Psychology is a big word. Basically mosquitoes, like almost any other insect, identify suitable preys via their scent. Recently it was discovered that lactic acid is one of the main attractions for mosquitoes, which is also why they like feet so much (ever heard that feet smell of cheese? lactic acid). Can't be bothered to find the source of that scientific research, but this page gives you an overview of mosquito 'psychology':
late winter
Also I suggest not riding through the TLG if that means you'll be following the main road from Lijiang to Qiaotou, for reasons that it stinks.
You could cross by ferry (or even bridge now?) at Daju and go in and out the TLG at that point, but that means paying an extra 200 RMB just to use the road between Lijiang and Daju. Which, sigh, is actually worth it.
Done it, loved it. Please read my blog for more information.
www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=tS&doc_id=14040&v=4H
If you're a good rider, you won't need camping gear. But that's catch-22: if you need camping gear, you'll also have to be a good rider. There is nowhere to stay between Baishuitai and Shangri-La, so count on a heavy 101 km with 3 major passes up to 3700 m.
It's not the best time of the year to do it though because rain means _very_ cold and quite probably snow at the higher altitudes. That said, my first Lijiang-Shangrila leg was in June and it wasn't that bad at all (you'll find that blog on the same website if you click on my username).
Can't help you with Lijiang to Lugu, but it sounds a lot easier than the Deqin stretch.
There was definitely a time where it didn't work in any store, even the big ones. Glad it's more or less resolved. Adding leading zeroes doesn't work - not only because there's probably a checksum in the id, but also because many passports (including the Belgian one) use letters of the alphabet for their passport number.
No results found.
First and last experience. Absolutely horrible. I came in late with a big flesh wound. The doctor sewed it up and told me to come back in the morning "perhaps to redo it, and to change the bandage". When I did come back the next morning, they just changed the bandage and sent me off.
When I peeked at my own wound, I noticed it was horribly done. "Like a vet did the stitches," as someone commented. I then had to stay a night in a different hospital in order to do it right, with a 40% chance of getting infections. This cost me a lot more, thanks to Richland fucking up in the beginning.
Whatever X-rays were taken were not printed out and given to me so I couldn't go to another hospital for a second opinion or treatment.
The nurses didn't seem to know where half the things were and the doctors had to repeat orders to get basic things like scissors.
In the next hospital, it was noticed that I had fractured my jaw in two places. On the five X-Rays taken at Richland, they did not notice the fractures.
Pretty sure these people are not actual doctors and are therefore criminal.
Super place. Really cool interior, lots of good beers and drinks, fun toilet inside the telephone booth, and an interesting clientele.
Cons: pretty hard to find, no matching glasses for the imported beers, and home brews need some work.
Teaching and support lamentable.
Four people signed up for the highest-level class and got a teacher who does all the talking, refers to herself as 老师 and makes classes absolutely uninteresting. As of this moment, only 1 person is still going on a regular basis.
While staff is friendly, they are absolutely incapable to help out with visa matters in an adequate way. Lack of information beforehand, lack of support and lack of information during the visa process meant that I am waiting forever for my residence permit to be processed, without any information about why it's taking so long, why they can't get started ... I'd say this school is a good option if all you wanted is a visa, but they can't even handle this properly.
Anyone giving this school a 5-star rating hasn't been to any decently-run schools in Kunming, such as Keats'. The only redeeming quality is facilities and space, those are indeed excellent.
Have been studying at Keats for almost four semesters now and I'm very enthusiastic about the quality of the teachers and the commitment of the school's staff.
One point of criticism is that I think they could put in some effort to group people of the same level together, rather than base it on who was together in last semester's class.
I stayed here in the early days of March 2013. Dave and his wife are swell owners, the staff attentive, the food good, rooms in perfect order, WiFi fast enough... Much like the old hump, the entire place is an excellent place to relax and make friends. And that is what you come to do in Dali, after all. The location is a bit isolated from the old town, but nothing is really far away in Dali. Besides, it makes for a better starting point to walk up Cangshan.
