"I would bet you'll be the only one on the flight"
Absolutely not true. People have been cancelling some travel recently due to the new cases in Beijing and elsewhere, but every domestic flight I've been on in the past few months has been at least half full, with many completely full.
The test is now available at most large hospitals in Kunming. I got my last one at Boya a few months ago, and it was a very painless experience. Make sure you get a red stamp from the hospital on your negative test results, because... China.
I have not heard about any requirement for UK citizens to have a test for travel in China, but the specific rules will vary from one city to the next.
Since all this started, I have made a point of calling any hotel where I have a booking to confirm that they still accept foreigners, and whether they require any further documentation beyond the green health code.
Pretty much any print shop in town will do it for you. Look for signs for 打印 (printing) and 复印 (copying), found in just about any neighborhood with small mom-and-pop shops.
The ones who do it most are found along Yieryi Street around the universities.
You are correct that no new tourist visas are being issued at this time.
Your only option right now is to give up the M visa, and get as many extensions to the S2 visa as they are willing to give you. The only way to hold onto your M visa right now would be to return to your home country and wait things out (and it could be a while).
Once things cool down and China resumes normal travel, you can go back to your home country and apply for a new tourist visa, or try for the M visa again.
That area and many others in the city that used to be military remain shuttered. Actually, I passed Kundu the other day, and the central area where all the nightclubs were has now been demolished.
When everything first got shut down, word was they were drawing up a plan to put all the properties back on the market through an auction or other process. My guess is they haven't figured it out yet.
Not sure about voting, but I do know about the archive. Yunfest keeps an archive of films at the Yunnan Provincial Library, including many of the films from their previous festivals. You can't take them out of the library, but there is a small private screening room on the premises. Alternatively, you can catch some of the older films during the regular Sunday screenings at Yuansheng Theater, which should resume after the festival.
It sounds like a great idea. Kunming has always been the center for training Chinese professional cyclists, and I'm constantly running into large groups of local hobbyists when I'm riding around the surrounding mountains.
The one thing I'd wonder about is how manageable such a large management structure would be. Sounds a bit like herding cats. Marc should keep a close eye on how the management works at that football club.
As for traffic, it does blow, but it gets a lot better once you're out of the city and up on the mountains.
I've been following these comments rather closely as the attack happened just a few days before I went home for the holidays, and I feel a bit cut off.
I read the comments that were removed and they contained profanity, threats and overall very negative and insulting stuff. If those people had dissenting political views that were expressed in rational, respectful terms, then I would have been against removing them. But the vitriol contained in them threatened to drag the entire forum down into an increasingly ugly flame war. I think their deletion was a good idea.
I understand your frustration, and for the most part, agree with you. However, I don't think comments should be strictly limited to information about the incident, because I don't think we as readers will be able to come up with anything more than what's already been said, and I think there's a need among people in the community to come to terms with the incident emotionally.
Having said that, I think that it was right for the editors to delete bigoted or threatening posts, because those aren't helping anybody.
@ the ether:
There is anti-foreign sentiment out there, and while some of that might be the result of drunken antics or bad behavior in the community, a lot of it is linked to international political incidents or other things beyond our control. Regardless of the source, none of that makes the bombing our fault. I strive to be respectful of others in all of my affairs, and I push my friends to do the same, not to avoid becoming the target of an attack, but because that is how I was raised.
A lot of us, myself included, have an instinctive urge to respond angrily to negative posts or insinuations that we are all a bunch of jackasses who deserve it. Let's all try to keep cool heads when dealing with this stuff. Perhaps we might be able to change a few minds in the process.
Following along the lines of Timkunming, I'm amazed that the international press hasn't picked up this story as well. In fact, I've been doing frequent web searches and haven't turned up anything beyond the expat blogs.
The police may have a lot of pressure from government departments above them, but so far no one from the press is there to breath down their necks. If we want to hear anything at all about the results of the investigation, we need the international press asking questions. Start writing those letters to the editors, people.
An exciting new gallery space built from an old factory warehouse in the Paoluda Creative Industry Park. Looking forward to seeing what they'll do with it.
Yunfest 2009: What to watch out for
Posted byNot sure about voting, but I do know about the archive. Yunfest keeps an archive of films at the Yunnan Provincial Library, including many of the films from their previous festivals. You can't take them out of the library, but there is a small private screening room on the premises. Alternatively, you can catch some of the older films during the regular Sunday screenings at Yuansheng Theater, which should resume after the festival.
Kunming-based project aims to make cycling history
Posted byIt sounds like a great idea. Kunming has always been the center for training Chinese professional cyclists, and I'm constantly running into large groups of local hobbyists when I'm riding around the surrounding mountains.
The one thing I'd wonder about is how manageable such a large management structure would be. Sounds a bit like herding cats. Marc should keep a close eye on how the management works at that football club.
As for traffic, it does blow, but it gets a lot better once you're out of the city and up on the mountains.
Kunming stunned by cafe bombing
Posted byI've been following these comments rather closely as the attack happened just a few days before I went home for the holidays, and I feel a bit cut off.
I read the comments that were removed and they contained profanity, threats and overall very negative and insulting stuff. If those people had dissenting political views that were expressed in rational, respectful terms, then I would have been against removing them. But the vitriol contained in them threatened to drag the entire forum down into an increasingly ugly flame war. I think their deletion was a good idea.
Kunming stunned by cafe bombing
Posted by@ Dre:
I understand your frustration, and for the most part, agree with you. However, I don't think comments should be strictly limited to information about the incident, because I don't think we as readers will be able to come up with anything more than what's already been said, and I think there's a need among people in the community to come to terms with the incident emotionally.
Having said that, I think that it was right for the editors to delete bigoted or threatening posts, because those aren't helping anybody.
@ the ether:
There is anti-foreign sentiment out there, and while some of that might be the result of drunken antics or bad behavior in the community, a lot of it is linked to international political incidents or other things beyond our control. Regardless of the source, none of that makes the bombing our fault. I strive to be respectful of others in all of my affairs, and I push my friends to do the same, not to avoid becoming the target of an attack, but because that is how I was raised.
A lot of us, myself included, have an instinctive urge to respond angrily to negative posts or insinuations that we are all a bunch of jackasses who deserve it. Let's all try to keep cool heads when dealing with this stuff. Perhaps we might be able to change a few minds in the process.
Report: Cafe bomber confesses to bus bombing
Posted byFollowing along the lines of Timkunming, I'm amazed that the international press hasn't picked up this story as well. In fact, I've been doing frequent web searches and haven't turned up anything beyond the expat blogs.
The police may have a lot of pressure from government departments above them, but so far no one from the press is there to breath down their necks. If we want to hear anything at all about the results of the investigation, we need the international press asking questions. Start writing those letters to the editors, people.