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.
It equally seems inappropriate that in a country where people struggle to get adequate nutrition that by you have people driving jaguars & BMWs and innumerable Gucci/Prada/Louis Vuitton boutiques...not to mention the obsessions with smartphones.... c'est la vie I suppose.
So, after a few weeks of trying to get over the shock of the site looking so different, I have to say I still am loathe to come onto GoKunming with the new look. Don't get me wrong, there are great improvements and the site design has some pluses... however, it is not a site design that works with large multicolored advertisements running everywhere. The dark background of the older site made these seem less garish, but the new light color gradually just means that all I see is the ads.
As a second (related) note, this site does look nice on touch devices, but the lack of framing (like the old site had) can make going through the forums or classifieds an irritating experience.
yes, the observatory is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is open for educational visits to the public. They have a great observation tower with a sun telescope you can view (which is 7 flights of stairs up an old Maoist era tower—very cool), as well as an older but still cool IMAX dome-style theater where you watch some films about movement of the stars in Yunnan (all in Chinese). There aren't any foreign staff, so the tour would be entirely in thick Kungminghau. There is also a great hole in the wall museum with old astronomical instruments, some meteor fragments and a few exhibits on Chinese astronomy.
When I was there 2 months ago, the old road the connects the observatory to the city had been torn out and we had to drive on muddy clay. It's also pretty far out (near the airportish), and the facility is OLD. Most of the scientists/their families/support staff are really friendly, and most had never seen a foreign visitor before.
If you have enough people who are interested, we could get a minibus and arrange a tour via their sister Zoological institute on Jiaochang Donglu.
I wouldnt exactly call all non-Euro/American principles of land ownership fair and equitable either. Many cultures have cut up the land they lived on and turned oases into deserts—definitely not a new "western" phenomenon. That said, in general the issue of the moon has been settled in principle by international conventions, but enforcement wasn't really included because no one has yet figured out how to extract resources from space and get them back to earth at a reasonable cost. Out of sheer curiosity though, what would be terrible about a country/company owning an asteroid and mining it? Don't get me wrong, seeing the coca-cola logo on the moon wouldn't be fun, but we are not nearly into that realm yet.
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.
Police shutter black market Kunming noodle-maker
Posted byBut it's authentic (ergo delicious) because its noodles, right?
Burger King Kunming grand opening and giveaway
Posted byIt equally seems inappropriate that in a country where people struggle to get adequate nutrition that by you have people driving jaguars & BMWs and innumerable Gucci/Prada/Louis Vuitton boutiques...not to mention the obsessions with smartphones.... c'est la vie I suppose.
Welcome to the new GoKunming!
Posted bySo, after a few weeks of trying to get over the shock of the site looking so different, I have to say I still am loathe to come onto GoKunming with the new look. Don't get me wrong, there are great improvements and the site design has some pluses... however, it is not a site design that works with large multicolored advertisements running everywhere. The dark background of the older site made these seem less garish, but the new light color gradually just means that all I see is the ads.
As a second (related) note, this site does look nice on touch devices, but the lack of framing (like the old site had) can make going through the forums or classifieds an irritating experience.
best of luck in the growing pains.
Kunming observatory plays role in China moon shot
Posted byjojio,
yes, the observatory is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is open for educational visits to the public. They have a great observation tower with a sun telescope you can view (which is 7 flights of stairs up an old Maoist era tower—very cool), as well as an older but still cool IMAX dome-style theater where you watch some films about movement of the stars in Yunnan (all in Chinese). There aren't any foreign staff, so the tour would be entirely in thick Kungminghau. There is also a great hole in the wall museum with old astronomical instruments, some meteor fragments and a few exhibits on Chinese astronomy.
When I was there 2 months ago, the old road the connects the observatory to the city had been torn out and we had to drive on muddy clay. It's also pretty far out (near the airportish), and the facility is OLD. Most of the scientists/their families/support staff are really friendly, and most had never seen a foreign visitor before.
If you have enough people who are interested, we could get a minibus and arrange a tour via their sister Zoological institute on Jiaochang Donglu.
Kunming observatory plays role in China moon shot
Posted byI wouldnt exactly call all non-Euro/American principles of land ownership fair and equitable either. Many cultures have cut up the land they lived on and turned oases into deserts—definitely not a new "western" phenomenon. That said, in general the issue of the moon has been settled in principle by international conventions, but enforcement wasn't really included because no one has yet figured out how to extract resources from space and get them back to earth at a reasonable cost. Out of sheer curiosity though, what would be terrible about a country/company owning an asteroid and mining it? Don't get me wrong, seeing the coca-cola logo on the moon wouldn't be fun, but we are not nearly into that realm yet.