User profile: Ocean

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Marrying a local...

I wonder if anyone has been through the process of getting married to a local Chinese peson recently. I'm marrying my Chinese fiancee later this year (in Kunming) and would be interested in any advice/tips about the overall procedure (esp from Brits, as that will be my Embassy etc). Thanks.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Taxi drivers behaviour

I guess I've been really lucky. Four years living in Kunming, taking taxis almost every day, never (knowingly!) cheated. I've found Kunming taxi drivers to be amongst the most pleasant and helpful in China. Never tried to use one whilst bleeding though, to be fair!

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Forums > Food & Drink > non smoking

I went into Guo Zi Lou in WenLing Jie yesterday and they have "No Smoking" signs prominent (at least on the ground floor). Is that new?

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Forums > Living in Kunming > For Those Who Rail Against Chinese

"China" means different things to different people. I think some posts here are meaning the country, some the people, some the government, some the culture/habits. To me they have wildly differing levels of love/hate. And, of course, there is good and bad in every population/culture. Do I lose points for not being strident?

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Forums > Living in Kunming > For Those Who Rail Against Chinese

Some Chinese people have bad habits. Most don't. And there is definitely a difference between urban and rural levels of "decent behaviour". But the Chinese people also have a lot of admirable traits - patience, adaptibility, hospitality, curiousity, generosity. It's a shame if we forget, or dismiss, the all the positives because of a few people spitting. (My parents recall a campaign in the UK telling people "not to to spit" as recently as the 1960s!).

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I've heard the taxis around the rail station are "mafia" controlled and do, indeed, refuse to use meters or take certain passengers to certain places. I've found a brisk 5 minute walk up Beijing Lu and there are plenty of "non-controlled" taxis who will whisk you away.

I agree with @Alien. I can count the bad experiences with Kunming taxis on the fingers of one hand, despite living here 7 years and taking 2-3 taxis a week on average. I don't doubt others have had less positive experiences but I do wonder why. Compared to many other cities in Asia, the Kunming drivers seem to be generally honest and pleasant. Perhaps it's because I usually take taxis around the Green Lake area where they are frequent, and more used to having foreigners using them?

Sad to hear of the problems caused by the rain. But my neighbourhood has now had running water for 6 weeks, after a year and a half without. So I'm personally delighted to hear that thunder!

Reviews

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Much improved from a few years ago. Lots of interesting displays, with Plenty of English language translations. Nice open area in the middle where kids can have a run around. And it's free.

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The Bird and Flower Market hosts a Flea Market on Saturdays and Sundays, 9am to 6pm. There's 30-40 people selling stuff, but nearly all of it is "ancient" coins, comics, badges, ceramics, Mao memorabilia etc. The vendors have official-looking lanyards and numbered pitch sites. Nice for tourists, but not the free-for-all I had hoped for.

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This place is worth a visit although it's some way out of town and ticket prices are 200+ RMB per adult (the annual family pass is only 900 RMB though).

In "Ocean Park" you have a large aquarium, and dolphin/seal/beluga whale shows. The "Snow Park" there is huge indoor refrigerated building with various ice slides, aerial walkways, skiing, skating, ice sculptures etc. In addition the theme park has funfair rides and a circus (note: inc some animal performances). These are all part of the entrance fee. You could easily spend a whole day here or two days including travel from Kunming.

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Disappointing. We travelled to the end of the subway in ChengGong and took a Dididche to get to this place and see the "famous floral displays". But all the tulips are in a smallish greenhouse with a 30RMB fee. We wandered down by the lake instead (for free) which was OK. There are paths around the wetlands area according to maps, but we didn't have time/energy to explore them. Come for the wetlands perhaps, but give the "famous flowers" a miss!

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I've previously railed against this place's terrible customer service (despite having the best range of western food in Kunming). But things are definitely improving. You no longer have to show a card on arrival (a QR code will do as you check out), your bags are not taken off you in order to get in, there are trolley-cars for kids to ride in and a lot of the food items that had gone missing over recent months seem to have been restocked.