User profile: Yuanyangren

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Should you study Chinese?

I think that China's position is unique amongst other countries in the region. China is the world's second largest economy and predicted by many reliable sources to surpass America to become the largest economy within the next 5 years or so. This means that China will have a bigger say in economic, political and even social terms in the course of the future, just like England and America have had over the course of the past century or so.

Japan has definately peaked, so now it's China's turn to shine. In all SE Asian countries, English is the language of business and most educated people there can speak it. Few foreigners bother studying those languages as I've pointed out before, but China is different. In no other Asian country have I found so many foreigners who can speak the local language [Mandarin Chinese in this case] as here in China - it's partly due to the increased interest as a result of China's rise but also the fact that it remains far more difficult to get around in China with English than in most other regional countries, as a general rule.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Clubs in Kunming

TuDou77 - Well if Kunming had a sex tourism problem, you'd never notice it - this is not Thailand, Cambodia or the Philippines. On an average day I can walk through downtown and not see a single foreigner. Try that in Bangkok or Hanoi - indeed, there are few places I've been to anywhere in the world (and I've been to a lot of places!) where it's still possible to see only locals and such a large amount of homogeneity - it's like going back in time 50 or more years when most countries where like this. I mean, I thought the world has become a global village with people of all races and creeds everywhere you go, but Kunming has been left behind it seems (for now).

Therefore to conclude I'd say that the 100 foreigners (I know it's way more than this, but this is what it seems like to me) living in Kunming who want to go to clubs should be allowed to pick up girls here. Foreigners are so rare in this city that most girls look at us and think "wow" look at this guy, maybe I should go out with him, because it's cool to be associated with a foreigner. Equally we look at the attractiveness of the local women and know that unless we are complete assholes that we stand a good chance. Hopefully we will treat them right and not use them in the wrong way. All in all, most foreigners go to clubs in Kunming to have a good time and maybe pick up some women, just like the local men do and just like people all over the world do when they go to clubs.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Should you study Chinese?

To live effectively in China, particularly outside of Shanghai or Beijing etc. (and of course Hong Kong, SAR but that's a different story altogether) knowing at least some Chinese is almost a must, unless you don't mind using mime or carrying a dictionary with you all the time or a Chinese speaker to help you with almost every task - this becomes a nuisance after a while, because you really don't want to bother people (often the same person) every time you go out just because you need to buy 1kg of potatoes or explain directions to a taxi driver, for example.

I've found there are more English speakers in Kunming than I previously thought, but in general, there aren't many and English speakers here are only found in very specific fields (e.g. English speaking doctors, check-in agents at the airport etc.). Certainly you can't just speak English with everyone you meet like you would in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia etc. even if not everyone in those countries speaks English either, but all the important people you will deal with, will. Hotels, many taxi drivers, department stores, travel agencies all have English speaking employees by default in those countries. Except in very isolated areas, you don't have to even bother asking "do you speak English?", because of course they will...with that many tourists and the fact that the native languages in all those countries are barely spoken outside their own countries, hence few foreigners would be expected to speak them. Not so in Kunming or China in general; you will still need to be able to speak at least basic Chinese in most hotels just to get a room in Kunming - and more to be able to make anything more than a very basic request to the staff.

China is different to most other countries in the fact that most everything is done in the local language, information wise, technology wise etc. Go to any foreign airline site that serves China for example. Go to the China page and often it will only have Chinese as a language option, some airlines may also have English too, but many don't. The same airline might have a Thailand or Vietnam page only in English. This inspite of those countries not being native English speaking countries - therefore I think it will take a long time before China moves onto the "English speaking bandwagon" like many other regional countries and countries around the world have done in general - sure it is producing more and more English speakers, but a complete change in mentality is needed before you'll see more English on everything from shopfronts to company websites to employees in shops being able to speak it here (including in Wenlin jie; I'm talking about places where as many as half the customers are foreigners!)

And about English speakers in France, well, there are certainly more than in China (as a percentage of the population at least). Although getting by with English in rural France might be difficult, it won't be in Paris or other large cities even if French people won't admit to being able to speak English because they don't want to, in many cases they can. This is simply no comparison to China.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > General Visa advice

Someone mentioned converting a Z to an L tourist visa is possible in Kunming. For those of you that are on study visas it is not possible to convert them to tourist visas inside the country - i have tried both in Shangri-la and Kunming only to be told they must be extended as study visas (which I eventually did, but it was expensive). Therefore, if you were ending your study course and wanted some more time for travel or to figure out your options, a quick trip to a nearby or neighboring country to obtain another tourist visa would be your best option.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > New airport in Kunming

@detroitweb, you say you have 3 friends that work there? Are they foreigners or Chinese? I have never heard of a foreigner working on a construction site in China, and even in the development stage of most projects in Yunnan at least, few foreigners seem to be involved (or so it would seem).

Back on topic. I have also heard about proposals to link the new Kunming airport with Europe, Australia etc. but I'd say if that were to happen at all, expect only China Eastern or other Chinese carriers to add any such capacity. There is simply no way European or Australian, North American etc. carriers would have any interest in such a route for the time being, not before they all fly to more profitable destinations such as Guangzhou and Chengdu first (some of them do, but not all) and then and only then would Kunming even be considered.

Many airlines from the region such as THAI have reduced capacity to Kunming in recent years, from 7 to 5 flights per week from Bangkok and no more service from Chiang Mai. Vietnam Airlines generally uses smaller, older aircraft on the Hanoi-Kunming route rather than A320s, which it previously operated on some flights on this route. Therefore, time will tell if the new airport will attract back some of the interest in terms of greater flight frequencies and capacity that Kunming seems to have lost over the last couple of years.

