User profile: Geogramatt

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Forums > Living in Kunming > expat population in Kunming

I realize that there is no way for anyone (other than the PSB and Immigration dept.m perhaps) to produce actual statistics on this.

What I'm seeking instead is just guesses as to the average overall expat population in Kunming at any given time. My criteria for expat would exclude any tourists, but include foreign students studying for at least a year. It includes those gainfully employed, as well as Kunming's resident "retired population".

When describing Kunming to friends on the outside, I want to be able to throw out some ballpark figure - 1000? 5000? 10,000?

For those really willing, you can try to break it down by nationality.
Which nationality has the biggest population in Kunming?
Thai? Lao? Burmese? American? Brit?

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Forums > Living in Kunming > art galleries in Kunming

What is there in the way of art galleries in Kunming? I'm having a really hard time finding much.

I already know about Nordica and a couple galleries in that complex, but I'm looking for more.

Not art museums, but smaller galleries, with independent, contemporary artists and such.

Something like 798 in Beijing, or Moshangan Lu in Shanghai (yes, yes, obviously I know Kunming won't have anything remotely approximating the scale of those cities' art scenes, but I'm still hoping to find something resembling a scaled back version)

I did an exhaustive internet search for art gallery (画廊) in Chinese, and got very few results. A pursued a couple of those results and found that one was permanently closed, and one was not actually a gallery but the private home of an artist who recently closed his gallery because of poor business.

Any help in this matter would be much appreciated.

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > malaria pills available in Kunming?

I'm going to Cambodia soon and am trying to find malaria pills. I've asked around at a bunch of Kunming pharmacies for 抗疟疾药 (anti malaria medicine) and none of them have anything.
Anyone have any idea if they exist in this city? Thanks.

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Forums > Food & Drink > all-you-can-eat buffet in kunming?

I know that all-you-can-eat buffets are not common in China, but I'm wondering if there might happen to be any in Kunming. (I know the Box has one on Thursday night, but I'm talking about Chinese food, not Italian food).
I also know that the saunas often have all-you-can-eat buffets, but I'm looking for a restaurant, not a sauna.

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@AlexKMG
They've already got tourist ziplines! They're north of Fugong. 10 kuai for a ride.

Most of the ziplines have already been replaced by hundreds of new bridges over the last several years. Nothing new about Li Keqiang's announcement.

I'd been eyeing Nizu on Google Earth and salivating for about three years now, and seeing this article set my mind to finally go there and cross this off my Yunnan bucket list.

Just got back from there yesterday so here's my report.

We were in Yading and thought we could find a way to drive direct to Luoji from Daocheng County, Sichuan, just as @bluppfisk assumed. Unfortunately, in our efforts to get any information about such a road from the Sichuan side, we were told again and again it was impossible. So we instead took the 75 km dirt road through Langdu, past the Meixiang yak cheese factory, to Gezan, looping around to Nizu the long way.

The concrete road from Luoji to Nizu is now finished (ahead of time, apparently, judging by Lisa's late 2015 estimate). It's a steep, narrow, winding road, but it is smooth and must be a lot quicker than the old road.

There are no tickets or fees administered on this side.

The valley in which Nizu rests is indeed idyllic.

The Nizu Roadhouse is a bit hard to find as there are no signs. But by asking locals where the "waiguoren de kezhan" is, we were able to find it, situated at the very top of the village. Quite a challenge to drive there, as the dirt road is very narrow and steep in parts. Recommend parking down the hill and walking up instead.

The guesthouse is charming and full of character just as expected. We looked forward to meeting Kevin and were sorry he wasn't there, but Mr. and Mrs. Gu took care of us.

No wifi (I'm guessing Kevin keeps it that way on purpose), no hot water, and no working toilets when we were there, but that's a small price to pay for the privilege of staying in such a beautiful, untouched corner of the world.

Seriously, this is one of the prettiest villages I've ever been to in Yunnan, and I've been to a lot of villages. So far, very little signs of negative development.

All around Nizu on three sides are mountains, forests, pastures, and trails. The trails begin immediately behind the Nizu Roadhouse.

You can hike from here to Pudacuo National Park the back way without buying a ticket (just stay away from the developed areas with the boardwalks and shuttle bus stops if you want to stay under the radar).

In a rare twist, the trails here are actually well-signed with markers installed by the Three Parallel Rivers UNESCO office.

As @Kaiwen said, Shiloh the dog is no longer, but there are two friendly cats who will keep you company.

Price is 120 per person, including dinner and breakfast. The "best-stocked bar" Lisa wrote about only had Dali beer when we were there, but maybe Kevin will remedy that upon his return.

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!