lawlz, you are peddling an old piece of crap wrong percesption about laowai.

You can learn to play a Chinese traditional instrument. You can learn Chinese calligraphy. You can learn genuine martial arts from a Shaolin master. You can learn Tia-Chi. You can learn Mahjong, etc.,etc.,etc. So you see, the culture is not totally lost but it is on the path to being diminished if the younger generation don't pay attention. Sad really.

Liu, I have fund a resurgence in those things. Many of my students are learning to play a traditional instrument. At their houses, their parents formally serve me tea, etc. I think this is good.

Liu, I have fund a resurgence in those things. Many of my students are learning to play a traditional instrument. At their houses, their parents formally serve me tea, etc. I think this is good.

Obviously people whine because of various elements of displeasure and or discontent. @HFCAMPO et al seem to genuinely their time here - because they're perpetually looking for and finding adventures that sate their appetites for new, exciting, and interesting things to see, do, taste, and experience. Others enjoy moping and wallowing in self pity or remorse.

Christians and other religious zealots would proclaim a lack of higher power/plane acknowledgement (although Chinese can be difficult to proselytize for an infinite variety of speculative reasons.

Same goes for relationships - we can focus on the faults of our significant other or bask in the fruits - really a matter of perspective.

Personally, I'm perpetually grouchy, grumpy, and generally no fun to be around - so I tend to clam up and pretend to be mysterious or unfriendly instead.

Pervasive and prolific whining can be an excellent social measure of prevailing social wiles - but the true objective (if one cares to look) is to seek the root cause(s)...I've found that generally the root cause is a feeling of frustration because of erroneous or unfulfilled expectations.

Dazzer I've seen it's countless of times over the last three years I've been here.

I am having this amazing experience in China, the true "time of my life", so to speak. Every day is an adventure of food, colors, people, language, fun, and joy. I just cannot fathom how people can be so miserable here. They create their own misery, I believe.

lawlz, so when immigrants are unhappy in western countries it is because they are working illegally and making barely enough to fund a booze habit and rent? Interesting...

@mmkunmingteacher—it's great that you really enjoy your time here and are genuinely exploring something you love. For many others, maybe it's just not the case. I have family who love exploring small-town farm life and would never think to leave and go to a city and others who are desperate to get out. I wouldn't say it's always a personal case of dissatisfaction that makes some of them miserable, nor is it the intrinsic value of the place that makes other happy. Some people just don't fit well in certain places.

yeh but you won't see all o fthose safely at home not getting drunk. your prior statement indites all laouai. it is not all laowai

After three years in small town Hebei, Kunming is like a paradise. So much beauty here. Blue skies, trees, a great expat community. Anyone who's miserable here in Kunming, i suggest you go live in Hebei or Henan for six months. Haha.