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.
Li Ping fundraisers
Posted byHopefully enough money can also be raised in the future for her eventual kidney transplant.
Malaysian firm to invest $8.1 billion in Songming
Posted byAccording to the article re: railroad in Laos, this Malaysian firm wants to build a 220km connection between Thailand and Vietnam NOT the one up to the Chinese border that's been talked about and cancelled, then revived again so many times.
Doors to international trade swing wide for Laos
Posted byThe plan by the Lao government to still go ahead with the railway project is unbelievable. Neighboring Vietnam voted not to go ahead with a planned Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi high speed rail link due to concerns about profitability (i.e. not enough Vietnamese would be able to afford a ticket despite having a reasonably sized middle class at least in Hanoi and Saigon).
Now Laos, with only just over 6 million people and a tiny middle class wants to do the same? Good luck! However, I wouldn't be surprised if in 6 months from now I read in the Vientiane Times that the project has been put on hold again.
I'd suggest stick to a normal speed train that locals will actually be able to afford, going high-speed while neither Thailand nor Vietnam, two neighboring economic juggernaughts have plans to do the same is quite far fetched, I'll believe it when I see it but it seems like a crazy idea for now!
The only good news is that Laos can take control of the railway project and not have to worry about the previous 5km land concession on either side of the tracks that was previously demanded by the Chinese side.
Mekong drug kingpin stands trial in Kunming
Posted byAlso, scally is correct about the reasons for Naw Kham being tried in China and logically Kunming, the closest major Chinese city to the area where the attacks occurred would be the best place to try him.
Incidentally, the 9 renegade Thai soldiers also implicated in the attacks will be tried in Thailand.
Mekong drug kingpin stands trial in Kunming
Posted byWell, he killed only Chinese sailors and based on this story, he has had run-ins with the Chinese authorities before. Overall, it's good that this criminal has been brought to justice. Also, by being tried in China he will receive the punishment he deserves.
The Mekong River in the 2000s should be about tourism and trade, not murder, drug trafficking and mayhem. Those latter three things should firmly be entrenched as relics of the past.