@satii: "Are you back yet JanJal? Your warm donuts and hot shower await."
If all goes well, we will return to Kunming in Saturday tomorrow. Hot shower after 6 weeks without sounds heavenly.
I'm not sure if regular bakeries are open yet, or decently stocked. Happen to know about Just Hot?
On a quick Google search, "ynkmwqw1" did appear on one China scammers list result page, but there was no further information.
Email and domain addresses in China (especially in public institutions) can be quite cryptic and it's difficult to tell anything based on those alone.
You could play along but refuse to send any money and refuse to come to China on tourist visas.
Have them provide any authorized invitations and financial guarantees that you may need for cultural exchange visas (F-visa I believe) for your team. Your nearest Chinese consulate may be helpful as well.
Them asking for money, or asking to go on tourist visas, indicate obvious fraud.
Lol, well that was obviously unintentional comedy.
Recent developments from the rural Yunnan.
Earlier this week migrant factory workers were allowed to be shipped back to the coastal cities.
The employers had to collect a busfull of people from each village to travel together in a bus all the way from the village to the company housing in Zhejiang for example - no trains or planes allowed. Local hospital provided health screening (chest x-rays etc) before they were allowed on bus.
We would have option to get out of here too, but will probably stay another week because we want to take the aging mother-in-law with us to Kunming, and that takes some preparation.
The pig is still alive, as are the squirrels.
From the GoKunming official page:
"The Entry and Exit Bureau service has not resumed on Monday, February 3. "
I'm assuming this is a typo (not=now), but in case it isn't, is there any new info on this?
No results found.
Paying a visit to the Cool Mountain Yi
发布者Development brings changes to old rituals as well.
About two years ago I was in a funeral ceremony of a close relative-by-law deep in Changning county in eastern Baoshan prefecture.
The deceased was not really an Yi, but was written off as such in the population records. Rest of the family, as well as most of the villagers, were Yi.
New regulations from authorities state that the deceased may no longer be just buried like they were in past. Instead, they must now always be cremated. I assume this is to save valuable farmland in the mountains, and perhaps for hygiene reasons as well..
Since this cremation is done in a separate facility, it means that the deceased (and his or her left-behind spirit), who previously remained in the family house until buried, have to be taken out of the house for cremation and then returned to the house in a small coffin.
The spirits are known to have some temper, so much care is always put to making them happy.
In that specific village, this was the first case of implementing the new regulations. The ritual specialist had to establish new rituals so the spirit could safely travel outside the house and then return.
Wooden stools were lined in the courtyard, and a line was attached to them to form a kind of bridge, which the spirit could use to leave the household and then return there for further rituals. Firecrackers naturally escorted the way.
This was a variation of a case where somebody would die (accidentally for example) outside of the house. In that case, a similar pathway would be created so the spirit could return to the house for rituals, before usually returning to the mountains where the death occurred.
I was told of a spirit of a man who lives in the nearby mountainside. At that time guns were still allowed, and the poor guy fell to his death when taking a shot at a wild goat or similar animal.
On top of the mountain there are half a dozen shrines for everyone who has died in the mountains. Visitors to the mountain top are expected to kowtow to each of these shrines, or risk wrath of the spirits on their way down.
Sichuan water release devastates parts of northwest Yunnan
发布者I was going to mention that. Also If there were (even) more dams and associated buffer lakes along the river, then those (unless already full of course) could dampen the impact of this kind of natural disasters further along the stream. But that would be man vs. nature of course, at cost of nature.
Beijing approves massive Changshui International Airport expansion
发布者Since many Chinese tourists will not stay in Kunming, but head to more touristy places in Yunnan, I'm wondering how many will change plane at Changshui to get to their final destinations, and how many will take subway or other transport downtown and then to other travel nodes - like the high speed train terminal.
I'm thinking that for many the latter option would give a chance to see at least a bit of the provincial capital, and also some countryside from train or bus that they wouldn't catch from air.
Thus the question is, how rest of Kunming's transport system is up to take this expected increase in air passengers.
Bringing classic Shanghai elegance to Kunming
发布者@Montaigne: The 2pm opening time in end of the advertisement refers to opening time of the original Shanghai location. This ad does not mention opening time of the Kunming location at all, but clicking to the official event calendar entry, it seems to be at 11am.
Study: Air pollution causes loss of intelligence
发布者I would tend to think, that it is not easy to separate loss of cognitive performance caused directly by air pollution, and loss of same abilities indirectly by otherwise weakened other abilities (ranging from lung performance to worse sleep for example) arising from the same pollution.
Considering the wide range of parameters that may affect ones cognitive performance, it should be no-brainer to conclude that (one way or another) air pollution affects cognitive performance.