Without enquiring into each individuals travel intentions, you can't say with any authority what they should or should not be wearing. The backpacker(s) in question could be en-route to climb meili xue shan (for example) or another hike which requires fairly technical hiking gear. They may need what they are wearing and are wearing it around the city because it is what they bought from where they came from. In this situation they (or "we", as I am also sometimes of this crowd that goes places and hikes fairly technical routes) do not wish to carry casual city attire as our packs are already full with what we need to survive in the mountains. Hence you will see us walking around in hi tech outdoor gear in the city as its all that we have with us.
There are also outdoor poseurs, who buy all the gear and then only climb Xi Shan, find its too hard so take the cable car down. If they wish to spend their money on very expensive outdoor gear, I encourage it, as it lowers the price for those of us that need it. :-)
But why question it at all? Why not just accept that people all over travel differently depending on what they are comfortable with and their intentions? It seems a bit of a judgemental thing to ask.
Careful with your assumptions Alien. I have talked to a chemist about my former problem and what they told be surprised me.
Basically pure water is actually QUITE reactive and water itself is clearly the most commonly used solvent in the world. Water that is naturally mineralised is much healthier as it does not remove any minerals from your body, a percentage of water molecules have attached themselves to (usually) a mineral molecule which forms a more stable (less reactive) form of water.
Water that is pure however WANTS to form a molecular bond with something else, usually a mineral. So what occurs is pure water actually strips your body of the essential minerals you require and you pee them out. The result is clearly not good for your health as I found out - severe calcium and magnesium deficiencies. I switched to mineral water and hey presto, within 6 months back to normal.
Note though at the time I was drinking in excess of 3L everyday of water.
I lived on reverse osmosis water for a year and it nearly destroyed me. Just don't do it, seriously.
WHO reviewed reverse osmosis water and if you read their report (as I did after figuring out the water made me sick), it is a damning indictment of reverse osmosis or other demineralised waters.
" In addition to an increased risk of sudden death, it has been suggested that intake of water low in magnesium may be associated with a higher risk of motor neuronal disease, pregnancy disorders (so-called preeclampsia), sudden death in infants, and some types of cancer."
I only went for the exams so can't comment on the training and can't recommend a place. From the places I have been to, Dazzer is on the money regarding classmate interaction but training is delivered in English with a little Cantonese sometimes used. Likely if a laowai is in the class they wouldn't use any though, for teaching anyway.
Microsoft only allows Chinese Nationals to take certification tests within China and only in Chinese. Closest is Hong Kong where you can take the tests at a number of training centres there (I have been doing exactly that for some technical certifications).
So I was just driving East a few months ago from Colorado into Kansas, with my 3 buddies who were all smoking their perfectly legal joints. Police stopped me just before I crossed the border on a minor traffic infringement and saw my friends smoking their joints. He asked if I was smoking, as the driver, and tested me with a breathalyser which showed I was well under the limit. So he didn't care, gave me a ticket for my broken tail light, which I told him I would fix when I got to the next town. Coming up to the border my friends all chucked their joints out the window because we knew it was illegal in the Kansas. Little did we know though that Lisa had spilled some leaf when she was rolling her joint!
Crossed over the border into Kansas, drove around the next town looking for a auto shop. But a cop pulled me over AGAIN for my broken tail light. I got out of the car to try and explain I just got a ticket and he smells pot, pulls out his gun, slams me to the ground, arrests me and my friends, searches my car and finds a tiny piece of leaf on the floor.
Anyway, I am writing this after my last meal while the priest delivers my last rights, just before I am led off to be strapped down for my lethal injection. My friends have all been executed already which makes me pretty upset when I think about it. They killed Billy, Lisa and Ken for something that is legal only 300m away! I wonder why the line between state sponsored killing and simple drug control has become so indiscriminate? I keep telling them that I wasn't under the influence and wasn't even smoking anything, but the THC drug test showed trace amounts in my system because my friends were in the same car and I guess I inhaled when I shouldn't have. Oh well, I guess I deserve this, I have to accept that I am a hardened criminal that has to be got rid of. I am the same level as serial killers, murderers, war criminals and child rapist/killers.
I heard this idea came from China! I hope whoever suggested it is happy.
We went on Saturday. It was totally packed out! The new subway stop helped a lot with this I am sure, it seemed like most attendees were using it.
The sellers love to see a foreigner because heaps of them speak English, especially those from Pakistan/Sri Lanka/India. If you are from a cricket playing nation, you get bombarded with players names etc when talking to them!
Clearly a lack of training. Armed police all over the world are taught to only fire in situations where the public is not in danger from stray bullets.
It looks like my comment above is coming to pass...
Having an armed gang of untrained idiots running around the streets vs the occasional threat of terrorist activity (which incidentally is likely to still happen, it might just not involve as many civilian deaths... or may involve more as a result).
