Unless you're specialized in a particular industry that is in demand or independently wealthy, you will take a pretty large pay cut. Similarly, private school can be a bit tricky if you are not planning on sending the kids to public Chinese school. That said, if you make enough, quality of life can be quite nice. Pollution levels are about on par on most areas that people live, but transit is not nearly as convenient as it is in HK, so you may find yourself less mobile.
If you do require something specialized that China is not equipped to deal with (orthopedic surgery is a major one, or ongoing care for say cancer) you may want to buy additional insurance that includes medical evacuation to the nearest certified facilities (HK & Bangkok, or sometimes Aus/Europe). This is probably not necessary for 90% of people, but for some its nice to have. Packages like this run typically 7-15,000 RMB a year, and cover something in the range of 2 Million RMB in medical expenses per year.
Local and traditional are different. A large bit of local Kunming culture is not local at all, its quite metropolitan in its outlook—ie make loads of cash, travel the world, buy the latest iPhone, immigrate, etc. Traditional is closer to (I think) what MM is describing, such as eating local foods, appreciating the indigenous culture (which is different from local culture, but that's just semantics), live as many average people do and not in a western-style compound (even though the 'traditional' apartments in Kunming are soviet-bloc housing and ergo western), etc.
If the guy wants to come to Kunming, make a nice wad of cash, meet girls and get laid, then he probably doesn't want to live in the local culture by any stretch of the imagination. No comment on the merit of the goal, just saying it doesn't gel well with trad Chinese culture.
@voltaire. "greedy axe of capitalism" is a bit of a misnomer. Most of the damage in China (and the former USSR) was done under state-run initiatives. Providing people in the area with a long-term solution that creates sustainable income without cannabilizing their livelihoods is absolutely a capitalist venture, depending on how you look at it.
I flew out of the old airport and in to the new one this weekend, and there is a stark difference. All the signs are clearly marked in English and Chinese, staff are extremely helpful, everything is laid out logically and in general it is just a pleasure to walk through the gorgeous architecture.
The metro system was a bit less impressive as it actually ran far slower than most cars on the highway next to the track...but I expect things will speed up as the system is broken in. In all fairness, being able to walk down from the airport directly into the metro station is great, and the machines that sell the tickets for the metro system are easy to use. The cars were not bad, but at least for airport line it seemed they skimped on some of the extras (like a durable floor that doesn't show a million stains, handles to hold on to, or signs printed without typos). All in all really amazing to see how far Kunming is reaching.
Slight unrated update here... I was in again and spoke to Sandra's partner, and he agreed there could be a greater selection of items (especially meat/cheese-wise) so he mentioned that several new products would be coming out shortly. So, not to say that dudeson's review was inaccurate (given his description, it's an entirely fair assessment from his experience), but mostly just to report that there should be some things worth going back to try.
Interview: Economic ecologist Yi Zhuangfang
Posted by@voltaire. "greedy axe of capitalism" is a bit of a misnomer. Most of the damage in China (and the former USSR) was done under state-run initiatives. Providing people in the area with a long-term solution that creates sustainable income without cannabilizing their livelihoods is absolutely a capitalist venture, depending on how you look at it.
Riding into Kunming's future
Posted byI flew out of the old airport and in to the new one this weekend, and there is a stark difference. All the signs are clearly marked in English and Chinese, staff are extremely helpful, everything is laid out logically and in general it is just a pleasure to walk through the gorgeous architecture.
The metro system was a bit less impressive as it actually ran far slower than most cars on the highway next to the track...but I expect things will speed up as the system is broken in. In all fairness, being able to walk down from the airport directly into the metro station is great, and the machines that sell the tickets for the metro system are easy to use. The cars were not bad, but at least for airport line it seemed they skimped on some of the extras (like a durable floor that doesn't show a million stains, handles to hold on to, or signs printed without typos). All in all really amazing to see how far Kunming is reaching.