You are right the Captiva is an AWD. The Nissan Xtrail is also an AWD but has the CV drive, and looking at Xtrail events on YouTube they are quite capable in rough terrain.
The fortuners and others are grey imports. There is a large car market up near the Garden Expo in the North. One of the sales halls is imports.
Q. Do you need a full blown 4x4, or will a 4wd soft roader work for you. There are lots of these. The Chevrolet Captiva is 7 seater and I paid 300k about 18 months ago. They are only available in 2.4ltr petrol now.
A lot of imported, from Thailand etc. SUV for sale in Kunming, including the 4tuner. But these are expensive - 700k+
The Mitsubishi Pajero/Shogun is also made in China as part of a JV and these used to start at about 400 000 rmb for the 4wd.
There is also the Toyota FJ Cruiser is also available, and the basic model comes sans carpet etc for hosing out when mucky. Not sure on the price.
I would avoid some Chinese brands due to reliability. Greatwall are getting good now but I am not sure about the spares distribution outside China, should you break down.
@Alex,
I haven't seen them yet, as I have just returned after a long spell away. I would imagine that they are indeed LED. These are also usually dual intensity, they are less bright after dark so that people are not dazzled.
LEDs burn less energy, and should last for many 10s ths of hours, but as they are very low voltage the transformers used to generate a lot of heat and the transformers used to fail. As I see more of these LED signs around the world I am assuming that the systems are now more reliable. If this is the case we will see lot more of them, a good thing IMHO.
I only wish reliable LED technology was available for domestic use at an affordable price, LEDs cost only about a cent to produce. LEDs don't contain the toxins of low energy lamps, and last longer.
@geogramatt
We are on the same page, but sadly rushed development (usually to meet political ends) changes what can happen.
I know where you are coming from with urbanisation. In an ideal world I agree with you. But TIC.
In many developing cities the usual case of non-joined up government means that unless the infrastructure goes in first, this safe development cannot happen.
This new development usually requires green field sites. Brown field development, usually (not always) means that a redeveloped city block still needs to plug into the surrounding ancient infrastructure.
We recently had complaints from a poster on here, about lack of water supply for most of the week. This is perhaps dues to new development on old infrastructure. In the last city I lived in, we lived in an new area with inadequate infrastructure, we lost water for up to a week at a time every 3 months or so. This lack of mains water affects sanitation.
I also agree with you on population density figures, I did not want to post too long, and skipped the issue of local areas of more density. In the last city I lived in the most densely populated area was 38000/km2. Like most statistics, there is room for more detail.
No results found.
Great to know it is no longer dry.
Good review BTW
This has moved.
The cut flowers are about 700m east on Duonan Jie. The plants and trees are about 700 m west and follow Duocai Section.
A reasonable choice of lumber that has improved over time. Fancy hardwoods like walnut, and mahogany are in abundance. There are some plywood and rubber-wood boards available. There are also some kiln dried imported softwoods and merbao available. Some of the lumber is very green, so look for the kiln dried if you need stable timbers.
Echo everything said by others.
Breakfast great and the serve from 8am. Most other places say 9am and they still are not ready.
Sandwiches are cheap 22-32, and really packed full of filling. We got some sandwiches for a day out, the only mistake I made was ordering two, as this was too much. These are seriously good sangars, and they are wrapped in alu foil.
In fairness to Metro, they are a wholesalers, and not really a supermarket. Hence the need for a card, which can be got around.
They have improved in the year I have been away. They now carry a more consistent range of imported foodstuffs and they also seem to have sorted out the mported milk supply.
They have a wider range of electrical appliances now, there is a coice of more than one toast. There is also a better range of seasonal non foods, like clothes, shoes, garden furniture and camping gear.
Chinese academic ponders globe-spanning railways
Posted byAs with most big projects, among the biggest challenges will be the politics. This has already been seen in the China-Singapore project.
I used to work on govt projects in the UK and it is always the politics that proves one of the biggest hurdles, mostly before building even starts.
In a country where the government does not have to worry about the political fall out from such projects, it is easier to build what you want, largely where you want. As soon as other stakeholders get involved (especially if they have the power of veto, e.g. other countries, states or provinces) it gets bogged down very quickly.
Kunming police now permitted to carry sidearms
Posted by@mPRin, I agree. It only ups the ante for the criminal. Now they are more likely to carry.
Spring City's tallest skyscraper nears completion
Posted byI love this. The building will be a major traffic generator on one of the biggest pinch points on the inner ring road (Huancheng Nan Lu, Huancheng Xi Lu, meeting Dianchi Lu).
As the building is only a short distance from Er Huan Nan Lu, a lot of the traffic will want to join this second ring road. However, Er Huan Nan Lu is already overcapacity, and is perhaps the most congested section of 2nd ring road already.
Yunnan tourism and real estate markets see investment top 2 trillion
Posted byI think something may have been lost in translation. It sounds a bit like the 'guests' will be those buying real estate (maybe holiday homes). Not sure, just trying to make sense of it.
Yunnan tourism and real estate markets see investment top 2 trillion
Posted byThere are numerous failed resorts across China. There was a resort built at Anning Hot Springs, complete with mountain walks and cable car. The remnants of the cable car can still be seen.
I find it interesting that the figures for tourism and real estate have been compiled. An increase in the combined figure does not necessarily mean that both are growing.