Forums > Living in Kunming > Gao Kao Weekend Gao Kao results are out today. Some are happy while most others are disappointed. 12 years of schooling summed up in one exam. Very few will retake the Gao Kao (less than 1%) to improve their score. Most will helplessly accept their score and base their entire future on this single Gao Kao score.
Now the students must choose a major and a school within the next 2-3 weeks.
Unfortunately, most English teachers are not aware of how important English is on the Gao Kao. English is 1 of 4 parts of the Gao Kao (both Arts + Science) for a total of 150 points. English has the same value as Chinese and Math. Total score for Gao Kao is 750.
In Yunnan, 80% of students who take the Gao Kao score less than 500. To get into a 1st level univ, a student needs at least 540 on the Gao Kao.
Students who score less than 500 on the Gao Kao are unable to pass the Civil Servant exam as the standards for Civil Service have also gone up significantly.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Real GK Meetup Thursday, June 23 at 1700. We had another successful and positive meeting last night.
Among the participants were Long-Dragon, Ricsnap, Tallamerican, JanJal and myself. Michael2015 and Alexz, we missed you guys last night.
Based on inquiries from prior participants, we are planning to have a meeting which includes wives or significant others. Once we get enough people who are interested we can better prepare for this event and our better halves can also meet and interact with each other.
At times, wives can feel isolated as being married to a laowai is not always easy - Haha! It will be good for spouses to relate and share expereinces with one another and perhaps even begin a support group among themselves.
From a military background, wives always played an important role and they always had a support group to help each other, especially for younger spouses who did not know how to deal with absent military husbands. In the case of Kunming, some spouses are not local and may feel alone without their families or they may need a shoulder to lean on to share concerns from a female perspective.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Real GK Meetup Anyone else wants to join? We are set for this week in the north.
A quick glimpse of Yunnan's ancient salt towns
发布者Has the new road from Heijing to Yuan Mou been completed yet? The new road runs right through Heijing.
Ruili considers suing companies over naming rights
发布者How embarassing - Anything for money. No honor, no integrity, just GREED.
China's national meat scandal hits Yunnan
发布者Just yesterday I watched something about this on the bus. The Customs folks stopped and confiscated a few big trucks on the road from Puer. The trucks were not refridgerated so this is one of the cause of the problems. So if the meat did make it in to its final destination it had to be repacked and refrozen after the long trip. Perhaps the meat in the center of the truck can keep but surely not the meat on top or the sides.
China's national meat scandal hits Yunnan
发布者I love it, the meat came from the the USA. Like Bayer selling hemophilia drugs tainted with AIDS to other countries.
Around Town: Zhaozong Reservoir
发布者Since I live on Zhao Zong Road I decided to pay this reservoir a visit via bus #7 which is 2 stops from my home.
The first thing I noticed is that there is plenty of constructuion going on - a new retaining wall is being built as well as a brand new pumping faciltiy with several large pipes to divert the water.
At the time this article was written, this reservoir may have just been a pond but that is no longer the case. "There are no pumping facilities or drains at Zhaozong Reservoir — it is simply a large pond".
The construction workers said that because water is such a precious commodity in Kunming every drop will be put to use in the near future.
Bus #7 to the Zhao Zong Yi Zu Cun Kou Bus Stop. Turn left when you see the Long Hua Temple a few meters before the main entrance to Sen Lin Hu = Forest Lake = 森林湖.
There were at least 20 redundant signs on the walking trail every 10 meters that clearly read - NO SWIMMING!