Acadia? Not much good to say about the quality of the course and/or course material, which is a messy mash-up of documents full of English spelling and grammar mistakes, which the owner claims costs $100 to replace if lost. I hope the owner has actually hired a real teacher now, because earlier he was teaching the courses by himself - which resulted in arguably fun but useless chatting and almost no teaching or practice during the courses. Waste of time.
Secondly, the owner/teacher at the time is a native speaker of English, but entirely fails to grasp English grammar. After all, grammar is the key to understanding how a language works, and if you can't tell an adverb from an preposition, you cannot possibly teach others how to teach others.
Finally, the owner's a bit of a compulsive liar. He makes all kinds of promises he cannot keep. Two of my fellow course attendants were promised well-paying jobs in Shanghai and Beijing after the completion of the course. One was left hanging and the other just given the contact details to apply for the job in Shanghai.
He claims to have all kinds of connections at universities here and there where he can land you a job, but in the end nothing materialises. Even his own marketing manager was promised a lot of paid work, but in the end he only got to work a few hours. To be fair, he was paid for those.
When you point out that he promises but does not deliver, you get a nice ad-hominem attack in your e-mail box which further proves the lack of professionalism demonstrated by his company.
Staying away from Acadia is the only advice I can give you, unless you really need that piece of paper and you have no where else to go. Don't expect any useful skills or experiences.
I had a look for you. Looks like it's going to be a pain in the ass: you'll have to get acquainted with Baidu Maps' JavaScript API which is only documented in Chinese:
I'm unfortunately on a bike trip so I can't help out, but it doesn't seem too hard. in short:
1 you call the javascript API through the HTML script tag
2 create a new BMap() instance
3 choose a point(x,y) and center and zoom through centerAndZoom(point, zoom)
4 add any controls through addControl(control)
5 create a marker for each of your point through marker(point, icon, label)
the latter is a bit complicated as the label can contain all kinds of information.
Biking in Kunming is IMHO entirely safe, safer than in my own hometown in the West where cars drive way faster than 50kmh.
But back on the topic bike kids. There are plenty of forums where self-righteous Europeans can go step on long American toes.
This is about the bicycle. 800 RMB is fair, but check the quality. If it's a brand you've never heard of, don't be surprised if the pieces start falling off after a while. There always seems to be something wrong with PRC-made products and especially with products that have to deal with a lot of force. Good idea is to read some reviews.
With regards to the roads, I have some first-hand experience, riding a bike in February 2012. Luang Prabang to Phou Khoun and Vang Vieng on highway 13 is pretty smooth sailing, until the last 15-20k before VV, where you suddenly get intermittent road-wide gravel gaps (at least one every 500m) until, well over 100km past VV, you reach the junction to Thalat, where you can opt for the much better maintained highway 10 to Vientiane.
Here is "highway 13", on one of its longer street-wide gravel gaps (imagine the dust):
It was also a great place to spend some time. Especially the Middle-Eastern section, where bearded patriarchs in expensive-looking garments showed their tapestries and jewels. Yes, it's all in a sterile modern building now, but I almost felt like in an Indian bazaar: with a little fantasy, the walls melt away, the scent of incense fills the air, camels lazily circle above the white roofs and fakirs test their arses.
A lot of the goods sold there were also fake (not real Jade, a different kind of Eaglewood). But the owners were mostly honest about it (though not everywhere, I learned from someone who worked there as a translator).
I went home with a couple of coins from Bhutan and an invitation to the country and a set of funny photos.
The fair moves on to Chengdu and Beijing after that. There it'll be free, because business with the locals is generally better, according to some salesman whose Chinese translator was surprised that I bought the 30 RMB ticket "just to look around".
Ah okay :) I must've been lucky or the guards must've remembered me after exiting first.
I understand that you haven't made it to the top? I did this last year: getting to 5396m was a pretty sweet experience, but it would probably be unwise to do this without a guide. Especially if you've never been hypoxic on a mountain before (I hadn't).
If by bike, coming in from the East side of TLG will probably cost you nothing. I haven't ever been checked on that end despite my multiple entries and exits.
First and last experience. Absolutely horrible. I came in late with a big flesh wound. The doctor sewed it up and told me to come back in the morning "perhaps to redo it, and to change the bandage". When I did come back the next morning, they just changed the bandage and sent me off.
