GoK was once lively, contentious, at times abusive but also interesting, entertaining and always informative. The goal of harmony resulted in policy of forced moderation and eventual censorship. Only approved opinions and discourse was allowed. As the hand on the tiller grew heavier, GoK lost the wind.
Sorry for getting nautical but I bought a home less than a kilometer from the ocean in California and have been relaxing, enjoying my dotage, sailing, and the Kunming like weather here. I miss China and Kunming. American food is boring.
In the US we are being told that getting vaccinated will end the supply chain problem. Biden’s Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm on skyrocketing prices of goods:
"[Economists say] there is a transitory nature to the inflation problem…We wanna make sure we get everybody vaccinated so we can unclog the bottlenecks that we’ve been seeing.”
Found an interesting video (48 min) on the COVID pandemic and the vaccines being pushed. The mRNA vaxx are still experimental and controversy is raging on who should get the shot. I got the two Pfizer shots as I am 78 with additional high risk problems.
This is the link and there are many (100+ ?) links to additional resources.
Vang Vieng is a great place. I stay at the Elephant Crossing hotel. Quite nice but $45USD a night. A bit steep for the backpackers and consumers of 'magic" goods. So it is pretty quiet.
Rooms face the river and Karst formations. Clouds and wisps of clouds in and around the Karst mountains provide a constantly changing view.
Vang Vieng is my favorite sit-and-do-nothing place on Laos.
bluppfisk is right. Calibre is really good and easy to use. I have found making your own original ebooks for the kindle fairly easy. I do it this way: Word -> RTF -> MOBI. PDF docs can be converted as well but it depends on how the PDF doc was created. Color photos can look sad on the kindle so they are best converted to BW first.
Be aware they will push whatever they are selling. Some of the staff have no idea about the technical side of appliances.
I went there to buy a stove. I repeatedly told them I would be using bottled gas. They sold me a stove. When I went to my local gas guy, I learned there are at least three kinds of gas sold. Luckily, B&Q did not deliver as promised. I went back to the store and discovered they had sold me a stove they needed to be hooked up to the gas main. I got my money back.
The sales lady was almost in tears, 没有问题！I don't know if it a safety or design issue, but I would think B&Q would know and care.
Subway starts at 9am. I have no idea where to catch an airport express bus. Eight taxis refused to go to the airport. After almost an hour standing on Beijing Lu took a black taxi, this dude drives slower than my mother, 120 yuan.
Flight back was delayed so I learned the subway stops running at 6:10pm.
Getting a taxi back was easy, more taxis than customers. Taxi was 87 yuan including 1o yuan toll, airport to Beichen area. Yes, he took a longer route than necessary.
Kunming imagines being a gateway for international travelers. New airport but hard to get to and from it.
First-hand account: Setting up a guesthouse in Xishuangbanna
Posted byThe hotel did not open. Although I do not know why, I do know the project was abandoned.
Getting Away: Vang Vieng
Posted byVang Vieng is a great place. I stay at the Elephant Crossing hotel. Quite nice but $45USD a night. A bit steep for the backpackers and consumers of 'magic" goods. So it is pretty quiet.
Rooms face the river and Karst formations. Clouds and wisps of clouds in and around the Karst mountains provide a constantly changing view.
Vang Vieng is my favorite sit-and-do-nothing place on Laos.
Snapshot: Kunming Carnival's Grand Parade
Posted byGBTEXDOC, blobbles, Heinz
I agree with you guys. GK, please get ahead of events. We might like to go too!
Kunming's etymological vapor trail
Posted bybluppfisk is right. Calibre is really good and easy to use. I have found making your own original ebooks for the kindle fairly easy. I do it this way: Word -> RTF -> MOBI. PDF docs can be converted as well but it depends on how the PDF doc was created. Color photos can look sad on the kindle so they are best converted to BW first.
Kunming's etymological vapor trail
Posted byWalter, got mine from Kindle. Project Gutenberg has a version with illustrations.
Actually, Project Gutenberg has more than 200 FREE downloads on China. Many of these are in Chinese, 汉字。
Any .mobi ebook will work on a Kindle or Kindle for PC or Mac.