Gotta love the "Get the f... out of the country" responses you always get from a certain kind of people whenever you dare to open your mouth in some areas of the world. Leolu,, I can't really be bothered with you but read timkunming's post a couple of times. We complain at least as much about things we think are counterproductive or just plain nuts back in our own countries. It's called living. I think the good things outweigh the bad in Kunming by a pretty big margin but everyone has the right to express his oppinion if there is something he finds weird, disgusting or plain wrong. Deal with it.
Kinda stupid thing to say JJ for a myriad of reasons. But if you want to make people feel uncomfortable I can assure you that while the CCP doens't like certain things written in public the denouncing of religion isn't one of them. China's official stand on religion is still based on solid communist values hence I have no problem expressing anti-religious views on a public Chinese forum such as this one. Anyway the (few) delicate threads on this site is nothing compared to what is going on at the major Chinese language chat forums or thebeijinger.com.
Hey,, what's up with you guys? Is Gokunming run by Christians who can't take a bit of much needed criticism? Or did you get complaints from religious people and decided to dish out some censoring? I'd love to hear the excuse but I'd much rather hear you guys admit to having made a serious mistake and re-open the thread. It is frankly embarrasing.
The way I see it is that you don't need to be a Christian with more or less hidden motives to do good for other people but at least these days most Christian missionaries is talking to people (and I guess bribing them with improved living standards and afterlife promises) instead of forcing or demanding conversion. That is something certain parts of Islam hasn't really developed yet. There are lots of Islamic preachers and missionaries in China and in the rest of the world too. Some of them spreading the word with bombs and terror.
What I have against missionaries and religion as a whole is the way it suppresses free thinking and individual freedom. There is no such thing as an afterlife and trying to assure others that there is is frankly delusional and embarrasing in my book. Religion is invented by man. Often by ancient rulers and the ruling class to pacify the lower classes, supply soldiers for war and keep a stable society by promising a glorious afterlife. To me it is a ridiculous notion that people should pray 5 times a day, don't eat this and that, spread the word, fight for the faith and basically live their lives the way other people tell them to or by following an old dusty book made and edited countless of times by priests as is the case with the bible or an old dusty book where there is capital punisment for even discussing or leaving out certain parts of the gospel as is the case with the koran. Communism might be wrong in several ways but the view towards religion sure wasn't one of them.
Tanfei: Stop using words like "kaleidoscopic". It makes you sound gay and makes my eyes rain. Your scooter sucks. :)
While I think it's fine to regulate prepared food sellers I really don't have a problem with people selling fruit or vegetables out of a van or a cart. These people are usually sensible enough to set up where they don't bother traffic as opposed to say the morons in huge black show off cars being absolutely fine with parking on the sidewalk so nobody can pass.
In my area they recently closed the two nearest outdoor markets and opened a new one below a brand new apartment complex. Our regular go-to-cha-shao-rou seller moved there and he told us rent was up 400 percent. It's not hard to understand why many people would consider an alternative. We roughly pay twice as much for our greens as the vendors buy them for, so again, not hard to see why some farmers would try to sell their stuff themselves.
The "First offence,," idea is meaningless -to no one's surprise, it's a government proposal after all- so hopefully they can come up with something better.
Bruce: It's probably enough just to stand there and look at them. Filming or pretending to film can get you in trouble, especially as a foreigner. It's grounds for deportation to film government officials, government buildings and the police or military "in action".
If you aren't familiar with that area it can be a bit tricky to find. Start at Wen Miao bus stop (Confucian Temple) on Ren min zhong lu. You can spot a Dairy Queen from there. Turn left at the Dairy Queen and you'll be walking along the back of the mall, it's a small pedestrian street. It's probably a 3-4 minutes walk and Rocco's is in the left side. There are plenty of decent restaurants on that street as well and the prices are reasonable.
Interesting story. I think it's hard for us more recent arrivals to understand how Kunming was just 10-15 years ago. After having tried a pizza at his newest place I personally am glad Rocco decided to settle here :)
Went there yesterday and it totally made my week. Nice decor and friendly staff and a real salad bar. Sadly we both wanted mexican food so I can't really say much about their other courses. The food was great but just a tad spicier would have improved the dish. The best thing was that we almost had the place to ourselves and we could have a quiet conversation without shouting, spitting Chinese people in the background. I realised how much I had missed that since coming here.
We went to Chicago Coffee a couple of days ago and it was a nice experience. The place is cozy with soft comfy chairs (I realized how much I have missed one since coming here) and they have a nice little collection of English language books in the corner consisting mainly of classics and travel litterature. I was looking forward to trying their advertized tortilla bar but it wasn't up and running that evening.
Instead we went for 2 12 inch pizzas -roast chicken and pepperoni- but we quickly realized that 1 would have been enough. Those things are heavy. I am mainly into Italian style pizza but Chicago's double layered pizzas are well worth a try. Their coffee seems to be a bit on the expensive side but people say good things about it and they have got a nice selection. I wouldn't mind dropping by again some day,, hopefully when they've got the tortilla thing going. English speaking staff btw.
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Kunming proposes reforms to chengguan procedures
Posted byWhile I think it's fine to regulate prepared food sellers I really don't have a problem with people selling fruit or vegetables out of a van or a cart. These people are usually sensible enough to set up where they don't bother traffic as opposed to say the morons in huge black show off cars being absolutely fine with parking on the sidewalk so nobody can pass.
In my area they recently closed the two nearest outdoor markets and opened a new one below a brand new apartment complex. Our regular go-to-cha-shao-rou seller moved there and he told us rent was up 400 percent. It's not hard to understand why many people would consider an alternative. We roughly pay twice as much for our greens as the vendors buy them for, so again, not hard to see why some farmers would try to sell their stuff themselves.
The "First offence,," idea is meaningless -to no one's surprise, it's a government proposal after all- so hopefully they can come up with something better.
Bruce: It's probably enough just to stand there and look at them. Filming or pretending to film can get you in trouble, especially as a foreigner. It's grounds for deportation to film government officials, government buildings and the police or military "in action".
Starbucks moving into Yunnan to support China expansion
Posted bySo comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
Starbucks unites the human race.
Interview: Dr Wang Xiaowei
Posted byGood man, good man. The world needs more of his kind.
Interview: Rocco Capasso
Posted byIf you aren't familiar with that area it can be a bit tricky to find. Start at Wen Miao bus stop (Confucian Temple) on Ren min zhong lu. You can spot a Dairy Queen from there. Turn left at the Dairy Queen and you'll be walking along the back of the mall, it's a small pedestrian street. It's probably a 3-4 minutes walk and Rocco's is in the left side. There are plenty of decent restaurants on that street as well and the prices are reasonable.
Interview: Rocco Capasso
Posted byInteresting story. I think it's hard for us more recent arrivals to understand how Kunming was just 10-15 years ago. After having tried a pizza at his newest place I personally am glad Rocco decided to settle here :)