Hi, I'm new to this site. I found this posting thread helpful and the discussion about schooling philosophies very interesting.
I'm Chinese-American and planning to move to Kunming with my daughter next year. She'll be 3.5 at that time, and I am looking into public/state schools. Some of you seem to have young children attending public schools. Can you share some information as to how that process works? Which public/state schools are your children attending? How early in advance? Do you just call up the school? What age does "kindergarten" in China begin? Do you need a "hukou"? I appreciate any info! Thanks!
Regarding the rote learning, I think I can be ok with that (although I'm writing this without any real experience yet so I may just be naive) and hope that I can balance it out with activities outside of school that will be more exploratory, creative, etc. Especially if there are other parents with a similar aim.