@Alien: the Chinese system

Geezer said he was repeatedly told that the Chinese tax system is so complex that no foreigner could ever try to understand it.

The laws on the books are probably a lot less complex than the US system, but a lot of the terms are poorly defined, and enforcement is extremely arbitrary.

Most, if not all companies cook their books in very complicated ways to avoid taxes (whereas US companies cook the laws themselves). It's so rampant that tax liaison officers get in on the game, because a couple of honest tax reports in their case files can make all the numbers start to look anomalous.

For another example, anyone in China who earns more than 120,000 a year is supposed to fill out a personal tax return, but I have yet to meet anyone who has done it.

Another example: Most CCTV employees are only officially paid salaries just under the threshold for payroll taxes (around 2000 a month). They make up the rest of their salary (sometimes tens of thousands a month) by collecting as many fapiaos as they can, which CCTV reports as expenses and doesn't have to pay payroll or profit taxes on.

Lenovo has several official service centers in Kunming. Here's the page that allows you to look them up on a map:

support1.lenovo.com.cn/[...]

Looks like there's a Thinkpad service center near Xiao Cai Yuan interchange.

Alternatively, you can talk to one of the official Lenovo dealers in the computer markets. They should be able to order parts for you as well.

@Geezer: thanks for the sources.

As a small business owner who has also worked in various companies in China over the years, my impression is that it's not the rules that are a confusing mess, but the way everybody behaves and is expected to behave within the system.

To clarify, Chinese hospitals generally do not accept US insurance cards when it's time to cough up the cash, but most insurance plans will reimburse you after the fact.

@Geezer: That article was hotly debated by a lot of people. Here's a good summary of the other side:

www.taxanalysts.com/[...]