One thing I do know - if you are around any criminal activity (i.e. you see someone doing something illegal, a car chase or the police trying to catch a pick pocket etc) don't hang around. Run like hell the other way or lay flat, I can just imagine some young police try-hard yanking out his pistol and spraying the suspect and anyone else around them with as many bullets as he can. Then boasting to his mates later in the station about the great work he is doing and not receiving any sort of punishment for killing/maiming civilians. The civilian deaths will be written off as "accidental discharge" no doubt.
The more damns they have on a river, the more potential for catastrophic failure. You can imagine what would happen if a dam in the upper reaches of a river experiences catastrophic failure, the resulting surge of water to the next dam will likely cause that one to collapse creating a massive domino effect with an unparalleled level of cascading destruction. And the Jinsha river is set to have 11 damns on it, with another 11 on an upper reach of the river, the TongTian, extending into Tibet.
To hear they are building dams that cannot even handle the amount of water that occurs in the first year causing a potential collapse is mind boggling. What happens when they get a particularly bad rainfall year and/or and earthquake? Utter devastation awaits...
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!
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Laos extradites drug suspects to Yunnan
Posted bySo I was just driving East a few months ago from Colorado into Kansas, with my 3 buddies who were all smoking their perfectly legal joints. Police stopped me just before I crossed the border on a minor traffic infringement and saw my friends smoking their joints. He asked if I was smoking, as the driver, and tested me with a breathalyser which showed I was well under the limit. So he didn't care, gave me a ticket for my broken tail light, which I told him I would fix when I got to the next town. Coming up to the border my friends all chucked their joints out the window because we knew it was illegal in the Kansas. Little did we know though that Lisa had spilled some leaf when she was rolling her joint!
Crossed over the border into Kansas, drove around the next town looking for a auto shop. But a cop pulled me over AGAIN for my broken tail light. I got out of the car to try and explain I just got a ticket and he smells pot, pulls out his gun, slams me to the ground, arrests me and my friends, searches my car and finds a tiny piece of leaf on the floor.
Anyway, I am writing this after my last meal while the priest delivers my last rights, just before I am led off to be strapped down for my lethal injection. My friends have all been executed already which makes me pretty upset when I think about it. They killed Billy, Lisa and Ken for something that is legal only 300m away! I wonder why the line between state sponsored killing and simple drug control has become so indiscriminate? I keep telling them that I wasn't under the influence and wasn't even smoking anything, but the THC drug test showed trace amounts in my system because my friends were in the same car and I guess I inhaled when I shouldn't have. Oh well, I guess I deserve this, I have to accept that I am a hardened criminal that has to be got rid of. I am the same level as serial killers, murderers, war criminals and child rapist/killers.
I heard this idea came from China! I hope whoever suggested it is happy.
Record-setting turn-out at South Asia Expo
Posted byWe went on Saturday. It was totally packed out! The new subway stop helped a lot with this I am sure, it seemed like most attendees were using it.
The sellers love to see a foreigner because heaps of them speak English, especially those from Pakistan/Sri Lanka/India. If you are from a cricket playing nation, you get bombarded with players names etc when talking to them!
Kunming police now permitted to carry sidearms
Posted byClearly a lack of training. Armed police all over the world are taught to only fire in situations where the public is not in danger from stray bullets.
It looks like my comment above is coming to pass...
Kunming police now permitted to carry sidearms
Posted byBut you feel safer right yuantongsi?
Having an armed gang of untrained idiots running around the streets vs the occasional threat of terrorist activity (which incidentally is likely to still happen, it might just not involve as many civilian deaths... or may involve more as a result).
One thing I do know - if you are around any criminal activity (i.e. you see someone doing something illegal, a car chase or the police trying to catch a pick pocket etc) don't hang around. Run like hell the other way or lay flat, I can just imagine some young police try-hard yanking out his pistol and spraying the suspect and anyone else around them with as many bullets as he can. Then boasting to his mates later in the station about the great work he is doing and not receiving any sort of punishment for killing/maiming civilians. The civilian deaths will be written off as "accidental discharge" no doubt.
Yunnan dam structurally unsound, repairs in limbo
Posted byThe more damns they have on a river, the more potential for catastrophic failure. You can imagine what would happen if a dam in the upper reaches of a river experiences catastrophic failure, the resulting surge of water to the next dam will likely cause that one to collapse creating a massive domino effect with an unparalleled level of cascading destruction. And the Jinsha river is set to have 11 damns on it, with another 11 on an upper reach of the river, the TongTian, extending into Tibet.
To hear they are building dams that cannot even handle the amount of water that occurs in the first year causing a potential collapse is mind boggling. What happens when they get a particularly bad rainfall year and/or and earthquake? Utter devastation awaits...