Forums > Living in Kunming > Is Kundu safe? Haha...good point. Drunk people in clubs are naturally unpredictable, though I've always felt that drunk people in China just tend to act funny, start stumbling and within moments start to throw up, not really dangerous like in the west though. Note that I wasn't around when those incidents I described above happened...but I have to say I'm puzzled by what appears to be a large number of separate incidents. Also, apparently the police simply blocked off the area where that person died but didn't appear to be doing anything else, according to the people I talked to, who went to Kundu on Wednesday night.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Ban on smoking starts May 1st Do this: if you're a foreigner, point to a sign prohibiting smoking (in Chinese of course) to the next Chinese person you see smoking and see what their reaction is. If they don't react, ask them if they can read characters. If not (or even if they answer yes), tell them they are selfish and stupid.
Forums > Living in Kunming > exchange large amount of money I was told it was unlimited going from foreign currency to Yuan (well, there may be a limit like you guys say, but it's quite high) or 500USD equivalent per day when exchanging back to a foreign currency.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Visa run to honkers Phnom Penh is good, you can generally do everything through your hotel without even going to the embassy yourself, but this may also depend on your visa type. On the other hand, Phnom Penh is further away from Kunming than Bangkok or Hong Kong. Hanoi would be the closest and best, but that embassy sucks coz they only allow residents and locals to apply for Chinese visas...god knows why given that Hanoi is a major tourist city and not too far from China.
Forums > Living in Kunming > What the #*%$s wrong with the internet? My internet connection is generally quite good. Movies can be downloaded in about half an hour to 2 hours, which, while slower than in the west is good enough. Facebook, Youtube, etc. all work perfectly well with a VPN or freegate or something. Most other foreign websites work well enough even without a VPN or freegate. That's my experience, but basically, if you want to get a decent connection, get a good ISP, even if it costs 1000+ Yuan per month, which is OK I think, especially if you get a reliable connection and good speeds.
Li Ping fundraisers
发布者Hopefully enough money can also be raised in the future for her eventual kidney transplant.
Malaysian firm to invest $8.1 billion in Songming
发布者According to the article re: railroad in Laos, this Malaysian firm wants to build a 220km connection between Thailand and Vietnam NOT the one up to the Chinese border that's been talked about and cancelled, then revived again so many times.
Doors to international trade swing wide for Laos
发布者The plan by the Lao government to still go ahead with the railway project is unbelievable. Neighboring Vietnam voted not to go ahead with a planned Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi high speed rail link due to concerns about profitability (i.e. not enough Vietnamese would be able to afford a ticket despite having a reasonably sized middle class at least in Hanoi and Saigon).
Now Laos, with only just over 6 million people and a tiny middle class wants to do the same? Good luck! However, I wouldn't be surprised if in 6 months from now I read in the Vientiane Times that the project has been put on hold again.
I'd suggest stick to a normal speed train that locals will actually be able to afford, going high-speed while neither Thailand nor Vietnam, two neighboring economic juggernaughts have plans to do the same is quite far fetched, I'll believe it when I see it but it seems like a crazy idea for now!
The only good news is that Laos can take control of the railway project and not have to worry about the previous 5km land concession on either side of the tracks that was previously demanded by the Chinese side.
Mekong drug kingpin stands trial in Kunming
发布者Also, scally is correct about the reasons for Naw Kham being tried in China and logically Kunming, the closest major Chinese city to the area where the attacks occurred would be the best place to try him.
Incidentally, the 9 renegade Thai soldiers also implicated in the attacks will be tried in Thailand.
Mekong drug kingpin stands trial in Kunming
发布者Well, he killed only Chinese sailors and based on this story, he has had run-ins with the Chinese authorities before. Overall, it's good that this criminal has been brought to justice. Also, by being tried in China he will receive the punishment he deserves.
The Mekong River in the 2000s should be about tourism and trade, not murder, drug trafficking and mayhem. Those latter three things should firmly be entrenched as relics of the past.