User profile: Tom69

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Gokunming-Where have all the foreigners gone

Moreover, you have to already be in China to take advantage of these employment opportunities. Very few foreigners outside the country are eligible, or want to go through the hassle of returning to China at the moment.

Few employers will go to the trouble of trying to bring in a foreigner from abroad when there is a ready pool of foreign talent locally, not to mention that increasingly, China is looking towards its own talent pool rather than foreigners. This had already been the case long before anyone had ever heard of Covid.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Gokunming-Where have all the foreigners gone

I've noticed a few foreign researchers who've come to Kunming, but usually on short-term 6 month or 12 month postings. Rarely anything more permanent. Many are from SE Asian countries, not necessarily Europe or North America. My dad arranged one of his recently graduated PhD students from Thailand to do some post-doc research at Kunming University. This was a few years back.

In any case, I think it is quite clear that there are fewer foreigners in Kunming and China in general than pre-Covid.

It is not easy to move around right now, so even a Thai, Lao or Vietnamese person has to make the difficult decision to remain in China or go back home and possibly not be able to return to China for an extended period. Quarantines to enter SE Asian countries are very strict, and China is even stricter. Thailand ended it's free quarantine scheme for its nationals on July 1, so now everyone has to pay to return.

It doesn't look like China will be lifting it's quarantine scheme until July 2022 at the earliest. So that tells you how long the borders will still be closed for.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Gokunming-Where have all the foreigners gone

@DanDare, not sure about tons having remained. I'm almost certain tons have left, even if quite a few have stayed. Look around you, do you still see many westerners in Kunming? There were never that many to begin with, so I'm pretty sure the answer is no. There aren't many and almost certainly fewer than in 2019.

It's not about whether it's safe due to Covid, but about employment opportunities, having made the difficult decision to stay or to go back home.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Gokunming-Where have all the foreigners gone

As far as the past 20 months since January 2020 have been concerned, it's quite obvious really.

Tons of foreigners/expats have left China due to Covid and few have come in the reverse direction.

Until travel returns to a semblance of normality, this trend is only going to continue.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Covid vaccine mandatory for all adults?

Good to see the national government stepping in and once again re-iterating the voluntary nature of the vaccination rollout. China is in many ways a lot more reasonable than many so-called "democratic" countries like Italy and France, which plan to introduce vaccine passports for taking part in everyday non-essential activities soon.

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So does "internationalism" or "globalism", Alien. It produces the insanity that we have been seeing in many parts of the west, the USA in particular of screaming leftists who have become so insane as to threaten the life of the US president yet strangely haven't been arrested for attempted murder. Even the media takes part, in fact the media is a huge part of the problem and yes, it's completely biased and much of their reporting is fake, distorted inconsistent with the facts or omits the truth.

The Chinese form of nationalism that you are referring to may however also be somewhat exaggerated for effect and yes, ultra-nationalism, as many Chinese practice when there is a stir-up of nationalist sentiment in response to a "threat", particularly from the arch-nemisis nation of Japan or Vietnam, the Philippines etc. can get out of hand and sometimes results in innocent lives being lost when a riot starts, in addition to massive property destruction. The anti-Japanese riots of a few years ago, when Japanese cars, probably made in China and driven by Chinese citizens were destroyed is one example. Similarly, an anti-China protest last year I think in Vietnam resulted in a couple of lives lost and a large amount of property destruction at a Taiwanese owned factory. No mainland Chinese people owned any of the assets that were targeted nor were they amongst the victims of the rioting.

So perhaps the point I'd like to make is the best response is the middle ground.

True, the Chinese do drive relatively slowly and I find it's only in the cities, mainly bigger cities where drivers can be quite aggressive. Out of the highways it's a doodle though, especially compared to Thailand where you generally have higher traffic volumes and drivers who drive at much higher speeds.

@bluppfisk, the only way you can reach Hanoi in like 5 hours from Hekou is if the new expressway is currently finished and a bus service that takes this expressway is already in operation. Alternatively, you could take a private car or taxi, but that might be a little expensive unless you share with other travellers.

Currently the train to Hanoi takes around 8 hours and the road journey by car also took 8 hours on the old road, so probably 9-10 by bus.

As I have not heard anything to suggest that the whole expressway has opened to traffic yet (if it has, please provide a source) and only some sections near Hanoi have opened, my best guess is 6-7 hours using a combination of the old and the new road.

"In the future, the modern railway is expected enhance tourism and commerce in southern Yunnan and one day extend all the way to Hanoi."

umm excuse me there is already a railway from Lao Cai to Hanoi that has been in operation for decades. Please get your facts straight. The only "missing link" per se would be like a 3 km stretch from Hekou to Lao Cai by train, but that's no big deal as you can just walk across the border and then catch a taxi to the Lao Cai train station as is currently the case.

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