Forums > Living in Kunming > Dining alone in China/Kunming Yeah people are weird here, but you will find lots of lone diners in the following types of restaurants (which, given we're in Kunming means that up to 99% of the patrons are locals):
Fast food restaurants (KFC, McDonalds, Dicos etc.) @AlPage48, KFC is definately not the place to go for communal dining.
Western style cafes/restaurants (think Salvador's, French Cafe, The Box, A Slice of Heaven, Prague Cafe etc.) Both locals and foreigners can be seen dining/drinking coffee/using the internet etc. alone. In fact, as I write this response, I am in a cafe with only one other patron sitting inside and not only is she alone, but she is CHINESE! Yes, she is a local and she's not eating with anyone! Perhaps we should call upon some other locals to look at her for being "weird".
Noodle shops such as mixian shops where you go for a quick 5Yuan cup of noodles, complete with a hair or eyebrow or two. Or better than this, Brothers Jiang, where for a bit more (about 13-18Y) you can get a much better noodle soup.
The main reason that some Chinese will think eating out alone is weird, has to do with Chinese food being designed to be eaten "family style" with many dishes ordered. This is impractical and becomes expensive for an individual diner.
Finally, I find your first sentence "I never had a problem dining alone at home" funny. I wonder what kind of person would need to have people eating with them all the time, even at home. Even if I wanted to, I'd struggle to find someone to eat with me on a daily basis for every meal - even Chinese people can be busy too. This is perfectly acceptable and I think you shouldn't worry about people "judging" you.
Forums > Living in Kunming > sex first or friends first? @Billdan, haha...whoever said that "western teaching methods" were so easy as to not have tests etc. is either seriously stupid or misinformed.
In China I believe there are no assignments etc. only final (and maybe mid-term) exams. 100% of a student's final mark/grade is based on exams and nothing on assignments or classroom participation etc.
Anyway, I digress.
Forums > Living in Kunming > sex first or friends first? I agree with TICExpats. For starters, I wouldn't believe a girl that tells me she is still a virgin and wants to remain that way until marriage. For those girls aged under 30 or 35 both in China and elsewhere, this is highly unlikely - they simply make it seem as though they were virgins to "look good" in the eyes of their elders, including parents and relatives etc.
These days I have noticed a trend amongst Asian girls, including Chinese girls, to have sex on the first date or soon thereafter, whereas many western girls are not as "easy" as previously thought; which means many of them won't have sex until much later. If you've ever seen American Pie I you'll realize that even though the girls there are portrayed as horny as hell, the ones which have boyfriends didn't have sex until they "were ready".
Just look at the number of posts here on GoKM about local girls looking for sex to confirm this.
Also, don't always blame the guy. Girls these days are as horny as ever.
Forums > Food & Drink > Upscale Chinese How about Yitianyuan near Carrefour on Longquan Lu? OK, it may not be the most upscale option in town, but it's pretty up there and an average meal out for 2 will easily cost from 300-400 Yuan.
Other options include the two Thai restaurants near the Green Lake and Yunnan University.
Forums > Travel Yunnan > China forbids international tourism tibet @dazzer, smoking weed? And we all know how "enlightened" of a world view that people who smoke weed have.
Video: Kunming driver crosses pedestrian bridge
Posted byI'm surprised his car was still driveable and didn't end up with a zillion dents (or maybe it did). I wouldn't dare drive like that knowing that damaging my car is almost certain if I were to attempt that and secondly I have more regard for the safety of pedestrians than this bozo did.
Still, this was an entertaining piece of news.
Kunming addresses taxi shift change troubles
Posted byYep...though I'm more used to getting hassled than ignored. I thought we were all walking atms to these guys! Haha...anyway, it really depends though, because those taxi drivers that constantly pester you in places like Vietnam often rip you off, but if you go for the ones that are not specifically looking for fares they'll actually use the meters. Of course, taxis are better than motorcycle taxis though since they are less likely to rip you off. Also, you can almost always find a taxi or something else when you need one in those countries, even during rush hour. Something that's hard to do in Kunming and even Shanghai...
Also, apart from the occassional three-wheeled scooter or electric scooter driver willing to drive you somewhere, there are few alternative forms of transport in Kunming apart from the standard forms you'd see in the west: buses and taxis (and eventually, a subway). Only on the outskirts of town will you find motorcycle taxis who congregate around tourist spots such as the Nationalities Village, but these guys don't pick up fares inside town, probably because they aren't allowed to, I presume.
Kunming addresses taxi shift change troubles
Posted byWhat i find that's totally bizarre to me is that in a developing country like China, no taxi driver follows a foreigner like would happen in neighboring Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia or elsewhere. In those countries, you don't look for the taxis, they look for you! In Kunming and China in general, you can walk down the street and no taxi driver will ever stop for you unless you want them to.
Yunnan preparing warily for China smoking ban
Posted byTell the people to look at the signs and see what their reaction is! If they don't react, tell them that they can't read (which is what I would assume, if someone was just so oblivious to a sign right above their head).