User profile: Xiefei

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Forums > Living in Kunming > electric grill?

A gas grill wouldn't produce any more smoke than an electric one. I've never had any problems. I'm not sure if they've got electric ones, but B&Q is worth checking out. It's a home supply and hardware store near the entrance to the Expo. In Chinese, it's called 百安居 (bai an ju)

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Forums > Living in Kunming > electric grill?

I would check B&Q. I'd also recommend considering a gas grill, which B&Q sells too. You can probably find someone in your neighborhood to deliver small tanks of gas for it.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Certificate of good conduct/no criminal record?

I take it you're applying for a labor permit. It's a new regulation that seems to be enforced in some, but not all Chinese cities.
If you have records of previous employment in China here, that will be enough. If you're applying to work at a big company with guanxi, a letter might do the trick.
The certificate is not for good conduct in China, but for a clean criminal record back home. The official procedure is to get the certificate from local officials in your home town, and have it notarized by the Chinese Embassy in London.
Basically they implemented the new regulation without putting much thought into how people would actually go about doing it.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Tea

All natural teas are healthy, and are alternatives to coffee. Coffee isn't actually that bad for you in moderation, as long as you don't load it with sugar and whipped cream a-la starbucks.
The genetic variations between teas are quite minimal. Most of the difference is in the processing. Try to stick to the high grade stuff, and make sure it was harvested recently (this year). In general, teas are lower in caffeine, but have other compounds with stimulating effect. They also tend to have lots of antioxidants as well as compounds found to detoxify the body. But in general, it's just good for you, while lots of beverages, such as corn syrup-based soft drinks, are probably bad.
Just try some teas out until you find a flavor you like.
I stay away from the new age herbal blends and the local flower teas, but I'm just a purist.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > health system in China

The best thing to do is to make sure you're covered at home (especially if you're American...). Most routine stuff in China won't end up costing much anyway. The insurance you should look for, usually an international thing, is evacuation insurance, which will pay for a med-evac in case of something really bad happening.

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Not sure about voting, but I do know about the archive. Yunfest keeps an archive of films at the Yunnan Provincial Library, including many of the films from their previous festivals. You can't take them out of the library, but there is a small private screening room on the premises. Alternatively, you can catch some of the older films during the regular Sunday screenings at Yuansheng Theater, which should resume after the festival.

It sounds like a great idea. Kunming has always been the center for training Chinese professional cyclists, and I'm constantly running into large groups of local hobbyists when I'm riding around the surrounding mountains.

The one thing I'd wonder about is how manageable such a large management structure would be. Sounds a bit like herding cats. Marc should keep a close eye on how the management works at that football club.
As for traffic, it does blow, but it gets a lot better once you're out of the city and up on the mountains.

I've been following these comments rather closely as the attack happened just a few days before I went home for the holidays, and I feel a bit cut off.

I read the comments that were removed and they contained profanity, threats and overall very negative and insulting stuff. If those people had dissenting political views that were expressed in rational, respectful terms, then I would have been against removing them. But the vitriol contained in them threatened to drag the entire forum down into an increasingly ugly flame war. I think their deletion was a good idea.

@ Dre:

I understand your frustration, and for the most part, agree with you. However, I don't think comments should be strictly limited to information about the incident, because I don't think we as readers will be able to come up with anything more than what's already been said, and I think there's a need among people in the community to come to terms with the incident emotionally.
Having said that, I think that it was right for the editors to delete bigoted or threatening posts, because those aren't helping anybody.

@ the ether:
There is anti-foreign sentiment out there, and while some of that might be the result of drunken antics or bad behavior in the community, a lot of it is linked to international political incidents or other things beyond our control. Regardless of the source, none of that makes the bombing our fault. I strive to be respectful of others in all of my affairs, and I push my friends to do the same, not to avoid becoming the target of an attack, but because that is how I was raised.

A lot of us, myself included, have an instinctive urge to respond angrily to negative posts or insinuations that we are all a bunch of jackasses who deserve it. Let's all try to keep cool heads when dealing with this stuff. Perhaps we might be able to change a few minds in the process.

Following along the lines of Timkunming, I'm amazed that the international press hasn't picked up this story as well. In fact, I've been doing frequent web searches and haven't turned up anything beyond the expat blogs.

The police may have a lot of pressure from government departments above them, but so far no one from the press is there to breath down their necks. If we want to hear anything at all about the results of the investigation, we need the international press asking questions. Start writing those letters to the editors, people.

Reviews

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Right next to my office, so I eat here pretty often. The place has a nice garden design with lots of outdoor seating for nice days.

A nice menu of Western food with solid brunch choices, fresh fruit juice mixes, and good salads. The burger is also very good.

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Excellent Thai food served in a beautiful art deco setting. The bar is also top notch, with great cocktails, whiskys and cigars.

When the weather is good, try to get a table on the rooftop garden, which offers views of the Bird and Flower market.

May be a little pricier than some of the other Thai restaurants in town.

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An exciting new gallery space built from an old factory warehouse in the Paoluda Creative Industry Park. Looking forward to seeing what they'll do with it.

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A great little place in the middle of a beautiful valley chock full of great climbing spots.

The beds and rooms are very comfortable, though the bathrooms are shared, and of the "eco" variety (a plus as far as I'm concerned).

The owners are very helpful about everything from info on climbing spots to trip planning and getting around the area.

Also, the place is dirt cheap. I wholeheartedly recommend it.