.

If you are lucky and get there fast through the traffic, you can probably get out there, climb the mountain, and cycle back to Wenlinjie for a drinking session in about an hour.

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Thanks for the tip about Kalimpong. I've never been to that area but am planning a trip to India in the near future, probably Kunming to Calcutta (not so far) but possibly via Nepal if cheaper, to buy a new sitar. It would be cool to check out some research leads at the same time, and give me an excuse to stay longer!

I'm very aware of the volume of Shan and Burmese information. One great example I read of is a historical event involving the surrounding of Kunming by Shan armies in retaliation for Chinese agression. Apparently they didn't sack the city, just demanded to be left alone, turned around and went home.

I am not aware of Mongolian sources (do you mean something written in Khitan by any chance?). Any information on Rakhine and Manipur sources would be much appreciated.

I am still trying to push forward on a stupidly large project to compile a syncretic ancient narrative history of the region for a general audience, incorporating oral and written histories, anthropological, art history, archaeological and genetic sources. It's a crazy open ended project but one that provides lots of interest... eg. just these last two weeks I visited three neolithic sites (two were paintings, one was incised) in Wenshan and the remote cliff tombs of the Ku people near the Guangxi border.

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Nope, I don't read Tibetan. I figure if anyone knows what old remains it's that lineage's monks in India, and that's apparently where they hang out.

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Sounds like a great time. Not sure how correct the description of Hampi as a little known village is, though! If you are in the area, coming from Yunnan, there is a Tibetan reservation in the mountains west of Bangalore for the sect of Tibetan Buddhism dominant in the traditional Kham region (ie. including Yunnan's Tibetan regions). If anyone can find out whether they have historical texts regarding Yunnan I would be eternally grateful. They do not respond to email for six months at a time, so you really have to go there! Another great site in Karnataka is the Jain village of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shravanabelagola

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While I've personally donated significant amounts of money to related causes in the past and people will probably hassle me for making this comment, I can't get over how fundamentally hypocritical it seems to evoke empathy for heart-health in humans while advertising eating meat at the same event. Just my 2c.

Reviews

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@nailer is being unfairly dismissed: they are certainly fallible. At one point they were well managed and the only game in town, and their outdoor bar had an interesting social vibe. Recently, none of these is the case (was given a bad bill to the tune of ~300% - no managers present and a subsequent complaint resulted in a less than ideal outcome, many more places are now open, and the outdoor bar is closed). Unless you are specifically seeking faux-Americana (often far better examples elsewhere) or two degrees removed faux-Mexicana, there's little reason to go there. How come French Cafe can serve a great sandwich for 24元 but Sals requires 50元 for a pretend-exoticized nibble? Certainly the business will continue, but the hey-dey is clearly gone. Romaniticizing the past aint gonna help. E-waste recycling by shipping (non carbon neutral) junk across the country? Puh-lease. Garbage processing people here recycle anyway! I applaud the ethical stance of one of the managers, but the place has frankly lost its mojo.

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Hands down the best draft craft beer in Kunming. On top of that, very reasonable prices for food and other drinks (especially wine).

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Called the number provided on a Friday at 2:15PM while a 10% discount was advertised "on Friday and Saturday" (listed in GoKunming specials).

A Chinese person answered the 'English' phone number in Mandarin then explained in broken English that you need to order 3 hours in advance. (Subtext: As their business is so slow)

Grumble. False advertising. Waste of time. Seems 100% Chinese run. Probably bad pizza.

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The listing here is wrong! Teresa's are not defunct, they are just back to being one store instead of two stores on Wenlinjie now! They are still in business, still answer on this phone number, and are still delivering! Points for consistency, it's been years! As of right now, it's 68元 for the more toppings vegetarian at the largest size. They will do thin or thick crust. Yes, it's not to everyone's taste, but I always used to find adding dried chilli powder and some extra salt brought it up to tasty. Might go for a dash of Sichuan pepper oil to spice it up this time around. (You know you've been in China too long when...)

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I also had a bad experience here recently.

Honestly, I wish them the best of luck, but I do think the staff are poorly managed and the owners have the wrong attitude and a clear lack of experience in service-oriented business. While the pizza is OK, everything else I have tried (including overnight stay) can be had cheaper and better elsewhere, and the pizza at Roccos is better in my opinion. The service has always fluctuated between acceptable to don't care.

Since they don't have their situation resolved yet, and it has been a few years, I have made the decision not to go there anymore or send anyone else. It's just not worth the hassle, given the crappy location (masked as private or lost). Better pizza with more quiet and privacy on Roccos' terraces.