When I peeked at my own wound, I noticed it was horribly done. "Like a vet did the stitches," as someone commented. I then had to stay a night in a different hospital in order to do it right, with a 40% chance of getting infections. This cost me a lot more, thanks to Richland fucking up in the beginning.
Whatever X-rays were taken were not printed out and given to me so I couldn't go to another hospital for a second opinion or treatment.
The nurses didn't seem to know where half the things were and the doctors had to repeat orders to get basic things like scissors.
In the next hospital, it was noticed that I had fractured my jaw in two places. On the five X-Rays taken at Richland, they did not notice the fractures.
Pretty sure these people are not actual doctors and are therefore criminal.
Four people signed up for the highest-level class and got a teacher who does all the talking, refers to herself as 老师 and makes classes absolutely uninteresting. As of this moment, only 1 person is still going on a regular basis.
While staff is friendly, they are absolutely incapable to help out with visa matters in an adequate way. Lack of information beforehand, lack of support and lack of information during the visa process meant that I am waiting forever for my residence permit to be processed, without any information about why it's taking so long, why they can't get started ... I'd say this school is a good option if all you wanted is a visa, but they can't even handle this properly.
Anyone giving this school a 5-star rating hasn't been to any decently-run schools in Kunming, such as Keats'. The only redeeming quality is facilities and space, those are indeed excellent.
Have been studying at Keats for almost four semesters now and I'm very enthusiastic about the quality of the teachers and the commitment of the school's staff.
One point of criticism is that I think they could put in some effort to group people of the same level together, rather than base it on who was together in last semester's class.
I stayed here in the early days of March 2013. Dave and his wife are swell owners, the staff attentive, the food good, rooms in perfect order, WiFi fast enough... Much like the old hump, the entire place is an excellent place to relax and make friends. And that is what you come to do in Dali, after all. The location is a bit isolated from the old town, but nothing is really far away in Dali. Besides, it makes for a better starting point to walk up Cangshan.
Cookie Preferences
Please select which types of cookies you are willing to accept:
Getting Away: Vang Vieng
Posted byWith regards to the roads, I have some first-hand experience, riding a bike in February 2012. Luang Prabang to Phou Khoun and Vang Vieng on highway 13 is pretty smooth sailing, until the last 15-20k before VV, where you suddenly get intermittent road-wide gravel gaps (at least one every 500m) until, well over 100km past VV, you reach the junction to Thalat, where you can opt for the much better maintained highway 10 to Vientiane.
Here is "highway 13", on one of its longer street-wide gravel gaps (imagine the dust):
www.crazyguyonabike.com/[...]
Kunming road beautification project initiated
Posted byLess dirty buses and other vehicles you mean. And more terraces on the sidewalks, along with more balconies!
Kunming Fair again sets records
Posted byIt was also a great place to spend some time. Especially the Middle-Eastern section, where bearded patriarchs in expensive-looking garments showed their tapestries and jewels. Yes, it's all in a sterile modern building now, but I almost felt like in an Indian bazaar: with a little fantasy, the walls melt away, the scent of incense fills the air, camels lazily circle above the white roofs and fakirs test their arses.
A lot of the goods sold there were also fake (not real Jade, a different kind of Eaglewood). But the owners were mostly honest about it (though not everywhere, I learned from someone who worked there as a translator).
I went home with a couple of coins from Bhutan and an invitation to the country and a set of funny photos.
The fair moves on to Chengdu and Beijing after that. There it'll be free, because business with the locals is generally better, according to some salesman whose Chinese translator was surprised that I bought the 30 RMB ticket "just to look around".
Getting away: Haba Snow Mountain
Posted byAh okay :) I must've been lucky or the guards must've remembered me after exiting first.
I understand that you haven't made it to the top? I did this last year: getting to 5396m was a pretty sweet experience, but it would probably be unwise to do this without a guide. Especially if you've never been hypoxic on a mountain before (I hadn't).
Photos and story on www.crazyguyonabike.com/[...]
Getting away: Haba Snow Mountain
Posted byIf by bike, coming in from the East side of TLG will probably cost you nothing. I haven't ever been checked on that end despite my multiple entries and exits.