User profile: Alien

User info
  • Registered
  • VerifiedYes

Forum posts

0
Forums > Living in Kunming > Looks, Money, Status

The house and the baby are particularly important to fiancee's parents, the car less so unless the fiancee is big about considering herself middle class or maybe upper middle class. Seems to me the (present, anyway) job may be slightly less important than in the US.

Just my impression.

0
Forums > Travel Yunnan > KMG to Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City

If you can change your dates, the weather is pretty good in November in Hanoi, and again maybe April I'm told, but it's lousy at most times. Hanoi is a beautiful and interesting city with too many cars and motorcycles on rather narrow streets. You might take a look at Jim Goodman's Uniquely Vietnamese - as well as at his other 2-3 books on Viet Nam, to learn just how Viet Nam is NOT just like China, to which the culture and society are always being compared.

Classifieds

No results found.

Comments

•

True about how Laos has little credit, but it seems you're comparing Lao-Chinese national relations with those of brothers, and I think that kind of metaphor is a bit overused - national ruling classes, who make or break agreements and devise policies etc. in the name of 'nations', have interests, not friends, as has been famously stated by...who was that guy? Sometimes these interests coincide, at least for a while, but there is usually a dominant partner/class group.

•

A little confused, not sure how to think about this - seems to me that both Chinese and Lao interests will benefit from the RR - so why should Laos have to pay for ALL of it?

•

Sounds okay so far, near as one can tell - but an open question: who benefits most, in terms of money and/or power (or, or that matter, anything else), from the creation of such tourist spaces and cultures, and where do they live? Is it all win-win? And how might it be calculated?

•

Went there once and found it interesting just to wander around the surrounding area on my own - plenty of interesting limestone outside the designated area, & people you meet are neither tourists nor people trying to sell you tourist experiences. And of course it's free.

Reviews


By

Not quite what you'd call a jumping place, but not bad at all for rather standard US-type meals, not overly expensive, and with a really good salad bar that's cheap, or free with most dinner dishes after 5:30PM. You can get a bottle of beer or even wine if you really want to, but I've never seen anybody do it - maybe that's just to take out. Chinese Christian run, and they hire people with physical disadvantages, who are pleasant and helpful. Frequented by foreign (mostly North American) Christians and Chinese Christians - was started by a Canadian couple associated with Bless China (previously, Project Grace), who are no longer here, but no religious pressure or any of that. Steaks are nothing special, and I avoid the Korean dishes, which I've had a few times but which did not impress me.

As a shop and bakery, it's very good bread at reasonable prices, of various kinds (Y18 for a good multigrain loaf that certainly weighs well over a pound. Other stuff too, like granola and oatmeal that is local, as well as imported things, including American cornflakes and so forth, which some people seem to require.


By

Large portions, seriously so with the pizza, which is Brooklyn/American style, I guess. Convivial, conversational, good place to drink with good folks on both sides of the bar, especially after about 9PM.


By

Really good pizza and steaks. The wine machine fuddles me when I'm a bit fuddled, & seems unnecessary. Good folks on both sides of the bar.