Just got back from work in the Cizhong area and the contiguous road down the valley from the Weixi area is still not complete. South of Cizhong in Weixi county the main road currently leaves the Lancang River and heads towards the town of Weixi, continuing past there to Shangri-La and Lijiang. Work is currently underway to build a new road that stays with the river when the main road leaves the Lancang in Weixi county but this is not complete yet. You will probably need to change your plans and re-route from Weixi to someplace like Lijiang or Dali and then reconnect with the Lancang from there...
What is the invite application letter that is now needed? Is this the same as getting an invitation letter from a Chinese citizen for a tourist visa? Seems silly that you'd need to be invited for a residence permit to a place where you already live (if renewing) by your own spouse...
The traveling part when school is in session still worries me a bit as a student who is supposed to be here to do research, which means travel is essential to what I'm doing. The guy from the campus foreign students office told me not to worry about it too much but then simultaneously has said I should show up to language classes when I'm in Kunming sometimes to keep the PSB happy. People have been coming to China for years on student visas with the sole purpose of doing research, but after these changes it still worries me a bit that next year when I need to renew the PSB will have some issue with all the travel I've done. Hopefully others are right and its a non-issue with public universities and just the private schools...
Student visas can be used for research as I am currently doing, but it must be facilitated through a public university, not through a private language school. You also need to have a sponsor/local advisor from the faculty at the university who will be the supervisor for your project. If you'll be working less than six months you can also simply get an invitation letter for an M used to be F visa which can be used for shorter term research. In all cases for things to be fully official, the university will also need to vet and get your research approved by the provincial foreign affairs office as well.
After a lot of searching last year my fiancé and I found a decent jewelry department within a big department store downtown that was able to weld and resize her engagement ring which I bought in the states. It's in the large square near Nanping Jie and the bus turnaround loop and the sidewalk water fountains. Don't know the name of the store but it's right on the edge of the square and the jewelry department is on the 4th or 5th floor.
Two quick factual corrections, one of which was my fault. Cizhong is actually still in Deqin county, not Weixi, I misspoke. Second is that Benzilan is actually on the Jinsha not the Nujiang. Thanks to everyone at GoKunming for this great feature!
@ Geogramatt, there's actually a sticky little provision that the government managed to stick into the original designation for Three Parallel Rivers which says the World Heritage site only includes areas above a specific elevation (don't have the figures on me at the moment), thus actually excluding the dams from the heritage site. UNESCO has been expressing a lot of concern over the overall impact of the dams on the site, but by technicality it would be impacts that are created from outside the actual world heritage area giving UNESCO a little less footing to stand on since no dams are being built within the actual UNESCO designated area.
They've also threatened to revoke Lijiang's status multiple times over the years ever since the Chinese installed the bright neon lights on everything but it's never actually happened; I just don't think the UN has the guts to do that to the Chinese government.
Completely agree! The Exploration of Yunnan and it's updated version Yunnan South of the Clouds are quintessential resources for those of us who live and work here in Yunnan. Even as a researcher who has been coming here on and off over the past 8 years I never leave home without Goodman's guide and always find his information continually useful.
Just recently I in fact got a review back on an academic paper in which I cited him on the history of missionaries in the northwest and was told his book was an unreliable source by a reviewer, to which I responded to the editors that I completely disagreed. Goodman is by far the best non-academic person publishing on the Southwest; the Peter Hessler of Yunnan! His biography of Joseph Rock available at Mandarin Books is also incredible useful seeing as how the original biography of Rock by S.B. Sutton published in the 70's is now long out of print and incredibly expensive.
Nice post about a great local mountain climb in Yunnan! A few words of caution though. I have climbed Haba and while it is indeed techically non-technical (pardon the pun), the last section in entirely on the glacier and as noted indeed reaquires somewhat skilled crampon use/walking. Over tha past several years a number of people have indeed died because they were inexperienced walking on ice or possibly didn't know how to self arrest after slipping. As long as you stay on route via a path of bamboo wands, crevasses are not a concern. But having had some expereince walking with crampons and the ability to self arrest is also advised, and many seem to have attempted the climb without taking this into consideration.
I don't seek to scare anyone off from Haba. It's a great climb, but having some prior experience or climbing with someone who does is a really good idea. Having worked as a climbing instructor, safety and experience is always a high priority in my mind. Some of the local guides also don't carry and ice axe, but this is also something that I would recommend.
Interview: Anthropologist Brendan Galipeau
Posted byTwo quick factual corrections, one of which was my fault. Cizhong is actually still in Deqin county, not Weixi, I misspoke. Second is that Benzilan is actually on the Jinsha not the Nujiang. Thanks to everyone at GoKunming for this great feature!
Hani terraces garner UNESCO status
Posted by@ Geogramatt, there's actually a sticky little provision that the government managed to stick into the original designation for Three Parallel Rivers which says the World Heritage site only includes areas above a specific elevation (don't have the figures on me at the moment), thus actually excluding the dams from the heritage site. UNESCO has been expressing a lot of concern over the overall impact of the dams on the site, but by technicality it would be impacts that are created from outside the actual world heritage area giving UNESCO a little less footing to stand on since no dams are being built within the actual UNESCO designated area.
They've also threatened to revoke Lijiang's status multiple times over the years ever since the Chinese installed the bright neon lights on everything but it's never actually happened; I just don't think the UN has the guts to do that to the Chinese government.
20 years in Yunnan with Jim Goodman
Posted byCompletely agree! The Exploration of Yunnan and it's updated version Yunnan South of the Clouds are quintessential resources for those of us who live and work here in Yunnan. Even as a researcher who has been coming here on and off over the past 8 years I never leave home without Goodman's guide and always find his information continually useful.
Just recently I in fact got a review back on an academic paper in which I cited him on the history of missionaries in the northwest and was told his book was an unreliable source by a reviewer, to which I responded to the editors that I completely disagreed. Goodman is by far the best non-academic person publishing on the Southwest; the Peter Hessler of Yunnan! His biography of Joseph Rock available at Mandarin Books is also incredible useful seeing as how the original biography of Rock by S.B. Sutton published in the 70's is now long out of print and incredibly expensive.
Changshui Airport set to debut
Posted byAny info regarding what will happen to the airport booking code for flights? Will it still be KMG who will Changshui get a new code?
Getting away: Haba Snow Mountain
Posted byNice post about a great local mountain climb in Yunnan! A few words of caution though. I have climbed Haba and while it is indeed techically non-technical (pardon the pun), the last section in entirely on the glacier and as noted indeed reaquires somewhat skilled crampon use/walking. Over tha past several years a number of people have indeed died because they were inexperienced walking on ice or possibly didn't know how to self arrest after slipping. As long as you stay on route via a path of bamboo wands, crevasses are not a concern. But having had some expereince walking with crampons and the ability to self arrest is also advised, and many seem to have attempted the climb without taking this into consideration.
I don't seek to scare anyone off from Haba. It's a great climb, but having some prior experience or climbing with someone who does is a really good idea. Having worked as a climbing instructor, safety and experience is always a high priority in my mind. Some of the local guides also don't carry and ice axe, but this is also something that I would recommend.