User profile: bubblyian

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Diarrhea issues

@LL Many thanks for your comments - much appreciated. I will study what you suggest.

I am not convinced about the 'learn to live with it' philosophy. I tried that for the first 18 months, with minimal success. Maybe my system is just too old to adapt.

Yes, a lab test would be great - if you have any suggestions as to how/where to organise it and what exactly to ask for.

Thanks again for your detailed comments.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Diarrhea issues

Losing weight for free is easy - just don't eat anything! Yes, i have lost 12kg so far, but cannot afford to lose anymore - 10kg before I started experimenting, and another 2 kg since - (holding around 68kg for the last year or so 1.82m you can work out my BMI). Sure, being able to eat as many cakes, chocolates and ice cream without worrying about my weight is an advantage, but always having to be aware of where's the nearest toilet (one of my first Chinese phrases), is hugely inconvenient. I rarely visit shopping centres. The public toilets on the main roads are great (but watch out for early closing and repair shutdowns!), but for example I can no longer use Starbucks as they have switched policies after refitting and no longer have public toilets. I don't have very long to get to a toilet. It is not a nice experience, hence my determination to try and remove all possible causes. Yes, certain cooking oils (particular 'old' and over-reused oil) and other spices are also risk factors, plus the 'hidden spice substitute' in frozen foods 'xin xiang liao', plus even the 'bread' here is mostly sweet, and also causes my stomach problems (only safe bread is the French baguette, plus just discovered Metro offer an unsweetened slices loaf for 'toasting', which is great).

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Diarrhea issues

Sorry for the unmentionable subject, but I thought it might be useful to post the outcome of my self-research and experiment over the last few years. This is my experience. It may not help you, if you also have D. problems, but maybe will help you think about the possible causes.
When I first arrived in Kunming, around five years ago, I decided to try eating whatever and wherever my local Chinese friends did. I enjoyed a wide variety of food, but spent an inordinate amount of time in toilets and used up huge amounts of toilet paper!
Around three years ago, I thought I would start experimenting to see if I could identify the causes and try and reduce my visits to the loo. This is the (incomplete) summary of my findings. I stress it has not been possible to fully eliminate D. from my life, but almost...
1) Tap water. This is the biggest single enemy. Washing salads or other vegetables is guaranteed D. I use mineral water (MW) for all cooking, including boiling veg and even rice/noodles/pasta. I carefully protect my plate, knife, fork, spoon, toothbrush and wash in boiling MW before AND after use. I do not share these items with my family. Ever. I am careful in the shower, not to get TW in my mouth, and all other locations

TW is the enemy. Avoid!
2) It is normal to eat with your bare hands. Don't! I have found it is impossible to satisfactorily clean my hands, so safer never to touch food with my hands. Most places supply free plastic gloves, or you can buy your own very cheaply. NEVER touch the food!
3) Spice. Yunnan food is almost always spicy. I had no significant D. problems in Shanghai, for example. Eating only at home is the safest route, because almost all Yunnan restaurants use chilli spice in all of their cooking. If you ask for 'bu la', no spice, they simply think you mean no additional spice, and the food will still be spicy. My tolerance for chilli spice is completely zero. Most restaurants use the same oil and the same cookign equipment for all their cooking, spicy or non-spicy, so the food will almost always be contaminated by spice, even if they don't do it deliberately. You can try using the phrase guo min (allergic), or ling la= no spice, but they have no understanding of anyone living in Yunnan wanting absolutely no spice. I often say yuan zhi yuan wei = original flavour/taste, but they look at me like I am stupid. Best to avoid all Yunnan restaurants and cook at home. Sweet foods are usually okay, but the new chocolate dessert in BK is spicy! Probably because the deep fat frying oil is spicy and it is cooked in that.

Summary - there are almost no safe restaurants in Yunnan. McD, KFC and BK have mostly added spice to their standard products so are inedible. BK's beefburgers seem okay - double cheeseburger is my favourite. Pizza Hut also seem to have some original non-spicy pizzas, . The other option is the buffet restaurants, where you are given the raw meat and can BBQ it yourself. Then you can avoid the spice altogether, but beware the spicy hotpots as the smell may also cause D.

Best of luck!

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Hospital recommendations for giving birth

We used Maria Hospital (birth in Jan 2022), on Beijing Road, near north railway station. We paid for a private room and were generally pleased with both pre-natal and ante-natal care, including a cesarian delivery. We plan to use it again for our next child (if and when....).

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I have visited Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen and Kunming is much better planned than any of those cities. It is also much cheaper to live in. The roads here are wide and almost all main roads have segregated cycle lanes. As a keen cyclist, it is far better to cycle here than in any of the other cities. It is also flat here and mostly low humidity. The high altitude also helps strengthen a healthy body and make you more resilient to infection - and makes you feel younger. Of course, there are less foreigners here than the other cities, so it is great being more popular!!! The locals here are much friendlier to foreigners than in the other cities, owing to our "curiosity" value. And of course the climate here is way better than the other cities. I have no idea why Kunming isn't number one best city to live in every year. I have travelled around the world to around 50 countries and Kunming is way better than any other city to live in for a retired foreigner!

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