Thanks. Tiger, I'll remember this thread and take you up on your word in about a month or two :) Take-over is in the beginning of April so we'll spend the next couple of months trying to scrape some cash together first.
I'm gonna semi-hijack this thread for a bit: We're getting a new apartment in a few months -the empty, bare concrete shell kind- and we've begun looking at how much it would cost to do it up. Do any of you guys who've been through the same have a rough estimate on how much, say, a bathroom or a kitchen should be budgeted at? We're probably aiming for the regular not-too-shabby-but-not-exactly-luxury approach. For reference, it's a standard 131 sqm, 3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 2 balconies deal. Anything really would help, I've had people tell me it can be done for 8 wan and others who refuse to believe it's doable for less than 30, so yeah, rather confusing.
Buffet places in China often have sizeable discounts in the form of VIP cards where you have to buy 10,20 or more tickets. Many "5" star hotels offer this. We usually buy a stack every month at either a nice hotel restaurant nearby: normal price 138, 20 tickets for 998 but they have to be used within a month or at the local golf club 998 for 15, same 30 days deal. Either way, if you go to any place and get 2 meat and 3 veggie dishes, it's often 100 yuan or more. Here you get better quality, nice surroundings, 40-50 dishes to shovel from as well as juice/soft drinks/beer included as well as cakes/pastries and ice cream. It's really a no-brainer if you can find a good place with a decent discount system.
@Arabic:
",,there are not any Muslim missionaries in China at all. Never happened and will never."
Sorry, but that's an outright lie or at least extremely naive thinking.
@Ocean:
"If you genuinely believe that God has called you to witness to folk who would otherwise end up in an eternity in Hell, then technicalities such as legality, how you obtain a visa and how you attract individuals with whom you can share your faith are not critical issues. You do what you have to, to save souls."
Sounds like a plausible excuse for Islamic terrorists as well. I know what you're trying to say, I just don't buy into the basic reasoning as being objectively acceptable. That said, as a committed anti-theist, I never back down from a good discussion :)
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The comment from Chris had deserved a wider audience. Beluga?
Went there yesterday and it totally made my week. Nice decor and friendly staff and a real salad bar. Sadly we both wanted mexican food so I can't really say much about their other courses. The food was great but just a tad spicier would have improved the dish. The best thing was that we almost had the place to ourselves and we could have a quiet conversation without shouting, spitting Chinese people in the background. I realised how much I had missed that since coming here.
We went to Chicago Coffee a couple of days ago and it was a nice experience. The place is cozy with soft comfy chairs (I realized how much I have missed one since coming here) and they have a nice little collection of English language books in the corner consisting mainly of classics and travel litterature. I was looking forward to trying their advertized tortilla bar but it wasn't up and running that evening.
Instead we went for 2 12 inch pizzas -roast chicken and pepperoni- but we quickly realized that 1 would have been enough. Those things are heavy. I am mainly into Italian style pizza but Chicago's double layered pizzas are well worth a try. Their coffee seems to be a bit on the expensive side but people say good things about it and they have got a nice selection. I wouldn't mind dropping by again some day,, hopefully when they've got the tortilla thing going. English speaking staff btw.
Yunnan's tourism industry lagging behind its neighbors
发布者The entrance fees are and will be a concern for national tourists though I don't really know if Yunnan's direct competitors are charging similar sky rocketing ticket prices or not. Furthermore Kunming is going to get passed by as a stopover for tourists now that nearly every area worth visiting in Yunnan has an airport and frankly I can't blame tourists for not including Kunming in their plans.
This place might still be a decent place to live and work but honestly, what is there to see around here for a tourist? The Stone Forest it the only one think I can think about but there are karst formations all over Southern China, many of which are nicer and cheaper to visit than the one near Kunming. In 5 years Chinese tourists will fly into Shangri-La, take a bus or train to Lijiang, fly from there to Tengchong, then they'll fly to Jinhong (or whatever Sipsangpanna's main city is called) and from there they'll go back home. Kunming's tourist industry is pretty much fxcked and the hiked up fees all over Yunnan will ensure that no one ever comes back to visit.
Furthermore I think we all have a feeling that not only do we get screwed over when we want to visit the scenic spots but also that the money we have to cough up end up in the wrong pockets, or at least will be spent on anything else than preserving the natural beauty of the blah blah blah that every area claim.
China men's footballers to battle Syria in Kunming
发布者First chance to watch some live footie in more than 2 years and it's on a Friday where I can't go. :(
American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
发布者Yet another hypocrite fundamentalist Christian succumbs to his inner homosexual. Loudmouth overcompensating in public equals schadenfreude when caught. I like the Shanghaiist's no-nonsense story on the whole deal.
American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
发布者"Looks like: good judgement, self control, integrity, healthy relationships, communication skills with parents, resisting peer pressure, and respecting yourself and others, are good topics to bring to high schoolers!"
I agree. My point is that these values can easily be taught without the influence of a religious group claiming some sort of god given patent on them.
The FOTF refer to itself as fundamentalist Christian. While I shake my head at all the different religions I reserve the right to step it up a notch and use nutjob for people who are fundamentalists (here in the sense of taking the ramblings in the bible literally as facts and truths).
American conservative group makes inroads into China's classrooms
发布者"Nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide." is FOTF's official mission.
One could of course argue that the family is a natural development in human evolution since we in order to function efficiently as upright bi-pedal beings developed a narrow birth canal hence our offspring needed to be born early before the skull grew too large. Ergo we had to devote lots of resources from both father and mother to allow the child to develop sufficiently to take care of itself. Bingo,, the family was born, but let's save that discussion for some other day.
Now I wonder what the -supposedly atheist- central government in Beijing has to say when Hu and Wen discover that Yunnan has let fundamentalist Christian nutjobs influence the educational system.
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"A professor at Yunnan University's student counseling center told Global Times that young women should not have sex prior to marriage.
"If a girl had sex with her boyfriend, she would become mentally dependent on the boy," Yang said. "It would do no good for her studies and daily life."
-Why don't you just mind your own damn business professor Yang? Who gave you the right to morally lecture people and dictate how they live their lives and what exactly qualifies you to do such a thing? Nice sexist view towards women you display by the way. Obviously females are incapable of thinking for themselves so you and other fools like you have to do it for them. How the hell can this guy be allowed to teach at a university??
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Some dumb sheep said on Yunnan.cn:
"This way of thinking is very good. Old Master Confucius said as much more than 2,000 years ago. But this step comes a little late, now only using educational materials won't get the job done, things like the internet, television and movies must be controlled."
I wouldn't even know where to begin with this one.