I agree with the webmaster on this one. James put his bad review in the wrong place, it should have been in the reviews section. If I was running the site, I would have moved it to the reviews section with a zero star rating and locked the thread. Why? Not because he is insulting a paying advertiser, because the forums is not the place to write a review.
This highlights a clash between western and Chinese culture and (I think) is a good indication of something bad about western culture. We seem to think we have a god given right to scream obscenities about anything we want to anyone we want... after all nobody has to listen to us. Even though our own countries have laws against this (libel and slander defamation laws), we still seem to think its OK. The internet just exacerbates this by making our statements more anonymous. A case in my country recently saw someone sued for libel over a twitter post. You might think thats ridiculous but the person was successfully prosecuted and rightly so - they made factually incorrect statements about a person which adversely affected the victim.
This creates a problem when it comes to reviews as well - only people that feel extremely bad or good about something will generally post a review on it. While over time you will get an averaged idea about a place/product, looking at a single review will likely tell you a single persons opinion. Which is the same in this case. Looking at the original post and other forum posts about Keats, there are other people that have had good experiences with the school... and it seems some of James original facts may be questionable.
From a Chinese perspective, James is directly attacking their business by posting questionable statements on a site many of their potential clients visit. Chinese culture, laws and attitudes are completely different to those in the west and anyone coming to China needs (and probably does) understand this. This site is a western style site but with many Chinese readers and businesses advertising on it. James has made questionable statements in the wrong place and is claiming that continuing to do so is his right. Well, in China this has legal ramifications and is generally bad form anyhow. I also sense a personality clash which tends to make people exaggerate issues.
I am sure if you had posted your review in the proper place it would not have received the same response from them. Not taking the time to figure out how to post a review isn't a good excuse I am sorry. You may be stretching it a bit by saying "I don't know how" as you are obviously a smart person so should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.
A local meal cost between 5-12 RMB for a plate of food. It would cost around the same (or a little bit more) to cook for yourself using local ingredients from the market/supermarket. Average western meal would cost around 25-50 RMB for the same. So you should have some idea about how much food costs here.
Entertainment (going to pubs/clubs etc)... well it depends how much you want! A new theatre costs 120 RMB is the most expensive I have seen here, 40 RMB for a lower quality theatre. Beer costs between 12-18 RMB for a local beer (Dali, Tsingtao or Budweiser, strangely enough!) or around 20-60 RMB for imported beer from europe or Australia. Karaoke costs around 120 RMB plus beer/snacks on top of this, if you are into that sort of thing!
I am easily living on 2000 RMB per month (75 USD approx 500 RMB, multiply by 4 = 2000 RMB per month) eating the occasional western meal, NOT including rent (1000 RMB per month for a nice place) or power and with a couple of nights out per month. I think you should be fine on that budget as long as you don't want to live it up.
Well, I came to Kunming to learn Chinese, not to meet Chinese girls as I had recently broken up from a long term relationship and didn't want to start anything new. Three weeks later I have a Chinese girlfriend (a sweet, loving and beautiful gal whose English is average, but rapidly improving... and I am short and bald, still with blue eyes though!) AND are learning Chinese and really like Kunming. It sounds like, gaoxing, that you came here looking just for sex - I think that most girls anywhere know when a man is only interested in sex and are themselves not interested, so will fein not knowing any English and basically think you are an idiot. If you are interested in a real long term relationship with a Chinese girl you should want to understand her culture, language, family and (important with any girl!) her as a person. Not simply her as an object to fulfill your whims.
Frankly its a bit dispicable for you to go to foreign countries just to chase tail. This behaviour seems to have gained some acceptance in the west due to the amount of men doing it in places like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Nevertheless it is still morally reprehensible and any man wanting to do so should take a long hard look at himself. Sure the over feminisation of the west and the "female in control" social/sexual/relationship dynamic found in the west alienates men. But you must see that coming to a place just to get your end off damages yourself, the country where you are doing it, the locals opinions of the west and the girls that you involve in your activities. I would suggest if you are really interested in meeting a Chinese girl for a long term relationship, do like many ex-pats do and come and UNDERSTAND China first plus learn the language. That will give you a new perspective on life and love plus give you a much greater chance of finding a nice Chinese girl.
