Good luck with the renovations. I hope your wife has a good eye, because the workers in Dali have some of the worst work ethic I've seen in China. It's a challenge just getting them to show up.

@anonymous coward ... Renovations are complete and OMG you are very very correct. Plans and drawings ....pffffttt they all know better. Had a external running chimney put in for our fireplace ... Stopped it in front of a window that was suppose to open on the 4th floor. Did not follow my detailed drawings and instructions and did not use all the chimney materials. Needless to say .... 4 hours of negotiations ...... Used the elbow and extra pipe .... 60 cm above the roof line as designed. Sigh.

It is not just Dali, I have had similar problems in Kunming. Really it is my fault for having false expectations.

Drawing? Pah! A bit like showing a map to many taxi drivers, it is outside of what they understand. These guys have not been taught building drawing, lets be fair. And asking, 'do you understand?' is futile, we know that.

The same with building anything (including a simple closet), if it is outside of their experience they cannot imagine/see the finished product, unless they have made one before. A bit like Chinese western cooking ;p. On the flip side, have you ever seen a lawyer put up a shelf? Horses for courses.

Result is that they do the best that they can. Putting my feet in their shoes. I have looked at a medieval cookbook you too will be lost, unless you have already been introduced to medieval cookery.
On the flip side, I could not build a house (walls, plumbing, electric, roof, plaster, tile, floor, etc) even not to code.

Having said that, I would still like to 'do with all prejudice' sometimes.