User profile: Ocean

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > Good places to go with kids in Xishuangbanna

GanLanBa is about 45 mins from JingHong by bus. It's three working Dai villages which you can wander around. You now have to pay an entry fee into the area, and there are evening dance shows at a central building (plus fake "water splashing" every day, a sad elephant/camel etc), but it's easy enough to avoid the tour-guided crowds, especially during the daytime. You can also sleep in some of the traditional Dai family houses which is fun, if basic. I haven't been for about 5 years, and it might have changed (for the worst), but I enjoyed it when I went and it's interesting enough to keep the children busy (temples, trees to climb, etc). There are also a lot of hotels with nice swimming pools in JingHong, if that's your thing.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Driver License Test

It's a limited time (45 mins? I forget how long exactly), but plenty. You only get one question at a time, though there is the chance to go back to earlier questions at the end (if you can remember their number). No paper or pen allowed.

They eventually managed to get the computers to return to the question where they crashed with scores/answers intact when I was there. It happened 2-3 times though and was disconcerting at first! Maybe they'll have sorted this by now - I took the test 3-4 months ago.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Driver License Test

In my experience...

...no questions about trucks, buses etc.
...about 60% of questions are "A, B, C, D", the others are "right or wrong"
...you don't see what questions you got wrong
...about 3-4 questions about mechanics
...about 50-60 people take the exam at the same time (on seperate computers, which regularly crash!)

I don't know how long you have to wait if you fail twice. Thankfully I passed second time!

Good luck!

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > India visa in Kunming?

I'd also be interested to know if such a travel agency can also arrange visas for other countries eg Mongolia, Bangladesh.

Also, does anyone know why all the rich Chinese folk in Kunming are suddenly holidaying in the Maldives these days? Is there a new direct flight? Some all-in deal? No need for a visa there??

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Mengzi North Station is some way from town as mentioned in the article. Unfortunately, the organised rank of buses pictured above is now a sprawl of taxis, private cars, 3-wheeled motorcycles and buses. Taxis cost about 40RMB to the city centre. Buses are 2RMB, but wait until packed full and only go to the bus station, which is still some way from downtown. The North Station is a temporary measure and locals said that the new station - more centrally located near HongHe University - is expected to be open by the end of the year. We'll see...

There is a huge new museum (HongHe Provincial) in the new town, which is worth a visit, primarily for the final section which is a great display of minority costumes, photos, tools, instruments etc.

I stayed at the HongDa JiuDian hotel (86-083-3735588) and highly recommend it. Rooms are 220RMB for a clean, quiet, well-appointed double. Staff are friendly. Breakfast is included and checkout is a late 2pm (which is great if you want to take the 3.50pm train back to Kunming). The lake and old town are 10 minutes walk away.

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.