I just got back to Ningbo where I've been living for some years. I spend all of my time in Ningbo and surrounding areas, and it was really nice to get to a "foreign" part of China. I was only in Kunming for 2 1/2 days, but it felt like forever. Here are a bunch of my impressions, in no particular order:
The taxi drivers speak good Chinese. I could actually understand them and hold a conversation.
Kunming looks like an old city, no demolition going on, no skyscrapers. Lots of hills which probably makes biking a pain.
Wow, cheap drinks! ¥10 for a large bottle of local beer? In Ningbo, you're lucky if you can find a 330ml Tsingtao for ¥25...
Most foreigners seem to speak Chinese quite well. And I saw very few of them over 30 years old.
A ton of tiny restaurants and cafes, with great Western food, at low prices. It's great to have so many choices.
The Mexican breakfast at Salvador's was the best meal I've had in months. Why can't Ningbo, a supposedly "developed" city, have a single place like this?
Lots of Japanese cartoons in the bars - sort of weird and non sequitur.
I didn't see any street food! Maybe I was in the wrong place, but I didn't see a single Xinjiangren selling yangrou or even one noodle cart.
No outside food brought into bars!?! WTF, this is China...:D
The city was pervaded with a sweet honeysuckle smell of flowers.
The staff at foreign bars don't speak English? Weird...I thought that was why they got hired in the first place.
I was forced to use my Chinese all the time in Kunming. I was able to do everything, I was rather proud of myself - maybe I'm not so bad as I think! Maybe it's a crutch living in a more developed city, where business is paramount, and all business is done in English. There's only one Mandarin school all of Ningbo, for instance.
I can't use an internet bar...WTF? I had my passport, but no, evidently you need a net card. When I asked where I could get this card, nobody knew. Extremely annoying, thank goodness for the unlicensed free terminal in French Cafe.
My mobile phone didn't work in Kunming. It works everywhere else in China, but not here. When I first got off the plane, I was able to make calls, but after that, it stopped working. When I called 10086 to complain, the lady suggested that I call China Mobile in Ningbo to get them to reconnect my service. HELLO LADY, MY PHONE DOESN'T WORK, I CAN'T CALL THEM. After some badgering, she agreed to call on my behalf, and my phone worked after that. Whew.
What is the obsession with paper 1 yuan notes? I rarely see them these days, and if someone tries to give me one, I reject it and demand a coin instead. But in Kunming, they're everywhere. I even had someone try to give me a 5 jiao note! I haven't seen one of those in years. I used to hate the paper jiaos...totally worthless. At least with coins, you can put them in a big jar, and take it to the bank when it's full. Do you still get the blue ¥100 notes there, too?
Anyway, I had a great time. You folks have got a nice city, I hope you appreciate it. Thanks to everyone who helped me while I was there, you know who you are. No thanks to the clannish foreigners outside Salvador's on Sunday afternoon who did their best to totally ignore me.