Forums > Living in Kunming > Wanted VPN I've been using Witopia for a year with no problems, but in the past week I'm having trouble connecting to many of their servers. Tech support helped me get a connection on one by modifying the config file, but the problem seems to have spread to their other servers now.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Looking for cardiologist I guess that depends on how you define expensive.
seeing the doctor is pretty cheap (about 6 yuan). Blood tests and ultrasound can be a few hundred. CT scan was 1,600 if I remember correctly.
Hospitalization for 8 days and two times in surgery for angiography and insertion of the stent was over 35,000.
Forums > Living in Kunming > Looking for cardiologist Yan'an hospital has a good cardio unit, but you may have a problem finding an English speaking doctor there.
My wife had to go there recently to treat a blocked artery (which doctors in Toronto failed to diagnose) but the blockage was so close to the heart they brought in a top specialist from Guangzhou.
On the downside, their toilet facilities suck!
Forums > Living in Kunming > Where to buy shoes? Shoes can be difficult. I have not yet found a shop that measures your feet to see what size you need and help to find it.
For suits I found a place on Renmin Dong Lu across from Yan'an Hospital where I got a custom made cashmere suit PLUS two extra pair of wool dress pants for 1,300. The suit alone was 900. They charge by the meter for the material plus a fee to make it. Took a week but I bet they could do it quicker if there was a rush.
Forums > Living in Kunming > teeth cleaning in kunming? should I? I have to agree completely with Tigertiger on this one. I had the filling done (it was supposed to be temporary). I'm not entirely sure if the filling fell out when the tooth broke or if the tooth broke because the filling fell out, but it's the same end result.
Fortunately there is enough of the tooth left to insert the pin required for the crown.
New visa and residence regulations for the PRC
发布者OK, lots of changes and new information we need to know about. Let me start by answering my own question.
If you are here on an L Visa, visiting family, then you can change to the Q or S Visa without going out of China. Also, since those two Visa classes lead to a residence permit they will do the residence permit at the same time as the Visa so no extra trip to the PSB is needed.
The Q Visa
Yesterday my wife and I went to the PSB. She recently got a new passport and her Visa was about to expire today. Here's what we learned:
First of all, my wife is here to take care of her sister who is seriously disabled after a major stroke. That's no problem for the Visa, however, they now wanted proof of the relationship which we never had to provide before! That required a trip to the police station to have them go through the archives (manual records - not computer) to find that information. I was quite impressed that they located it in only 10 minutes.
Back to the PSB with that new information. They now told my wife she could get a 1 year Q visa (that would be a Q1) but to get a 2 year she would need to go to a specific hospital to get a health certificate. It's nice to know about this but we just didn't have time with the current Visa expiring, but next time ....
The S Visa
I just have to prove my relationship with my wife to get the S Visa with the same expiry as my wife. I'm guessing they'll also want the health certificate for a 2 year. For many years now they've just been accepting our marriage certificate. Now they want that certificate notarized by the consulate. That means I have to make a trip to Chongqing (Canadian Consulate) to get that done at a greater expense than a taxi trip to the PSB. I'll need to phone and ensure that the Canadian consulate will do this for a marriage certificate issued in Las Vegas or do I then need to go to the American consulate in Chengdu as well?
The new rules seem a bit strange, but in the long term will be quite a bit more convenient for us. Also, if they're issuing longer term visas then there should be (eventually) a reduction in the workload at the PSB.
New visa and residence regulations for the PRC
发布者It also does not address which of the VISAs may be issued (on renewal) here in Kunming. For example, can my wife and I change from L visa to Q and S without having to leave Kunming?
Shangri-la hit by 5.9 earthquake
发布者"Travellers in affected areas have been asked to leave until blocked roads are reopened"
If the roads are blocked, how will the travellers leave?
Beijing attempts to curtail "excessive" government spending
发布者This is not a uniquely Chinese problem either. It seems people in government jobs all over the world follow the patter. In Canada and the US the politicians like to claim there is no corruption, while at the same time they all have their "entitlements", like free lunches, apartments and limousines at the tax payers expense.
Toronto councilors even made trips to Shanghai to "study" the transit system, then went home and did nothing with it.
Dragon Boat Festival
发布者People may have three consecutive days off work or school, but they went to work or school on Saturday and Sunday to make up for some of that lost time.