Hamish, my Chinese fiancee informs me that the following pinyin phrase will get the job done. It means "I want to turn on caller ID."
wo yao kai tong lai dian xian shi
Here it is in characters in case you want to print and point:
请开通来电显示
The charge is customarily 5 CNY per month. Let us know if you need any further assistance. Happy Holidays!
Ahmet and ZengZeng
A great place to check a good variety of water heaters is at B & Q, a British do it yourself home center near the site of the Horiticultural Expo in northeast Kunming (www.bnq.com.cn/website/BnqEnglish/default/map_kunming.asp). Take No. 47, No. 68, No. 69, No. 71, No. 72 or No. 146 buses to the last stop and walk back about 300 meters. Though most Chinese brands are probably adequate, quality control in Chinese products are spotty. Take a look at Ariston (a fully imported Italian brand) or AO Smith (a fully imported American brand). You'll find sizes ranging from 40 liters on up. You can also find "on-demand" or "tankless heaters" that can be very efficient and easy to install, but remember that they only work well when the incoming water supply is not ice cold. Many other places sell water heaters like Sunning Appliance and Gome Appliance, but at B & Q you will probably find someone who speaks English and you can arrange for installation.
After searching for nine months, I haven't come up with anything resembling Indian food here in Kunming. I just returned from a week in Hong Kong where we wound up eating Indian three times. Before we left, I made trip to a wonderful indian restaurant supply store in the Wan Chai district and loaded up spices. It'll have have to be home cooking until a few more Indian expats settle here in Kunming before we get some some delicious, fragrant food. By the way, if you headed to Beijing, Asian Star in the Choayang District has outstanding Indian food!
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Zen and the Chinese art of motorcycle driving
Posted byThe Aholes in the "Don't Touch Me" vehicles, especially with white license plates (most likely fake) are a fact of life that none of us are going to individually alter.
My understanding of the history of car culture is that the U.S. Had similar issues with incompetent drivers in the post-WWII period when many first time buyers bought cars. The problem is exacerbated in China because so many new drivers have not grown up in motor vehicles and don't have a good sense of the time/speed/distance sensibilities of an automobile vs a bike.
Like so many other things it will evolve and (hopefully) improve over time.
As the title of your article indicates, the whole thing is a mind over matter issue. Try to do your best to let the craziness wash over you and remind yourself of how wonderful it is to be in Kunming and Yunnan. I, for one, miss it terribly, growing pains and all.
Recipe: Eight Treasures Chicken
Posted byI just took delivery and flipped through the pages. It's well written and does a good job giving a bit of the cultural and regional flavor of Yunnan in addition to the recipes. The recipes provide alternate suggestions fo ingredients that may not be available outside of Yunnan. I've already bookmarked a half dozen to prepare in the next two weeks. (I wish the printing of the photos had been a bit better. They are a little too dark, but the originals were probably just fine.). Regardless, if you love Yunnan cuisine and miss it, this is a wonderful resource.
Fearing 'commercialization', monks briefly close Jinning temple
Posted byThe Chinese government is under no obligation whatsoever to have any, "respect for the integrity of religious practice." Mao himself declared that "religion is poison," and that philosophy has served both theccgovernment of the PRC and Chinese people well for decades.
Burmese hardwoods logged to brink of extinction
Posted byNothing says you've "made it" like putting once-living dead things on display.
Welcome to the new GoKunming!
Posted byPatrick, well done. I know how much work goes into designing a new site and transitioning all of the content. It looks great. Thanks for continuing to build on this useful and informative site. For those of us who have some roots in Kunming but don't get back there often enough, goKunming is a great way to stay informed. Again, congratulations on a job well done!