Call me an optimist but I think once the Subway is up and running there is going to be a substantial drop in car usage and ownership. Its fairly obvious that Kunming has had some major developments of new living/working areas on its outskirts over the past 10 years with nothing built to connect them together (except for the overcrowded bus systems). The result is people somewhat needing to own a car to enable the to get around efficiently. The subway (once full implementation happens) should go a long way to solving the problem provided the integrate effectively with the bus system... lets just hope its that simple (I did say I am an optimist!).
Hi Omgiri, I aren't in Kunming at the moment, returning in September. Will be keen for a ride up there with you if you are still around! Just have to figure out how to get my bike there from New Zealand...
A half decent mtb park would be a pretty cheap way and a good start to creating a world class training facility for MTB'ers. There are so many bikers around KM as well that I imagine the manpower for maintaining the trails wouldn't be hard to find.
Hey, where is this trail, it looks like fun! How do you get there? I have biked a lot around Changchong Shan and not seen this one...
Just a random idea... I remember reading a while ago the Kunming government talking about investing some ridiculous sum of money into making Kunming a high altitude international sports location. Was I just dreaming that??
If I aren't dreaming, it would seem like a good option for them would be to section off a piece of Changchong shan and earmark it for a MTB park. I am sure local clubs could provide the manpower and experience to develop the trails, it would just need government sponsorship of the land and tools, which could be dual use with forestry (which tends to be the norm where I am from and works pretty well - the trails get ripped up once every 20 years when the forest is harvested, a good opportunity to make improvements, while the trails provide forestry workers with foot access through the forest). As there are no shortage of both foreign and local riders, it would seem a feasible idea. If it was done to a high enough standard, it could also be advertised as a cheap high altitude training location internationally. Who's with me???
Bugger, might have lost that big comment I wrote as I think I got logged out.
I tried the route but was turned around by fake policemen who stopped me from attempting the road I wanted I think due to a quarry doing some explosives work (I heard the booming!).
This map shows the route I took kind of (the blue markers) to the road, then a new route I just mapped out as well. Will be trying this one tomorrow probably... maps.google.com/[...]
Will let you know how it goes. My route from the other day somehow became corrupted on my phone so I can't upload it. I ended up cycling out to a town called Daoshao Cun and then cycled back.
Might head out there tomorrow if anyone else is keen? 8am start, will bike up past the new visitor centre then keep heading north along the tracks. Have checked it out on google earth and it looks quite rideable. Have mapped it out (not in detail!) here: maps.google.com/[...]
Anyone see anything wrong with my route (other than a couple of times not actually being on a road... will have to find my way I think!)?
Wow, just wow. Possibly the best Chinese food I have had in Kunming. And in one of the nicest, traditional courtyard style restaurant I have been in. A woman dressed in traditional qi pao playing a gu zheng just adds to it.
We had okra, mushroom soup, dried beef and chou dofu. All top notch with the bill coming in at just over 250 kuai. But we could have fed 3 people for that so not too bad at about 80-90 kuai each. Not the cheapest but for the quality, it's damn good.
If you have people visiting and want to take them to a traditional Chinese style restaurant with Yunnan style food, or want a romantic night out with a gal, you can't go wrong here. Close to Green Lake (down a little alley) for a romantic walk... Just perfect.
Pretty good place for getting all your documents translated and/or notarised. Note that there are a number of notaries in the building which you can find by going up the stairs (the elevators are impossible). But you have to find the stairs to do so... go in the door, head over to the right, go up the big wide stairs which head up a floor, turn right then right again into the elevator area and right again into the stairwells. Whew!
