I'll say. It doesn't take a a leap of faith (maybe just a series of smaller leaps, and a well-secured front-pocket carry bag?) to realize: it's amazing what kind of gymnastics those Australians are capable of. I'm all for innovation across the pond, but they've clearly taken the lead here. The competitors are merely sheep.
China Eastern may be crap (and their website has massive security holes, too), but:
1. They fly direct to Paris and Chiang Mai, which nobody else does.
2. Their Tuodong Lu ticket office have a separate international section which is usually always vacant and makes booking more pleasant than usual.
Both Lijiang and Dali are awash with violence and gangs, often police are part of these networks. (Sources: Personal experiences, local business proprietors, long term residents).
Lijiang is widely known to have a high proportion of involvement by North East Chinese gangs, who are known China-wide for their thuggish nature and migrated there on mass about a decade ago.
It is unfortunate that China has such a relaxed attitude to local corruption.
Perhaps the telephones of police and those who interact with them regularly (eg. spouses, immediate family) should constantly be big-data (metadata) surveilled by the state to help detect corruption and create transparency.
In addition, any and all visitors to and interactions with high ranking police at their place of work should be video surveilled by out of province authorities. This is not technically difficult.
PS. When you get the bus to Guanlei from Jinghong consider overnight in Menglun, which has a fantastic tropical botanical garden. They also have really yummy mushroom mi gan (flat rice noodles) near the bus station.
I took it in about August last year.
The number of vessels depends heavily on the season (water level) and there isn't always a vessel waiting.
To be sure, you can call the immigration staff in Guanlei and they will tell you how many vessels are available, since arriving in Guanlei and having to wait a few days for a boat would not be much fun. It should cost about 300-400元/person for a private room with cooked meals included. It is a really nice trip.
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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.
Hands down the best draft craft beer in Kunming. On top of that, very reasonable prices for food and other drinks (especially wine).
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.
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...)
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.
Remains of lost 1100 year-old city discovered in Yunnan
Posted byMy translation of the portion of the Manshu regarding Baiya over here: en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Manshu/Chapter_5
Báiyá City (白崖城; lit. 'White Cliff (Walled) City') is in Bólòngchuān (勃弄川; lit. 'Flourishing Lane River-Plain'), which was loyal (to China) during the Tianbao era (ie. 742-756), and possesses cities and east-facing lands, and has five prefectures and cities in total.
It is built against the mountain to provide walled defence, with a height of 10 zhang (ie. 33m). All four sides channel water around the city, which only has gates opening to the north and south.
In the southern corner lies the old city, which is two li (ie. 700m) in circumference.
In the northeast corner lies the new city, which was newly built by Géluófèng (閣羅鳳) in the 7th year of the Dali reign (ie. ~778-779).
It is four li (ie. ~1.2km) in circumference.
Outside of the northern gate lies Cízhúcóng (慈竹叢; lit. 'Merciful Bamboo Thicket'), each as thick as a man's lower leg, and 100 chǐ (ie. ~33m) in height.
Inside is the official reception building of Géluófèng (閣羅鳳), with decorated corridors and crooked halls. Behind the main hall lies a courtyard verdant with orange trees and a view over the northern wall.
Inside of the old city is a pond of over 300 paces' circumference, inside of which is a multi-storied building inside of which is said to be a stockpile of armour and weapons.
The river plain stretches more than 20 li (ie. ~6.5km) east to west, and more than 100 li (ie. ~33km) north to south.
Beneath the Qīngpíngguān (清平官; lit. 'Site of just and peaceful governance'), the government divides the land in to fields, all of which are cultivated.
The numerous kin of Nánzhào (南詔) also reside near the city.
20 li to the south lies Mánzichéng (蠻子城; lit. 'the city of the Barbarian (or possibly Barbarian prince)'), which is the former residence of the many younger brothers and extensive family of Géluófèng (閣羅鳳).
Directly southward is Kāinán City (開南城), which is 11 days' journey.
Hongshan outdoor street market closes permanently
Posted byI am surprised that the article does not include the back-story for this market. I will give my own account from memory.
Until about 2007 or so, there was a very large covered market next to the railway tracks at the bottom of Hongshan Dong Lu in the corner of what is now the Banzhucuiyuan development, stretching back to approximately the modern location of McDonalds. It was also in what appeared to be a (roughly) converted factory.
When that market was closed down to make way for the Banzhucuiyuan development (stretching all the way across to Jianshe Lu), the vendors emerged along both sides of the Hongshan Dong Lu hill, and over the last few years the market grew up to its significant size.
At about the same time that the old market by the railway was shuttered (~2007ish, give or take a couple of years) a similarly locally significant market in Sujiatang (beneath the north-eastern end of Hongshan) was also shuttered. That market was (almost) on the corner of Jianshe Lu and Xuefu Lu.
With no real markets available, locals are being force to travel longer distances for their fruits and vegetables. This is compounded by the fact that Hongshan is ringed by one way streets - Dianmian Dadao and Xuefu Lu - and is probably a significant burden on older people who cannot easily carry large amounts of food.
The market at the top of Xuefu Lu has probably been one beneficiary, and was itself renovated and greatly improved last year (2016).
As a result of this market's removal, I would not be surprised to see the Hongshan Nan Lu market renovated this year as it's not really up to standards as far as cleanliness and drainage go.
There is some speculation that the removal of the Hongshan Dong Lu market is to prepare the road to be a larger thoroughfare from Xuefu Lu which is alleged to be under the process of being converted to a two way street (as well as having a metro line installed beneath it). Who knows how many years until this is all complete?
Getting Away: Ancient and little-explored Yunnanyi
Posted byLovely article. There is some text about Yunnanyi in the Manshu I am translating, at en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Manshu/Chapter_6
I recently acquired an aerial panorama of the area taken to document the airfield in the 1940s. If you are interested you can PM me to arrange a viewing.
Heshun: Old school charm in western Yunnan
Posted byFrom an ancient perspective, this was the road connecting India to Yunnan, interesting for a few reasons. For example, one modern theory from a respected academic is that the very name China derives not from the Qin Dynasty as often suggested, but from the description of the Yelang Kingdom in their own language as reached by Indian traders and travelers in antiquity. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinas for more information on that theory. Secondly, the Nanzhao Kingdom (Yunnan's very own regional empire) is known to have maintained contact with South and Southeast Asian powers along this route, including trade and the probable transmission of Buddhist religious philosophy. Finally, multiple East Asian Buddhist pilgrims to India are known to have traversed this route, important in the history of Mahayana Buddhism and the development and maintenance of Sanskrit literacy in ancient China.
@Alien: The important thing about Heshun, which the article failed to mention, is that it was the site of the first private museum in Yunnan... amusing food for thought given your comment of the town-to-museum transformation.
I visited many years ago, before the last decade of modern development, and it was indeed a very pleasant town preserving significant courtyard architecture.
Even from my incomplete survey then, there are certainly quite a few such towns around Tengchong, not only Heshun. At least one to the southeast.
@Peter99: Heshun is a village southwest of the city of Tengchong (formerly known as Tengyuan), and is quite distinct from it. I don't think there was a huge amount of casual travel southwest to Burma during most of history as the jungles were malarial, so I would be interested to hear what your source on Tibetan vistitations may be. AFAIK from visiting, even the Heshun natives would traditionally go make their money in Burma (through jade, gems, opium, etc.) then return to Heshun in old age - not come and go during their lives, presumably largely for this reason.
Celebrating a Miao Christmas in Yunnan
Posted byLet's see an Islamic equivalent for next year!