Forums > Travel Yunnan > Trip to Jian Shui at Xmas - oranges We have just come back from a short trip to Jian Shui.
This is a city in Honghe Prefecture about 3 hrs drive south and east from Kunming.
Really nice place. The old town is very much like Dali.
Parts of the old town have been renovated including the pedestrian street (Hanlin St). This includes a mixture of original, refurbished, and fake Qing Dynasty architecture. Other areas of the old town are original Qing.
Unlike Dali, the new town has grown around the old town. Also, unlike Dali, there are few tourists. Most tourists we saw were from other areas of China, and not tour groups.
The traffic there is not bad at all. There are fewer cars than many other cities of the same size that we have visited.
Culture
The local culture has been handed down from the cities founding fathers. Confucius influences are very strong. The people don't shout, and are generally friendly and not aggressive when selling things to you.
Lots of minority peoples here as well as Han. But most do not speak Mandarin, which can be interesting when buying things.
About 10km out of town is Tuanshan scenic area. Follow the old G323 (not the new G323 toll highway) to get there. It is a Qing Dynasty that has not been touched by modernisation. There is a lot of original architecture, including the original gold leaf, carved, and painted detailing. This is also a living place, people still live here, it is not a preserved time capsule.
Food
The food is better than Kunming, the fruit and veg are much better, and service in the restaurants, and hotels is (by Chinese standards) good. Restaurants abound, in the old town.
Accommodation
NB Prices are December 2012, not CNY
Not very expensive. Lots of small hotels in the old town. The cheapest seem to start at about 100 rmb for a two bed room, but that place was crumby. We found nice places from 120/d. There is also a new swish hotel, it is 4 star style but not really 4 star. The advertised price is 660, but the usual rate is 390. Our only complaint was that the bathroom was designed by a Chinese engineer (Chinese plumbing complete with smells). Other than that, most things were to an international standard.
Shopping
At this time of year (Xmas) all the oranges were coming into season. Lots for sale at the side of the road. If you like fruit it is worth the trip just for the oranges. But many other tropical fruits are available in the markets.
JianShui is famous for its pottery, and there are many shops selling this. Most of the other shops seem to sell shoes and fashion, perhaps an encouraging sign that the money in China is now flowing west.
Jian Shui is somewhere I would gladly visit again, unlike Lijiang.
Low season is July August and hotel prices are cheaper, expect rain.
Migrant workers receive bricks in lieu of pay
Posted byI don't think the courts are uneducated. I think more cynically. The amount owed is $14k. I bet the owners are still driving flash cars and own several properties. The company may not have assets to pay, but I bet the owners do.
Weekend in Dali: A Chinese perspective
Posted byI have just come back from a quick trip around that area, and spent one afternoon and night in Dali. Dali has found a new identity.
I have visited Dali several times over the years, and like many people on here was disappointed with what I saw. The slow commercialisation of Dali, leading to a schizophrenic (not one thing, not another) mess.
On my recent visit, the street vendors had gone the really low end food places had mostly gone. The city was busy, and for a mid-week just before CNY that was surprising. It was not a frantic busy, everything was moving smoothly and working well. Even noise seemed to be down, and I found it a lot less stressful.
There is a sort of gentrification among traders. There are more upmarket shops. There are many more shaokao (national trend) and most of these are chains, rather than small independents. Many of the small family food places have redecorated and are not the old dim and dismal places that they used to be. The commercial development has also spread into other streets.
Dali is not the Dali of old, but it has found a new identity. This new identity may not be to everybody's taste, but I found the city a much nicer place to stay, than I did 3 years ago.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
Posted bySo we must make them learn.
You can take a horse to water, but a pencil has to be lead.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
Posted by@Janjal, your argument contains many assumptions and additional requirements (story tellers etc). If we cannot provide the additional resources your suggested strategy would require and you cannot get China's rural poor to demand answers; again we have a moot point.
Comparing EU farmers, who are business owners who learn to work the system for profit with the rural poor, Is perhaps a case of chalk and cheese.
China hands out happy city awards, Kunming sad
Posted byOf course material wealth is not the only measure, but it affects many other measures, and is a predominant feature in a capitalist system.
Perhaps it is human nature to want more than we have now, in capitalism this includes having more than the guy next to us. If we have more now than we had before, there is likely to be a sense of achievement/progress/increased security/satisfaction/happiness in that fact alone,. It is also a very simple qualitative measure for almost anyone.
Q. Do I have more than last year. A. Yes/no. If yes, has my relative position compared to my neighbors also improved? Am I content/happy with this?
In reality the questions are not even asked, they are not even out there, but they are part of the zeit geist. In cities with stronger economic growth the answers to the questions are going to be yes for more people. Chengdu is such a place. It is only when the personal costs of achieving this wealth are perceived to outweigh the advantages of the new wealth that people start to question it, but that comes later.