User profile: Geogramatt

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Forums > Food & Drink > Over-Charging Foriegners; Slave Labour

The cafes you named in Kunming would hardly be the first to charge much more for coffee than it costs them to make.

I attribute this to the fact that coffee in China is a lifestyle commodity. Most Chinese people drink it because it conveys a sense of social status and sophistication, not because they like the taste (though some might). Same reason Luis Vuitton can charge more for its bags. I like coffee but I rarely order it in restaurants (except for Salvadore's before 2pm...that's a good deal). If you like coffee so much, but (like me) are too cheap to pay Kunming prices for it, I suggest you make it yourself at home.

And btw 2000 rmb in Kunming is not "slave labor" but the standard service sector wage. There are farmers who make less than that in a year.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Does China have any culture remaining??

What's the point of this thread? It seems like inflammatory bait to me.

"Culture" is one of the broadest concepts in existence. It includes food, language, religion, dress, music, art, belief, social mores. There's high culture and low culture, ancient culture and modern culture, and everything in between.

Culture evolves and culture wanes, but it is always there in some form.

If the OP is looking for a serious discussion, I suggest narrowing down the question to whatever particular facet or manifestation of culture he is interested in understanding.

For example, "is there any Peking Opera remaining in China today?" is a much more answerable question

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Forums > Living in Kunming > vee pee enn

Just a follow up to my original post

I signed up for Astrill's OpenVPN AND Stealth VPN, altogether cost about $200/year.
So far, I've been pretty disappointed with the service.
A lot of the time I have difficulty connecting. Sometimes when I finally do connect it works for a while only do disconnect. Maybe it's a little bit better than Witopia, but not by much. And at least with the Witopia the customer service was always prompt and thorough. Astrill's customer service sucks.

When my Astrill expires I'll be looking for a new VPN service...once again.

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"Not modeled after anywhere in particular in Yunnan"?

Are you kidding?!

Shuangshan is OBVIOUSLY Dali

Reviews

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This is a really nice new restaurant in Dali. High quality vegetarian and vegan food, varied menu, daily specials. They make their own kombucha, too. The environment is very chill...multiple layers, floor seating, an outdoor courtyard and terrace balcony overlooking the the roofs of the neighbors in old Dali

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Serendipity is an honest-to-gosh American style diner, a concept I don't think I've ever really seen before in China.

They do salads, burgers, and pasta dishes, but the true stars of the menu are the breakfasts, which are served all day.

No measly hostel breakfast sets, these ones come with heaping servings of bacon and eggs and bottomless coffee.

No table seating. Everyone sits around the counter, where you can see what's going on in the kitchen and chat with the friendly staff.

The fresh donuts are the best I've had in China

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The 68 kuai Saturday night all-you-can-eat buffet is a terrific deal.

Steak, pork loin, chicken schnitzel, pizza, two kinds of salad, creme de caramel, cheesecake, and lots of other stuff.

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Recently experienced both very early morning departure and very late night arrival at Changshui. Was worried about making the connection to and from the airport, but both turned out well.

First, the departure. It was 7:30 am. I arranged a taxi to pick me up at 5:00. That he did. Cost: 100 yuan.

The departure was scheduled for 12:30 am, was delayed, and didn't get in until 2:30 am. I was sure I'd have to find a black cab, and wasn't even sure if I would find that. Instead, I was delighted to discover that the Airport Express Bus was still running! For 25 yuan it took me to the train station, where I then caught a cab for the short ride the rest of the way home. I was very impressed by this late night bus. I'd thought the buses only ran till around 11 pm-midnight. I don't know if this is a regular occurrence or not. Maybe, knowing my flight was delayed and there would be hundreds of passengers looking for a ride home, the airport dispatched an extra bus. If so, kudos to whoever was responsible!