The district office handling my work permit sent a group WeChat message today.
The message mentioned calling "Anti-epidemic Headquarters Office" to ask about situation of foreigners' vaccination, and citing response "foreigners should be able to get vaccine after July 1st", and that "foreigners in prefectures can get it now, but in Kunming city cannot".
Anything new about vaccinating foreigners in Kunming?
On hearsay I'd share that last week my wife's Chinese colleague saw a foreigner getting the vaccine at a clinic in Kunming. She apparently asked about it, and was told that it was possible because the foreigner was enrolled in China's (medical) social insurance scheme.
English schedule for the Euros and more: www.sinoepg.net/
CCTV-5 will be showing the matches live at least for the first weekend, with Chinese commentary of course.
If there are concurrent matches, then 5+ would be showing the other overlapping one. That's a common use for the 5+ channel, used for example with UEFA Champions League broadcasts.
5+ used to go with suffix "live events" in past, supposedly focusing more on live broadcasts/replays of events of lesser/no domestic importance, in order to reserve the main channel for Chinese sports or international sports of bigger domestic interest.
Nowadays it seems to be showing more live ice hockey and tennis than the main channel. Varies by season though.
Yes, minorities were excluded from family planning. Still my wife, who is Yi and the youngest of 3 siblings, always jokes how her parents had to "buy" her. There was some kind of fee/fine for having her in the 80s.
I have little experience of rural China outside Yunnan, but it is my understanding that it's rougher up here than in many other provinces.
From what I have seen here, I cannot imagine lot of rural families wanting to have more children without intent and possibility to send them to study, work and live in cities. Even sending them to Yiwu to make sneakers may not be a viable option in coming decades.
In the mountains you simply don't have enough flat land to farm. Maybe somewhere else there is justification to raise more farmers, but also in those places farming machinery works better.
Mind you these are places that should be also high on China's poverty reduction agenda, and having more babies in already impoverished villages would be quite counter-productive.
China doesn't currently depend on income tax of its workers the same way western countries do.
In particular rural residents, most of them, never in their lives go above the current 5000 RMB per month limit to pay taxes. Even in cities like Kunming lot of jobs are below that.
The problem of shrinking workforce is slightly different problem here than elsewhere. Despite all the talk of AI and robotics, China still needs hands to make things, and above all consumers to drive the economy.
No results found.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
发布者But what is free?
Is it free, if it is funded by tax payers? Or state-owned tobacco sales?
Most foreigners in China I expect to break above the 4800 RMB monthly income limit, and therefore be interested to know that their tax contributions provide (among other things) education to Chinese youth.
But Chinese not so much. Many do not earn over 3500 RMB a month, and especially not the typical villagers and parents in locales where children drop out of compulsory education.
I argue that however little people earn, they should have to provide even a marginal tax contribution to raise awareness about efficient spending of those contributions.
Then again, that may still not be in best interest of the Chinese state.
China hands out happy city awards, Kunming sad
发布者@bilingualexpat:
Yes, I agree that China is far behind many countries, and when measuring happiness in international level, money starts to play less important role.
China has obvious disadvantages when it comes to civil liberties and democracy for example. People in countries that are arguably better positioned in those aspects, that knowledge alone will make them feel better about their own lives - even if financially they would not fare relatively any better than average Chinese.
But these awards in OP were limited to Chinese cities and I assume to Chinese respondents (by huge proportion anyway).
China hands out happy city awards, Kunming sad
发布者In Chinese context, Chengu has still been boasting GDP growth in the double digits or very close anyway, and while few will admit that money brings happiness, increase in GDP will translate to some degree of hope and positive vibe among the Chinese residents.
In national level, China's double digit days are over, but they were there anyway at some point. Was it ever so for Kunming? (not that I know if it still is)
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
发布者I don't get this part (or I probably do, but disagree wholeheartedly):
"an official at a county-level education bureau in Yunnan told local media in 2014, explaining the local attitudes. "By the time he finishes school, all the good girls would be married, and it'd be hard for him to find a wife.""
Is (was) this "official" saying that if a boy takes his compulsory education to the end and finishes school at 15-or-so old, all good girls are married by then?
Hello?
"No marriage may be contracted before the man has reached 22 years of age and the woman 20 years of age."
Perhaps the schools should have more classes about the laws of China, so at least the future generations wouldn't need to be sued to take their kids to school.
Life in Kunming: Studying Chinese in the Spring City
发布者Well, I for one am closing on 5th full year in Kunming, and can not speak Chinese more than casual greetings or understanding how much money to give when I buy something.
Local spouse contributes a lot to avoid having to learn, and since neither of us are teachers, family happiness comes before frustrating teacher/student relationship.
Also, to me it seems that it gets easier to manage without Chinese every year - I suppose it is some kind of development both ways.
But I have been considering taking formal classes - not so much to hold a conversation, but as backup plan if things change career or otherwise.