One point off for the elevators never being available and having to hike 7-9 flights of stairs (not good if you have to go 3-4 times a day like I often did!)
This does not stop at the Jinanya hotel at Da Shang Hui as the flyers state (and is on the images tab here). They need to have another stop in the same area or else they are missing out on covering a big chunk of the city.
You can take another bus, the 919C, I believe, if you are nearby Da Shang Hui, which leaves from the bus station on HeHong Lu, nearby the Qianxing road intersection. This bus goes every hour and is white, found at the western end of the station. It is operated by a different company and takes about 1 hour 10 minutes to get to the airport due to a large number of stops especially near the airport.
Friendly people, even got to the talk to the vice consulate, who told me she had done a stint in Malaysia's Siberian Consulate!
English is spoken by some of the Chinese girls working at the desk who are pleasant to deal with. I assume they do Visa's as well but I wasn't here for a visa, this time!
'No-car day' underlines Kunming's car conundrum
Posted byCall me an optimist but I think once the Subway is up and running there is going to be a substantial drop in car usage and ownership. Its fairly obvious that Kunming has had some major developments of new living/working areas on its outskirts over the past 10 years with nothing built to connect them together (except for the overcrowded bus systems). The result is people somewhat needing to own a car to enable the to get around efficiently. The subway (once full implementation happens) should go a long way to solving the problem provided the integrate effectively with the bus system... lets just hope its that simple (I did say I am an optimist!).
Around Town: Biking the trails of Changchong Mountain
Posted byHi Omgiri, I aren't in Kunming at the moment, returning in September. Will be keen for a ride up there with you if you are still around! Just have to figure out how to get my bike there from New Zealand...
I knew I wasn't dreaming! www.gokunming.com/[...]
A half decent mtb park would be a pretty cheap way and a good start to creating a world class training facility for MTB'ers. There are so many bikers around KM as well that I imagine the manpower for maintaining the trails wouldn't be hard to find.
Around Town: Biking the trails of Changchong Mountain
Posted byHey, where is this trail, it looks like fun! How do you get there? I have biked a lot around Changchong Shan and not seen this one...
Just a random idea... I remember reading a while ago the Kunming government talking about investing some ridiculous sum of money into making Kunming a high altitude international sports location. Was I just dreaming that??
If I aren't dreaming, it would seem like a good option for them would be to section off a piece of Changchong shan and earmark it for a MTB park. I am sure local clubs could provide the manpower and experience to develop the trails, it would just need government sponsorship of the land and tools, which could be dual use with forestry (which tends to be the norm where I am from and works pretty well - the trails get ripped up once every 20 years when the forest is harvested, a good opportunity to make improvements, while the trails provide forestry workers with foot access through the forest). As there are no shortage of both foreign and local riders, it would seem a feasible idea. If it was done to a high enough standard, it could also be advertised as a cheap high altitude training location internationally. Who's with me???
Getting away: Changchong Mountain
Posted byBugger, might have lost that big comment I wrote as I think I got logged out.
I tried the route but was turned around by fake policemen who stopped me from attempting the road I wanted I think due to a quarry doing some explosives work (I heard the booming!).
This map shows the route I took kind of (the blue markers) to the road, then a new route I just mapped out as well. Will be trying this one tomorrow probably... maps.google.com/[...]
Will let you know how it goes. My route from the other day somehow became corrupted on my phone so I can't upload it. I ended up cycling out to a town called Daoshao Cun and then cycled back.
Getting away: Changchong Mountain
Posted byMight head out there tomorrow if anyone else is keen? 8am start, will bike up past the new visitor centre then keep heading north along the tracks. Have checked it out on google earth and it looks quite rideable. Have mapped it out (not in detail!) here: maps.google.com/[...]
Anyone see anything wrong with my route (other than a couple of times not actually being on a road... will have to find my way I think!)?