Forums > Living in Kunming > Rain! Personally I'm not a fan of rain at all, particularly in a temperate climate like Kunming. For all I could care, it should be sunny everyday here like during winter and somehow they would have to figure out a way of bringing water here (desalination plant + pipeline from Guangxi or Hainan anyone?)
OK, perhaps a bit expensive and clearly Kunming isn't located in a desert; but last year I hated the weather here...too cloudy or foggy, too much rain and this combination meant going back to boiling water in a tub and mixing it with cold water just to have a shower! Me thinks that perhaps Kunming isn't sunny enough to justify the big investment in solar hot water heating systems...
Forums > Food & Drink > Restaurants you 'love to hate' I'm not sure what kind of "fine dining" experiences customers are used to back home, but I've been perfectly content with most of the western food in Kunming, with the exception of Momma Teresa's on Wenlin Jie. For a restaurant that supposedly specializes in pizza, they have done a really horrible job. Awful, tasteless thick-crusted pizza (ughh!!) rather than the crispy thin-crust which most people seem to prefer these days at prices higher than the French Cafe and the Prague Cafe and A Slice of Heaven, all of which dish out quite decent pizza at a better price!
As for the service in restaurants, yeah it's not that great...but right now I'd rather not receive too much unwanted attention from people who are employed merely to take my order, serve my food and take my money. As long as they manage to do all these things right, it's fine (and there's nothing worse than someone interrupting me when I'm in a restaurant talking with the friend(s) I am with and enjoying my food). Also, it's perfectly fine to click your fingers or shout out "waitress" in Chinese to grab the attention of a waitress and they will always happily come to serve you, try doing that in the west, haha...
Forums > Food & Drink > US student becomes viral hit in China for sharing his fries Chinese people are weird. Always commenting on the little nuisances or physical appearence of foreigners. In the west it would be considered racist to comment on a Chinese person's slant eyes, but yesterday a Chinese person told my Sri Lankan friend that his "skin was too dark". That kind of comment would cause a huge furor in the west.
And now this (a good thing happened, and Americans are known for being friendly even to strangers...so I don't get what all the fuss is about?!) He should be commended for his friendliness and caring attitude towards strangers, but I doubt he would like to be considered a hero. While I am wary of giving handouts to beggars (except visibly disabled people, I never give to able bodied begging children or adults); I respect this guy.
Sometimes I am grateful for the level of PC we have back home because it shields us from this kind of discrimination and unnecessary attention (which in a way is a subtle form of discrimination in my opinion). Maybe one day China will jump on the bandwagon...or perhaps maybe not.
Forums > Travel Yunnan > Help - Need info for Kunming to Ventiane bus and Laos Visa much appreciate @ludwig, I thought that the Huay Xai bus only runs from Jinghong, not all the way from Kunming.
I believe there is a daily Kunming-Luang Prabang and a separate Kunming-Vientiane service. The latter I have seen in Laos; I was driving just north of Vientiane, and the bus was just in front of me headed north towards Kunming. I think the Kunming-Vientiane service leaves around 5pm daily or when there are enough passengers. BTW you might want to consider going only as far as Luang Prabang, stopping for the night and catching a faster minibus rather than the tortorous 48hour direct service.
Lao Airlines offers a reliable and cheap daily A320 service (occasionally they will use an ATR-72 when passenger loads are smaller) from Kunming to Vientiane. One way flights are no problem, and if purchasing a return flight you can easily change your reservation free of charge.
For VOA, use USD since the rate in RMB will be significantly worse. However, if you have difficulty sourcing USD in China, then RMB may be your only choice. I believe only THB or USD are accepted at Vientiane airport, so if flying in you'll need to exchange your RMB at the border when you arrive.
Forums > Travel Yunnan > Renting a car to see Yunnan independently @yogaden, yes, road signs are quite ubiquitous in China, this is not Vietnam where road signs are non-existant! Although most of the major road signs will have either pinyin, English or more commonly Chinglish posted along with the Chinese characters, smaller road signs will be only in Chinese so do bring along a map with Chinese characters and preferably a manual of some sort with Chinese road signs to familiarize yourself with.
Chinese teens murder seven before arrests
发布者This is crazy! Sounds like the kind of thing you hear about happening in the US, not China. Anyway, they were arrested quickly and yes, Liumingke1234, they can and most likely will be given the maximum penalty for their crimes. I believe in China 14 year olds can be tried as adults. It doesn't say how old these teenagers are, but my guess is they are certainly in their mid to high teens.
