Forums > Living in Kunming > Where to buy Wii in Kunming Go to the location "Neverwinter" gave you in the post above. There are several shops selling gaming consoles.
But please, please, please... do not try to start the next media hype about those shops not being "authenticated resellers". As Chinese law states, gaming consoles with exchangeable programs are banned in China, only those with fixed programs are allowed, but the producers have to get a permit in order for the consoles to be legally sold (only Chinese consoles, with Chinese games have this permit). Everything else (PS1, PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox360, Wii, hell even Gameboys) is/are illegally imported to China.
That's one reason to look out which version is being sold to you, especially important for the Wii you're planning to buy. Check if it's a NTSC or PAL (I don't know which one is better, or even if one is better), and check which games are available for each version; choose accordingly.
And because everything IS illegal, they make it even better by selling you a cracked version of the console, so that you can download or buy plain copies of the games.
Price-wise I recommend the following practice. Go on Taobao and check for the usual price of a Wii. Add about 10-15% to this price and it should represent the street-price you'll have to pay. If the vendor is actually kind or offering customer service you might even want think about paying 20% extra (keep in mind possible future "warranty" [read re-cracking] cases).
Do not expect getting a Fapaio (official recede), but try getting an "official" Shouju at least.
Have fun!!!
Forums > Living in Kunming > Skype 5.3 I usually get my skype from cnet (download.cnet.com) or softpedia.com. They always host the newest version and most of the time their mirrors are reasonably fast.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Proxy to be logged in China I heard that some VPN's offer a server in China, so that people can experience the Internet in China, but this is a paid solution.
Other than that, like onlyone said, try googling for proxies here in China and not abroad. Some proxy sites will let you sort after country, choose one in China and you should be fine.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming Tap Water I wouldn't do water filtering in Kunming for drinking water. Not because I do not trust (good) filters to function, but because of the costs.
I'd say that water here has a lot of sediment in it. You do not need to put it aside in bottles, in our house(es) it was enough not to run the tap for 12hrs and then take a look at what color the water has for the first seconds (I guess to prevent clogging your filter, you would need to build a slow moving water basin to let the sediment settle to the ground). I also noticed that Kunming's water some days has quite high amounts of chlorine, sometimes when I shower it reminds me of the water in a public pool (shudder...) and I won't drink that. I do not know about the bacteria content, but I would guess that, with the level of chlorine, it should be quite low, so I use it to brush my teeth and do not feel uncomfortable.
As far as drinking water goes, I think it's safer, cheaper and more convenient to switch to bottled water. The 5-gallon bottle runs around 10yuan, some more expensive, some cheaper (you also have to pay a deposit for the first bottle, and sometimes on company will not take the bottles from another with them). The "taste" (combination of minerals in the water) differs from brand to brand, so I would try some first and then pre-order them to get them even cheaper (some brands also offer smaller bottles so it's even easier to try). It's even delivered not only to your doorstep, but into your water dispenser. I also think that most of it is quite real drinking/table water. Almost everybody uses it and it never made me sick or had a strange taste. The only thing you need to do is to clean your water dispenser regularly to prevent bacteria from spreading (like with a filter), but other than that it's really hassle free.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Disposal of Depleted Batteries Saw a place once where scooter batteries were disposed here in Kunming, near the airport... had to fight the urge to hold my breath...
Batteries just lying on one big (3 meter) pile exposed to the elements (rain), with a small stream of liquid forming at the bottom running down the street and into the sewers.
Correct information here at the end of this thread: gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/1411/recycling_batteries
Kunming residents rally against chemical plant
Posted byThanks Ian. That summed it up very well. Nice to hear a voice of reason here. If I could I'd promote your comment. I guess my latest Forum post went in the same direction, just so much more sarcastic.
Again, I couldn't agree more.
Kunming Zoo to move, Yuantong Mountain to become park
Posted byTo answer (or raise) questions about the relationship of the safari park and the zoo, I can offer you some "experts" (as well as some journalists) opinions, quoted from a China daily article in 2004. You'll find the link to the whole article on the bottom of my post...
... "The zoo is a well-run commonweal which belongs to the public and State," she says. "The wild animal park is a private enterprise. I could never understand why such a good base for zoological education and research should be dumped and its assets be given to a private entity — Huzhou Jinjing Investment Co Ltd from Zhejiang. Isn't this a drain of State property?"...
..."in China, most such [safari] parks are simply artificial surroundings for animals to run loose, some experts point out. So there is no essential difference between such parks and zoos, except parks are farther out of ordinary citizens' reach and charge more for admission.In Kunming's case, the zoo charges 10 yuan (US$1.25) for adults and five yuan (about 60 cents) for children, as compared to the park's 35 and 100 yuan (US$4 or 12) for locals and tourists from outside Kunming, not to mention its distance from the city."...
..."As a commonweal, a zoo focuses on education, research and other public interests, while a park as an enterprise is destined to pursue profits."...
Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/29/content_343575.htm
I think there is just no empathy for animals left, and oh yeah, how is a zoo in Anning or Chneggong close enough to be called in "ordinary citizen's reach"? Let's hope they'll only extend the premises and not the number of animals too.
Manufacturer addresses Kunming metro safety, comfort concerns
Posted byHmmm, no air conditioning? I don't know, this could work out but I wouldn't bet on it. During winter it should be "ok". It's cold outside you wear a lot of stuff and so you just leave your jacket, scarf and hat on when you get on the train. BUT, summer on the elevated tracks going out towards the airport? This summer we had several AC's failing on our German bullet trains and it was a disaster. People collapsed with heat strokes on the train, emergency stops on the open tracks just to get the people out, etc... ...
And then the guy pointing out: "The subway's signal system is controlled by a computer, and within the controlling system, each train will have sensing antennae installed," Yang said. "The antennae will transmit information such as car location to the controlling platform, with computers automatically directing the conductors of each train."
I mean, this is Train protection system 101, every track should have something like this by now (in working condition too). Hopefully the trains won't have an easy safety override for the conductors/engineers.
Illegal 'gutter oil' operation casts shadow on Kunming food safety
Posted bySewer Oil stands as a term and it's so disgusting that I am not sure whether I should believe it's existence or not, though I have seen stories written about it and I have seen people doing it (maybe it's the usual denial reaction), the story goes like this.
Back in the days, restaurants would discard used cooking oil into the cities sewer system where it would collect on certain points (either floating on top or building up large chunks on the side walls). People would then go down into the sewers and skim off/collect this oil, filter, maybe refine, but in the end sell it again.
I read stories about restaurants getting aware of those collection points on (or close by) their property and selling "licences" to people to, officially, clean the gutters.
The only "upside"I see is that, after cooking with this oil there shouldn't be any traces of viruses or bacteria left, as the oil is probably heated up to over 180 degrees Celsius, which, even on a short time exposure, make sure that everything still living in it should be dead.
Nowadays, every restaurant is supposed (by law) to have an oil filter system (basically a large metal box with different chambers to slow down water flow, so that the oil can be skimmed off) in the kitchen, I guess this makes the operation more economical and cleaner (hate to say this).
But like I said, it's so hard to believe that it might be an urban myth and I am not sure. If you want to see for yourself, google is your friend and will help you, if you ask it about sewer oil nicely.
Illegal 'gutter oil' operation casts shadow on Kunming food safety
Posted byI would like to see how this operates from a business point of view. You know like, how can they run this with profit, how low can the cost of chemicals be to bleach (what the F are they using to do that anyway) and perfumize actually be?
It's the same with fake eggs"? How can the production cost of a fake egg be possibly lower than that of a real egg?
Can someone shed some light on this?