Booming Southeast Asian trade necessitates bilingual graduates
发布者I'm not as pessimistic as Yuanyangren. I know a fair amount of South-East-Asian students here in Kunming who, besides their own language and pretty good English, also speak Chinese and another South-East-Asian language.
When in Vietnam I heard a fair deal of Chinese, Lao and Cambodian. In eastern Thailand and southern Laos, a fair number of people could speak Vietnamese. People in eastern Burma were often also fluent in Thai as they often (illegally) cross the border to work in Thailand.
There are different reasons for this. First, culturally: except for Chinese, no language or nation is so much bigger than the other that it is not necessary for them to learn their neighbour's language (i.e. you don't have the France or Germany effect). Plus the fact that each country has a lot of immigrants and trade from neighbouring countries.
Linguistically: all of those languages are linguistically closer to each other than each of them is to English (tones, structure over flection, sounds ...), which makes it much easier for the speaker of one SEA language to learn the other. Also, you can pretty much consider Lao and Thai as one language.
Finally, you don't really need to know each language. One will do. Being a linguist myself, I know that knowing a fourth or a fifth language doesn't help. No company ever seeks polyglots. Most would rather employ two persons with different language skills.
That said, I indeed know very few Chinese who master any of those languages. They suffer from the France syndrome where their language is so overwhelmingly big that they do not need to know any others. This could prove a great opportunity for South-East-Asians who do master more than one language, in addition to Chinese.
Getting Away: Luang Prabang
发布者I think its main attraction is the Europeans exhibit. Isolated and outside their own habitat, they seem a bit unhappy yet continue to do their thing: dining, drinking, complaining about prices, complaining about the heat, complaining about the surroundings, unsuccessfully trying to haggle, taking pictures of everything that moves or -in fact- does not move (the latter probably a result of their isolation), walking around, perusing night marked trinkets and looking for unique experiences.
Best zoo ever.
2012: Three game-changers for Kunming
发布者Well if it is because of political achievement, then the urge to achieve political achievement has put into place good works. Ergo: whoever holds the strings of these political achievers has found a way to incentivise officials to think what could make a city better before it's actually needed. The goal justifies the means. Okay, it should also be re-evaluated to eliminate quality erosion.
The Pan Asia Gold Exchange, when launched, could have a major impact on the global gold market, other than just reinforcing Kunming and China as financial forces to be reckoned with. See, if as Mr. Maguire suggests, indeed 1000 tonnes of gold will be sold to Chinese people, this will make the price of gold skyrocket. It also means that people who short gold (i.e. they borrow gold from someone who has some, sell it for 100 dollar an ounce, anticipate a price drop and buy it back for 90 dollar an ounce). Net profit: 10 per ounce. These shorts make the market unstable and undermine the position of gold as a money reserve in bad financial times (like, now).
Other things come into play: the increased opening of the RMB to foreign investment (since foreigners will be able to sell gold to Chinese people in return for yuan!) and the fact that there will be a shift in financial power, away from the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) and the COMEX in New York. This would bring balance and free market workings to the bullion market.
There may be many other things that could ensue from the launch of PAGE. It's hard to oversee the changes that may be brought about and the bigger financial and political picture. However, if it launches the way analysts think it will, now may be a good time to buy gold.
Cycling from Kunming to Lüchun
发布者ah blobbles, your blog was a guide for me through that part of the 3201 towards Nansha. I was happy though to find the roadworks all but completely finished.
Cycling from Kunming to Lüchun
发布者Nice post!
I quite liked Nansha though dubbed by my guidebook (which I consequently dumped) "a big uninteresting hamlet with lots of concrete and tiles". I had the best of help there from a local grocer without whom I would've run into considerable trouble. I later lost my phone and therefore contact with him, so I with a few consecutive days to spare, I would like to ride back south (and further down) and say hi - and at the same time spend some days in a place that is a little more wennuan than Kunming these days.
Write-up:
www.crazyguyonabike.com/[...]