@tommann
I just bought my first bag of Sal's beans today. Colin says they're 100% Arabica, grown in 潞江 of the Nujiang Valley. Looking forward to my first brew tomorrow morning!
I'm reviving an ancient thread so that I'm not accused of duplication.
Anyone know where, in 2013, one can find Arabica coffee beans for sale in Kunming, as opposed to Robusta? I imagine a lot may have changed between 2009 and 2013 regarding the Yunnan coffee market
I heard a rumor that there is a small shop tucked away somewhere in the Bird and Flower market that sells antique maps. So far I have yet to find it. Anyone have any clue?
This won't be helpful for those wishing to ship bikes on long-distance trains, but should still be interesting information for those interesting in sending their bikes on shorter distances.
After two years of putting my bike under long-distance buses, I discovered a couple week ago that it is possible and very easy to take a bike aboard any of the local trains (城际, that is, the trains which don't have a "K" or "T" in the name, just numbers). I took my bike on the #7452 train to the Stone Forest (石林). I didn't arrange anything ahead of time. I simply walked my bike into Kunming train station 10 minutes before my train, carried it right aboard the train, was told to stash it in the first car, which is largely empty with no seating, and that was that. Oh, I had to pay a 1 yuan "shipping fee".
This was so much easier than putting my bike on a bus. No need to go to the distant bus stations. No need to take apart the bike. And really cheap (to Stone Forest station was only 7.5 yuan).
The only drawback is, the local trains are rather slow, as they stop at every single little station. But if you've got time to spare, it's a good option for getting around North and East Yunnan.
Other local (城际) trains from Kunming include:
#2638 to Nanning, via Luoping
#6162 to Panzhihua, via Heijing and Yuanmou
#6062 to Liupanshui, via Qujing
I like a good geographical mystery. So I tried to locate it on Google Earth. However, I couldn't find any sign of it. Odd, you'd think the runway would show up in the satellite image. Must be that the satellite imagery in this area is out-of-date. Search for Lugu Airport's lat/long didn't turn up anything either. A real mystery! Though I agree with Philou, his wild guess is pretty good, as that's the closest flat valley to Lugu
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Geogramatt
This guesthouse no longer exists.
Geogramatt
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
Geogramatt
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
Geogramatt
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.
Geogramatt
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!
A tale of countryside drinking in Yunnan, or How I killed all the fish
Posted by"The Dick"
Looks like the original draft didn't make it through the GoKunming censors ;)
Property conglomerate Hang Lung opens Spring City 66, Kunming's tallest building
Posted by@dolphin
Yes, I think the shit will hit the fan. By which I mean China is facing at the very least a prolonged recession, or worst. Something akin to Japan's "lost decade" (in reality lost *three* decades). There are just too many forces for this to not happen. Demographic, structural, developmental, geopolitical. The dang knows it, that's why they're preparing people to "weather the coming storm". It's just not normal to have 30 years of nonstop growth. If China wants to have "capitalism with Chinese characteristics" then it can't avoid the periodic crises that are inherent in capitalism.
I'm in China at the moment, but based outside China long-term, and as @lemon lover surmised, I've got no real money to "transfer out".
Property conglomerate Hang Lung opens Spring City 66, Kunming's tallest building
Posted by@Liumingke1234 and @Ishmael I agree it's all very unsustainable. When the shit hits the proverbial fan these places will be the first to go belly up. Symbols of China's early 21st century excess at its peak.
Property conglomerate Hang Lung opens Spring City 66, Kunming's tallest building
Posted by@Ishmael and @Liumingke1234
Not to sound like a capitalist pig here, but this is not a government project. It's a private sector project by a Hong Kong-based property developer. Property developers are in the business of developing property, not funding poverty relief, education, health, etc.
While I don't disagree with you that Kunming has a glut of of unnecessary luxury shopping malls, the urban planner in me has to defend this project purely based on its location. This project is located right on top of Kunming's first and so-far only subway transfer station, at the confluence of the main North-South and East-West trunk line subways. A location like this makes total sense for a big, magnet multi-use project like this. People will be able to come here by subway, reducing the amount of car traffic downtown. This is much better planning than the more suburban shopping malls like those around Dianchi which are more auto-oriented than transit-oriented.
The historical evolution of Yunnan's Zhongdian, aka Shangri-la
Posted byGreat article as always.
One little geographical typo, though, in the 8th paragraph.
The county referred to as "Diqing" (迪庆县) should in fact be "Deqin" (德钦县) 。 Diqing (迪庆州, or 迪庆藏族自治州 in full) is the name of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to which Zhongdian (中甸) aka Shangri-La/Xianggelila (香格里拉县),Deqin (德钦县), and Weixi (维西县) Counties belong.