I don't think success rate is an issue. My understanding is once you get the invitation letter, it's basically 100%.
I've done it previously at Hanoi and Chiangmai. I remember them being a bit on the slow side (any maybe not having an expedited service for extra fee available?). Maybe a two or three business days, something like that.
Thanks for the Hainan hotpot recommendation!
Alas, no robot bartender. And, actually, because the whole chain and concept is very home delivery-centric, almost all of the fresh produce is packed on plastic trays and shrink-wrapped — or otherwise packaged in wasteful ways. This is necessary for being able to provide unit pricing, automate inventory control so that delivery customers don't end up ordering stuff the store does not have, and speeding the preparation of deliver orders. So, pretty alarming from an environmental standpoint when one considers this is the way the whole supermarket industry seems to be leaning in China.
I've been to Hema in Shenzhen earlier this year. It's a nice supermarket; the one I went to even had a small bar inside with beer on tap. Will be a welcome addition to grocery shopping and eating options in Kunming. But don't know if I'd call it futuristic...yet.
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I had a really good burger here recently. Steven, the chef, really knows what he is doing. Worth checking out. Of course, good beer, too.
Cantina is always a safe bet for top-notch food and great service. I think it has actually gotten better and better over the years, which is often not the case with restaurants. Most people who live in Kunming know Cantina. Perhaps not as many know how involved the owners, Libby and Diego, are in various social welfare and community service efforts. Highly recommended both for visitors and long-term residents!
I went there twice for group boxing classes. I left the third time when I was attempting to book into a grappling class. This was part of an attempted process on my part to try the different classes offered there and see if I wanted to purchase one of their various membership cards.
The boxing classes were fun, a great workout, and the coaches and fellow students were all nice. A good atmosphere. Certainly room for improvement, especially in terms of explaining the class structure and fundamental concepts of the sports to beginners...but overall good.
However, on front desk staff member erased the positive aspects of the gym through his unprofessional and rude conduct. I was treated like some sort of con-man for wanting to try out the different classes offered before committing to multi-thousand RMB membership card, despite my willingness to pay per class to try them out. I wasted my time riding over to the gym on a very cold day on my scooter and then being refused service unless I committed on the spot to buying a membership card in direct contradiction to the gym's own policies and written price table. Also wasted was my friend's time and money, as she was in a cab on the way over to the gym in order to join me for the group class at the time I was refused service. My exchange with the staff (in which I was not terribly satisfied, but remained calm and reasonable throughout) was topped off with a remark from the one particular staff member with xenophobic undertones.
As one may see from my other reviews on this site, I typically try not to say anything unless I have something nice to say. In this case, I feel I must make an exception: I don't think it's a business that deserves your effort or money.
One of the best western restaurants in Yunnan. Definitely worth visiting if you will be passing through Shangrila!
The best tacos in Kunming!
Detailed Kunming metro plans finally unveiled
Posted byThe steel skeleton of a station is going up outside the apartment I'm staying at on Beijing Lu. It's located just east of the North Railway Station, situated parallel and directly adjacent to the existing narrow gauge tracks. It appears to be a part of the Lines 1, 4 and 5 interchange at Beijing North Train Station. Based on the location and orientation of the platform in the new station, along with the list of Line 4 stops, I reckon that Line 4 will subsume a significant central chunk of the historic narrow gauge passenger line.
If you're interested in experiencing the communist nostalgia of a ride on the narrow gauge passenger line, I would do it soon: it's days are likely numbered.
www.gokunming.com/[...]
Getting Away: Cycling around Dianchi
Posted byJinning is the birthplace of the great Ming Dynasty eunuch trade ambassador, Admiral Zheng He. Supposedly there is a Zheng He museum in the town of Kunyang in Jinning county...not sure where that is, but would be interesting to try to track down at some point. This guy is one of the most important figures in China's history.
Kunming addresses taxi shift change troubles
Posted bycan't they at least turn off or cover up their "for hire" lights when they are on a personal errand? How frustrating to repeatedly get your hoped up seeing that light on the dashboard only to be waved off or ignored.
China considered Myanmar drone strike during manhunt
Posted byHigh resolution photography from satellites and manned spy planes had been around for a quite a while before the advent of drones. And I don't doubt for a minute that it's been used at various points to spy on American citizens on American soil (though I'm not aware of reports of this off the top of my head). I suppose, however, that drones do make it cheaper and easier to engage in domestic spying.
Manned planes collide in midair from time to time. Manned planes also malfunction and crash into populated areas from time to time. Drones are smaller and lighter, so even if they have a higher chance of crashing, one could imagine that might offset their destructiveness in the event of a crash.
It still seems like the larger point is not that drones are inherently bad, but that we face a threat from governments' lack of respect for transparency, international law and citizens' rights.
China considered Myanmar drone strike during manhunt
Posted by"This whole drone thing is really a slippery slope"
I don't think that's accurate. Drones are just a technological tool.
It's this whole "we can violate other countries' sovereignty and kill our own citizens and those of other countries—all with a total lack of transparency—that's the problem, especially when, as Natsymir mentioned, we arrive at the point where other countries begin to feel they have the geopolitical clout to start emulating the US.
The US has been at this for many decades. Think the CIA arming militants in Afghanistan and Iraq with weapons that years down the line would be used against the US military. Drones are just the latest innovation in this behaviour.