Makye Ame, close to 西园路口 (tibetan fine dining + music).
CJF Mark close to The Bridge at the 金鼎园 bus stop (muslim fusion food).
These are the clear winners in my book if it comes down to food + mood; most other places with good food worth its price (this last part is important, the even more expensive restaurants like Shiping Huiguan just aren't worth it) in Kunming doesn't have a very romantic atmosphere (or any atmosphere at all except for kafkaesque horror), but these two do.
well, the purpose is sort of to do this as cheaply as possible (within resonable limits), so flights are out of the picture, and going directly to Hekou is probably the way to go about it, as opposed to Kunming-Nanning-Hanoi. And I would like to see Sapa. But my 妹妹 is going with me, as it turned out, and sort of masochist, so I dunno, maybe she'd prefer a hard seat to Nanning...
I had no idea the Nanning-Hanoi-line existed, and it does sound convenient, but I'm still leaning towards a bit more adventure and seeing a bit more of Vietnam. Thank you for your good advice everybody, I'm definitely doing this now.
Will I do fine exchanging my remaining RMB for vietnamese money on the border, or do I need US dollars?
There is a small second hand computer market at the Zhangguangyin Second Hand Market; you'll find it at the 观音寺 bus stop, number 1 among others go there.
Henri: from the square before the Kunming train station (昆明站), walk east along the road that goes in that direction, past a small bus station on a corner on your left. Soon afterwards, again on your left, will be a small bus stop for a K something bus (maybe K5?), hidden beneath a few trees. One of the stops on the sign will read 官渡古镇. Get on this bus; it's an express bus that's rather comfortable and stops just right outside Guandu Old Town. It'll take forever to get there, but eventually the bus'll pass some archaic-looking gatetowers on the west side of an extremely long and straight road; this is where the Guandu Old Town starts, so get off here. (The speakers will hopefully say 'Guandu guzhen', otherwise, ask the driver).
Ximeng is a very nice place, with beautiful scenery and amazing barbequed fish; most of the interesting food is located in stalls just outside the gorgeous but overpriced Longtan park (sneaking in without paying wouldn't be very difficult, though). There is decent restaurants in town as well, but it's true that they're not that special.
However, in the end, I have to say Ximeng isn't really worth your time unless you know locals (with cars) who can take you to the ton of interesting-but-unknown places in the area. There's village festivities, beautiful waterfalls and lakes (for bathing!), Dai buddhist temples, sacrificial grounds, local shamans, musicians and instrument makers, forests with (fake) rock paintings and bisarre and enormous trees, etc, but I would never have found or been able to go to one single of these things without having local friends take me there.
Therefore, I feel that I must actually, and regrettably, discourage people from going to Ximeng, unless you have access to a car and local area knowledge. If you do have these things, however, Ximeng can be amazing, just like many other remote, off-the-beaten-track parts of China.
well, the guy might reasonably have been a threat to individuals in China, which makes him no different from the way terrorist are a threat to the US; no terrorist organisation are in any way an even a remotely serious threat to the US as a nation, the only thing they threaten are the lives on individual americans, and that would arguably make this drug lord comparatively dangerous, as he has apparently ordered various large killings and stuff. There is no particularly strong dividing line between terrorists, rebels and large-scale criminal leaders, and one is not necessarily more dangerous to civilians than the other, with terror-like methods being employed even in situations like the drug war raging in Mexico. What I mean by this is that notions like 'drone strikes should be reserved against terrorists' are rather problematic, as there's not always that much separating Al-Qaida from drug cartels, not to mention various insurgencies, whether their cause is perceived as legitimate or not.
The temple itself is interesting, but small; the surrounding exhibitions range from pointless and boring to rather fascinating, but you really need to know chinese or have somebody translating for you to get anything out of it. If you only have limited time in Kunming, skip it and head for the Bamboo Temple instead. Otherwise it's worth a visit.
Though overpriced, the bread is good and the pizza not bad (though a bit small). However, this place score tons of points for the great and cozy atmosphere, it's absolutely worth repated visits.
The temple itself is not very interesting, but the grounds are beautiful and the adjoining park (Admission fee: 5 yuan) makes for a pleasant stroll or picknick in a quaint and somewhat forgotten corner of Kunming. I don't know if people are ever allowed into the pagoda;if so, it would make for a grand view of the city, and be worth one extra star. Definitely worth a visit. Note that the temple compund and the park is connected via an underpass just behind the park's west gate.
Getting Away: Guandu Old Town
Posted byHenri: from the square before the Kunming train station (昆明站), walk east along the road that goes in that direction, past a small bus station on a corner on your left. Soon afterwards, again on your left, will be a small bus stop for a K something bus (maybe K5?), hidden beneath a few trees. One of the stops on the sign will read 官渡古镇. Get on this bus; it's an express bus that's rather comfortable and stops just right outside Guandu Old Town. It'll take forever to get there, but eventually the bus'll pass some archaic-looking gatetowers on the west side of an extremely long and straight road; this is where the Guandu Old Town starts, so get off here. (The speakers will hopefully say 'Guandu guzhen', otherwise, ask the driver).
Getting Away: Ximeng's Wooden Drum Festival
Posted byXimeng is a very nice place, with beautiful scenery and amazing barbequed fish; most of the interesting food is located in stalls just outside the gorgeous but overpriced Longtan park (sneaking in without paying wouldn't be very difficult, though). There is decent restaurants in town as well, but it's true that they're not that special.
However, in the end, I have to say Ximeng isn't really worth your time unless you know locals (with cars) who can take you to the ton of interesting-but-unknown places in the area. There's village festivities, beautiful waterfalls and lakes (for bathing!), Dai buddhist temples, sacrificial grounds, local shamans, musicians and instrument makers, forests with (fake) rock paintings and bisarre and enormous trees, etc, but I would never have found or been able to go to one single of these things without having local friends take me there.
Therefore, I feel that I must actually, and regrettably, discourage people from going to Ximeng, unless you have access to a car and local area knowledge. If you do have these things, however, Ximeng can be amazing, just like many other remote, off-the-beaten-track parts of China.
Mystery man posing as Beijing official in Yunnan
Posted bywell, the cool thing is he doesn't seem to do it for monetary gain, so we're imagining some kind of idealist fuck-the-system-guy here ^_^
Mystery man posing as Beijing official in Yunnan
Posted byWhoever he is, he's awesome.
China considered Myanmar drone strike during manhunt
Posted bywell, the guy might reasonably have been a threat to individuals in China, which makes him no different from the way terrorist are a threat to the US; no terrorist organisation are in any way an even a remotely serious threat to the US as a nation, the only thing they threaten are the lives on individual americans, and that would arguably make this drug lord comparatively dangerous, as he has apparently ordered various large killings and stuff. There is no particularly strong dividing line between terrorists, rebels and large-scale criminal leaders, and one is not necessarily more dangerous to civilians than the other, with terror-like methods being employed even in situations like the drug war raging in Mexico. What I mean by this is that notions like 'drone strikes should be reserved against terrorists' are rather problematic, as there's not always that much separating Al-Qaida from drug cartels, not to mention various insurgencies, whether their cause is perceived as legitimate or not.