If anything, I think the new airport could and should do what it can to attract more low cost carriers. First of all, Kunming residents don't have the incomes to support a large number of only legacy carriers as their only travel choice, when other airports such as Chengdu have low cost carriers such as Air Asia. Low cost carriers would thus be able to link Kunming with more regional cities, something it should focus on first, rather than trying to attract interest from airlines to link cities in other continents (which would be convenient, but not realistic at this time, not until Kunming becomes another Guangzhou or Shanghai).

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This is crazy! Sounds like the kind of thing you hear about happening in the US, not China. Anyway, they were arrested quickly and yes, Liumingke1234, they can and most likely will be given the maximum penalty for their crimes. I believe in China 14 year olds can be tried as adults. It doesn't say how old these teenagers are, but my guess is they are certainly in their mid to high teens.

Very sad indeed...I hope the new tenant is also a foreigner who opens up a similar bar or restaurant to you guys. Good luck with the future and hope to visit you in Lijiang or Shangri-la. In any case, stay in China! Restaurants/bars like yours really make places like Kunming feel cozier.

@Peter99, I agree that there could be many more independent Chinese tourists in Chiang Mai, or indeed in many other parts of the world in the future.

I have seen many independent Chinese tourists, many travelling by themselves in places like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. They usually have enough English to at least order from a menu though. It's kinda ridiculous for people like the young Chinese tourists above to not know what they "are ordering". If you ask me, except at Wenlie Jie and a few downtown areas, it's much more difficult to know what you are ordering in China!

Contrary to what is stated in this article, I don't think the Chinese can take away Thai jobs or properties because unlike in Laos, the Thais are fiercely protective of their rights and know what they are. Also, foreigners can't own land even if they become married to Thai citizens. With the exception of jobs requiring Chinese language skills, Chinese citizens wouldn't be able to find work in Thailand either and they can certainly forget about working in protected sectors like farming etc. so I think the fears raised above are unfounded unless Thailand opens up more but their restrictive property and work laws are probably in place to avoid such a scenario.

However, for now, the Chinese train project from Kunming through Laos connecting all the way to Singapore is not going to happen, but the Thais seem to be confident about a possible Japanese investment for some domestic HSR (high speed rail) lines in the near future. Personally, I would still put my money on the Chinese coming through eventually, but it might take 10+ years to happen so the original opening date of 2015 is now nothing more than a pipe dream given that the Chinese have now scaled back on HSR projects given safety issues, the resignation of the railway minister etc.

The road through Myanmar (Burma) from Mae Sai/Tachileik to China has too many restrictions on travel and since the Mae Sai crossing only allows travel to/from Mae Sai it can't be used by anyone planning on travelling overland between Thailand and China via Myanmar territory; thus Chinese and Thai/third party tourists/businesspeople etc. travelling overland between Thailand and China must go through Laos (or alternatively, Laos and Vietnam). I hope that with the recent positive developments in Myanmar that an overland route connecting Thailand and China and an upgrading of the Chinese/Burmese border post to an international one will happen, but until it does it won't become an option for anyone.

I wouldn't put my money on low-cost flight options to Kunming happening anytime soon, though eventually they should come through put this will depend entirely on demand for such services.

@invisible, the railway link from Kunming to the Vietnamese border has existed for like 100 years but only now does it look like it will reopen again after being closed for roughly 10 years now. As such, this will mean you can once again travel by rail from Kunming to Hanoi and beyond to Ho Chi Minh City. When it opens is unclear, but I'd say give it a year or so.

@pickley - hitchhiking is possible, but not really recommended due to the low cost of public transport and possible risk of things going wrong, though having said that hitchhiking is far safer in most parts of East Asia than in the USA for example. But you can still try anyway and it is surely a very interesting way of travelling.

I think Chinese truck drivers (starting in northern Laos, not far from the border) or Lao truck drivers (who wouldn't go much beyond Mengla) would help you cross the border, and then you could try flagging another vehicle to go further north. Alternatively, Chinese tourists driving themselves in southern Xishuangbanna or possibly in Laos itself might be willing to help you. It would be a good idea to offer some food, drinks or something for the ride and truck drivers often expect some payment anyway, but if you are nice and give them some food, cigarettes (if they smoke) or something else then that should make them happy enough without the need for monetary compensation. Every experience is different so you'll need to just try it out and see what happens.

@russell, it's Ji. There's a much faster way of translating English to Chinese these days and requires no travel outside of your own home: it's called google translate.

Anyway, from this itinerary it looks like the writer is about to enter Vietnam before he enters Laos, unless he backtracks first. Normally to travel from Kunming to Laos one would pass through Yuxi, Yuanjiang, Simao (Pu'er), Jinghong (Xieng Hung or Chiang Rung), Mengla (Muang La) and finally Mohan before reaching Laos. Of course while you can't cycle on the expressway, I have seen western cyclists on the highway between Jinghong and the border (there is currently no expressway there).

Therefore taking the backroads between Kunming and Jinghong would be the fastest way, but this cyclist's itinerary sounds more interesting and passes a more beautiful region of Yunnan - I too was very impressed by Yuanyang (hence my GoKM username right hehe), not to mention Lvchun and the Vietnamese borderlands before reaching Hekou.

Reviews

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Horrible tasteless, thick-crusted "cardboard" like pizzas that are a far cry from what they should be like. Way overpriced too. Wine may be good, but why bother when the nearby Prague Cafe makes much better pizza at a more reasonable price?

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Great Mexican food and ice cream, excellent Raspberry smoothies and an overall good atmosphere. Can't do much about the low ceilings on the second floor, but the early closing time could be adjusted, after all, the nearby French Cafe closes at 1am.