• Lijiang Huayang Language and Culture School
• WildChina
• Dune Cafe
• Empire Foreign Language School
• Chicago Coffee
• Kunming Yu-Cong Enterprise Management Company
• China Highlights
• Keats School
• IC Holiday Serviced Apartments
• Ganesh Bar & Restaurant
• Bakery 88
• Sandra's
• Tenwest Mandarin School
• Chapter One
• The Box
• JKH Design
• Huiying Dental Clinic
• Heqi Serviced Office Provider
• Salvador's Coffee House

Latest Comments

• • September 2, 2010
  • American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
    

    I don't care where FOTF folks go to church. I have no problem with teaching "good judgement, self control, integrity, healthy relationships, communication skills with parents, resisting peer pressure, and respecting yourself and others", but I am no fan of this organization.

    Do you want to know what they're spending all that lobbying money on? It's on fighting to make abstinence only education the only form of sex education in American schools.

    Do you know what else they spend it on? Convincing congressmen to cut off AIDS and reproductive health aid money to any country that allows abortions in public clinics.

    I really don't care what people believe about God and the universe. But it offends my American sensibilities when people try to impose those views on others.

    When the Ministry of Education finds out about this organization's religious agenda, not only will they kick them out, they'll impose a whole bunch of new rules making it harder for foreign education materials to be adopted in China, because they'll view all foreign education institutions as possible guerrilla fronts for religious insurgencies. Thanks a lot, guys.

• • April 12, 2010
  • Did Kunming's bus station reshuffle create more illegal taxis?
    

    The proliferation of illegal taxis has stemmed pressure on the city to revamp their woefully inadequate taxi system. Licensed cabbies have a lot of legitimate complaints, but their attitude and the shortcomings of the system are becoming untenable. Drivers frequently refuse to take people to places they deem too far or unprofitable, something which is illegal, and it seems every taxi in the city switches drivers at dinner time, which is when they're needed the most.

    For now, people just shrug their shoulders and hop in a black cab. I hope that the crackdown will expose the deeper problems, and the local media will start to follow this story. When I came to Kunming 10 years ago, it had one of the best run taxi systems in the country. The problem is, it's still the same system today.

• • April 7, 2010
  • Mekong summit blames weather, not Chinese dams, for low water levels
    

    I'm against the dams, but it really hasn't been raining. Really.

    What really happened is all in the above article, though the writer doesn't say it outright. A deal must have been struck before the summit: China gives some of the info it wants and plays nice at the summit if the other countries don't come out and point the finger at them.

    It was palatable because the current drought really has to do with the lack of rain.

• • April 7, 2010
  • Drug busts land pair in detention
    

    That sounds like quite a lot to stuff in a bra.

    Either way, these women will most likely be executed. That's not funny.

• • March 5, 2010
  • GoKunming Weekend Preview
    

    Also, tonight (Friday) 8:00pm at Nordica:
    Four Seasons - Spring
    A Showcase of Female Artists in Yunnan

Latest Classifieds

• • August 9
    
    Respond

  • Native English Proofreaders
    

    Classifieds > Jobs > Jobs Offered

    Crosby and Co. Art Consulting is looking for native English speakers to work as freelance proofreaders.

    Applicants should have good grammar and be effective at written communication.
    Contact Jeff Crosby at xiefeilaga (at) gmail and mention the Gokunming ad.
    Do NOT contact me if you are not a native English speaker.

Latest Forum Posts

• • September 1, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > what qualifications you need to translate chinese to english...
    

    There are plenty of certifications out there, but no actual laws about it. You won't get fined or arrested for translating without the proper certificates.

    On the other hand, there are certain certifications and training courses that will greatly increase your employability and the amount of money you can make. For instance, if you get certified as a simultaneous interpreter, you can command some pretty high rates interpreting at conferences, making a good living if you're in the right city. Some gigs (courtroom interpretation, international conferences) will only hire interpreters with certain certifications, and some translation clients need certified translations of contracts and important documents for legal reasons. This can expand your business and raise your price, but it may not be necessary in your particular field.

    As for specialization, it really depends on what you want to do. Technical translation can be rather boring, and some highly specialized fields require a bit of work to get into, though they may not actually provide a lot of work down the line.

    As a longtime translator, I second Bernie on the mother tongue requirement, and on the fact that it takes a lot of practice. Pick texts from your field and practice translating them. You don't necessarily have to work for free at first (I almost never do, except for some worthy causes here and there), but that's a question of building up a client base, not of learning how to translate.

• • August 31, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Flat screens
    

    I'd recommend going to an electronics shop like Guomei or Suning, where each brand has his own dealers on site. They work on commissions and sales targets, and if they're having a slow week, you can usually get a good bargain out of them. I managed to knock 2000 kuai off my 42 inch TCL last year.

• • August 27, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > Need to contact a bird watching club
    

    It's called a sunbird. It's similar, but it evolved separately. I've seen them a few times in the countryside, though unfortunately they had been captured by peasants who were selling them along the side of the road.
    Here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbird

• • August 27, 2010
    
  • Forums > Travel Yunnan > Visa L to Visa Z
    

    Bad news: you'll probably have to leave the country to get your Z visa. Not definite, but probably.
    Good news: Once you get your Work Permit and Residence Permit, you can live anywhere in the country. The residence permits are good everywhere, but you have to get them in the town where your sponsor company is located. This means that you'll have to return to Wuhan once a year to renew. Expect the applications to take about two weeks, if you have all your stuff together.

• • August 22, 2010
    
  • Forums > Living in Kunming > GoKunming Team
    

    The guy makes one normal post and you're all over him anyway. Congratulations - now you guys are the trolls.

    From what I understand, the ads on gokunming aren't exactly lucrative, though they seem to be doing better. It's a labor of love, mixed with a bit of hope for what the site (and the city) can become. The guys also do other writing/translation/consulting work and run gochengdoo.com among other things.