"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.
The problem with providing convenient parking for everyone is that more people will choose to buy cars or drive into the city when they would have otherwise taken transit.
The standard fine for illegal parking is 150 RMB. Problem is, it's very poorly enforced. The streetside parking is also poorly managed. Those people are supposed to be keeping a lid on bad parking, but they will often direct drivers to double park, blocking the street, or even park on the sidewalks, so they can collect more money.
"Taking the trees away to recuperate." I didn't see them taking the trees from Xuefu Lu, but I've seen them removing them from other parts of town, and the workers were basically just chopping the trees to pieces.
Based on what we've seen for the other metro lines, Xuefu Lu is going to be a mess for years. All of the problems they have complained about: bedrock, difficulty managing traffic, etc, are going to hit them at Xuefu in spades. There are also, if my sources are correct, extensive bunkers down there from WWII, which were probably expanded (without maps) during the CR.
If they don't revert Yi Er Yi to two-way, that whole quadrant of the city is toast.
"as Kunming media outlets reveal the presence of dense basalt deposits in the path of multiple tunnels routinely hampered progress."
This has been known for years and years. In the early 2000s, people were holding this up as the reason why Kunming would never have a subway.
I'm guessing engineers brought it up in their time and cost projections, and the officials in charge ignored them. You don't start digging long tunnels underneath a city without taking a look at what the ground is made of.
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.
Popular night market locations closed, ban appears permanent
Posted byThe problem with providing convenient parking for everyone is that more people will choose to buy cars or drive into the city when they would have otherwise taken transit.
The standard fine for illegal parking is 150 RMB. Problem is, it's very poorly enforced. The streetside parking is also poorly managed. Those people are supposed to be keeping a lid on bad parking, but they will often direct drivers to double park, blocking the street, or even park on the sidewalks, so they can collect more money.
No end in sight for Xuefu Lu traffic upheaval
Posted by"Taking the trees away to recuperate." I didn't see them taking the trees from Xuefu Lu, but I've seen them removing them from other parts of town, and the workers were basically just chopping the trees to pieces.
Based on what we've seen for the other metro lines, Xuefu Lu is going to be a mess for years. All of the problems they have complained about: bedrock, difficulty managing traffic, etc, are going to hit them at Xuefu in spades. There are also, if my sources are correct, extensive bunkers down there from WWII, which were probably expanded (without maps) during the CR.
If they don't revert Yi Er Yi to two-way, that whole quadrant of the city is toast.
Yunnan's population by the numbers
Posted by@scally: I just did, and it looks like the Hui are actually still under a million
Yunnan's population by the numbers
Posted byAre you sure the Hui don't top one million? I seem to remember hearing they were the largest or second largest minority group in the province
Forecast for Kunming's next subway line: Wait and see
Posted by"as Kunming media outlets reveal the presence of dense basalt deposits in the path of multiple tunnels routinely hampered progress."
This has been known for years and years. In the early 2000s, people were holding this up as the reason why Kunming would never have a subway.
I'm guessing engineers brought it up in their time and cost projections, and the officials in charge ignored them. You don't start digging long tunnels underneath a city without taking a look at what the ground is made of.