The Box says goodbye
发布者Very sad indeed...I hope the new tenant is also a foreigner who opens up a similar bar or restaurant to you guys. Good luck with the future and hope to visit you in Lijiang or Shangri-la. In any case, stay in China! Restaurants/bars like yours really make places like Kunming feel cozier.
Chiang Mai's Chinese invasion
发布者@Peter99, I agree that there could be many more independent Chinese tourists in Chiang Mai, or indeed in many other parts of the world in the future.
I have seen many independent Chinese tourists, many travelling by themselves in places like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. They usually have enough English to at least order from a menu though. It's kinda ridiculous for people like the young Chinese tourists above to not know what they "are ordering". If you ask me, except at Wenlie Jie and a few downtown areas, it's much more difficult to know what you are ordering in China!
Contrary to what is stated in this article, I don't think the Chinese can take away Thai jobs or properties because unlike in Laos, the Thais are fiercely protective of their rights and know what they are. Also, foreigners can't own land even if they become married to Thai citizens. With the exception of jobs requiring Chinese language skills, Chinese citizens wouldn't be able to find work in Thailand either and they can certainly forget about working in protected sectors like farming etc. so I think the fears raised above are unfounded unless Thailand opens up more but their restrictive property and work laws are probably in place to avoid such a scenario.
However, for now, the Chinese train project from Kunming through Laos connecting all the way to Singapore is not going to happen, but the Thais seem to be confident about a possible Japanese investment for some domestic HSR (high speed rail) lines in the near future. Personally, I would still put my money on the Chinese coming through eventually, but it might take 10+ years to happen so the original opening date of 2015 is now nothing more than a pipe dream given that the Chinese have now scaled back on HSR projects given safety issues, the resignation of the railway minister etc.
The road through Myanmar (Burma) from Mae Sai/Tachileik to China has too many restrictions on travel and since the Mae Sai crossing only allows travel to/from Mae Sai it can't be used by anyone planning on travelling overland between Thailand and China via Myanmar territory; thus Chinese and Thai/third party tourists/businesspeople etc. travelling overland between Thailand and China must go through Laos (or alternatively, Laos and Vietnam). I hope that with the recent positive developments in Myanmar that an overland route connecting Thailand and China and an upgrading of the Chinese/Burmese border post to an international one will happen, but until it does it won't become an option for anyone.
I wouldn't put my money on low-cost flight options to Kunming happening anytime soon, though eventually they should come through put this will depend entirely on demand for such services.
@invisible, the railway link from Kunming to the Vietnamese border has existed for like 100 years but only now does it look like it will reopen again after being closed for roughly 10 years now. As such, this will mean you can once again travel by rail from Kunming to Hanoi and beyond to Ho Chi Minh City. When it opens is unclear, but I'd say give it a year or so.
Kunming to Laos by bike: Part II
发布者@pickley - hitchhiking is possible, but not really recommended due to the low cost of public transport and possible risk of things going wrong, though having said that hitchhiking is far safer in most parts of East Asia than in the USA for example. But you can still try anyway and it is surely a very interesting way of travelling.
I think Chinese truck drivers (starting in northern Laos, not far from the border) or Lao truck drivers (who wouldn't go much beyond Mengla) would help you cross the border, and then you could try flagging another vehicle to go further north. Alternatively, Chinese tourists driving themselves in southern Xishuangbanna or possibly in Laos itself might be willing to help you. It would be a good idea to offer some food, drinks or something for the ride and truck drivers often expect some payment anyway, but if you are nice and give them some food, cigarettes (if they smoke) or something else then that should make them happy enough without the need for monetary compensation. Every experience is different so you'll need to just try it out and see what happens.
Kunming to Laos by bike: Part II
发布者@russell, it's Ji. There's a much faster way of translating English to Chinese these days and requires no travel outside of your own home: it's called google translate.
Anyway, from this itinerary it looks like the writer is about to enter Vietnam before he enters Laos, unless he backtracks first. Normally to travel from Kunming to Laos one would pass through Yuxi, Yuanjiang, Simao (Pu'er), Jinghong (Xieng Hung or Chiang Rung), Mengla (Muang La) and finally Mohan before reaching Laos. Of course while you can't cycle on the expressway, I have seen western cyclists on the highway between Jinghong and the border (there is currently no expressway there).
Therefore taking the backroads between Kunming and Jinghong would be the fastest way, but this cyclist's itinerary sounds more interesting and passes a more beautiful region of Yunnan - I too was very impressed by Yuanyang (hence my GoKM username right hehe), not to mention Lvchun and the Vietnamese borderlands before reaching Hekou.