Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming Waterfalls, Just in TIme for Drought Yes, it is up and running, I saw it the other day. To get to it bike (or drive but it gets heinously muddy) up beside the Pan long on the West of the river north of the Carnival shopping mall. You can now continue further than you could a few months ago as they have built the park on the riverside and upgraded the road. There is a hell of a lot of construction going on building houses down that road, but it's still Ok for riding. You get to a part where the road turns to gravel/mud and swings right towards the river. Stop near the river and look North to see the waterfalls.
It should be a beautiful place to live in the future, new apartments, nice riverside parks with a nice (albeit man made in Chinese sterile style) waterfall view. Of course at the moment the surrounding area is a construction site.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Man with a Van By "fairly large truck" I mean probably about the size of 2-3 mian bao che's.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Man with a Van How much stuff is it? We moved a whole room setup (wardrobe/drawers/table/bed/bicycles plus about 20 boxes) using 3 guys that come in a fairly large truck. You pack up everything (though they unscrewed the bed for us), they load it into the truck and unload at your new place. Pretty good guys and STRONG. We were done in 2 hours. Yes, 2 HOURS!
They were locals though, so hopefully your Chinese is good! Was 250 kuai, there number is 67158896 - 激发光家 ji2 fa1 ban1 jia1 (company name). We bargained a bit to get the price down from 250 but gave them 250 in the end because they did such a good job and so fast! They charge more for stairs etc too though (we went from elevator apartment to 1st level).
Forums > Living in Kunming > Library Story Hour - Input wanted Awesome work Elisa, well done, hope it continues to be successful!
Forums > Living in Kunming > Japanese Encephalitis Sarah, it is extremely paranoid and silly to not go to Yuan Yang rice terraces because you may on the off chance catch Japanese Encephalitis. You probably are 50 times as likely to be killed by a car crossing the road there than be infected. From what I have been told, something like 2% of mosquitoes carry the disease, and the infection rate is 0.2%. Meaning your chance of catching it is ridiculously low. I have cycled all over Yunnan and SE Asia staying in tents and cooking outside at night etc, never taken malaria or Japanese Encephalitis vaccine and never had a problem. Just like almost everyone else I have met doing something similar. As always prevention is best, cover up during at risk times and don't sleep outside! Wait until you see the drive up to Yuan Yang, then you will be scared! But don't live life wrapped in cotton wool, you won't leave your own house!
To suggest missing out on such an amazing place because you just might contract a disease which barely any local has heard of is ridiculous. It's like not going to Africa for fear of Ebola.
I have a very large suspicion drug companies advise doctors to push the medicine and tell patients that they are really likely to catch these infectious diseases in order to sell their excessively marked up and questionable quality vaccines. Just don't worry.
Kunming's illegal street racing scene
Posted by"...and in an uncharacteristic fit of investigative journalism..." classic!
Interesting piece. Has there been any reports of crashes/injuries/deaths?
The last sentence echoes the same around basically every city in the world where cars are common and wealth is above average.
Kunming-Shanghai railway delayed until 2016
Posted byThe way railways go around here, likely it will be 2020 before it will be operational...
Can Beijing tame Golden Week travel madness?
Posted byReally Yuantongsi??? I aren't doubting you, but looking here:
english.mofcom.gov.cn/[...]
It says:
"Article 45
The State shall practise a system of annual vacation with pay.Laborers who have kept working for one year and more shall be entitled to annual vacation with pay. The concrete measures shall be formulated by the State Council."
Which is a bit airy fairy, but at least it means that if you have worked in a place for a year you should be getting paid annual leave... how much of course is up for debate.
China will have to become a hell of a lot more efficient and productive per person to compete internationally. Until they do, I guess they will just keep screwing the workers to do more hours!
Can Beijing tame Golden Week travel madness?
Posted byGreat pics!
Of course they need to allow people to choose when to take holidays. I am surprised their goal is 2020 though, it should be 2015. Taking more than 2 years seems excessive.
Something I note is that a lot of infrastructure is being built to enable it to cope with the golden weeks. Huge train stations and roads that are only full when a golden week is on isn't exactly a wise use of resources.
Dianchi below national standards, nearby construction may be halted
Posted byPlanned obsolescence is a big driver of capitalism Peter! The Chinese are just ahead of the west in realising that if they apply it to construction, it can drive their GDP. Of course it will mean the everyday people that buy their buildings, in the medium/long term, will get bitten. Just another way to spiral money upwards, the result of capitalism.