User profile: chris

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Seeking small Chinese non-profit organisations

Hi kate008,

Yesterday I visited the Ringa Community Nursery (仁安幼儿园) near Shangri-la and think it might be of interest to you, or other readers for that matter.

This school for children from the six villages in the Ringa Valley is educating more than 90 children aged 4 through 6, teaching them to speak and write Mandarin Chinese, which will allow them to attend public school after the age of 6. Prior to this, most children in the Ringa Valley were unable to attend public school because they lacked the necessary Mandarin Chinese skills.

The nursery also teaches literacy in the children's native Tibetan, which helps them stay in touch with their own culture. Tibetan literacy classes are taught by local volunteers who work at the nearby Banyan Tree Ringha.

The nursery is hoping to add English courses next year, but is in need of funds.

Most young children in the villages around the Ringa Valley are raised by their grandparents because their parents are off working. The grandparents are often unable to look after the children, who frequently play in the road and engage in other innocent enough but dangerous play habits.

The Ringa Community Nursery provides a safe place for the children to play, as well as previously unimaginable education opportunities. It also teaches the children basic hygiene and health knowledge and provides one hot bath a week, something most of the kids don't have access to in their own homes.

I was quite impressed by the dedication of the two volunteer teachers at the nursery, one a Naxi girl from Lijiang, the other a Han girl from Zhejiang. Aside from a few Banyan Tree employees, the children were the only locals I encountered in the valley that could speak Chinese. Nobody from the valley has ever graduated from university before, but I could sense that some of the giggling kids I met at the nursery would change that.

For more information about the Ringa Community Nursery, check their bilingual website at www.ringa-kindy.org/

For information about how to donate to the nursery, go to www.ringa-kindy.org/page/help/support.php

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GoKunming and Kunming Information Hub have had a good relationship over the years... we've even stopped by to share our thoughts on how they can make their site more useful to foreign readers:

bbs.clzg.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=114342 (please forgive my five o'clock shadow, 2009 was a rough year!)

The use of the word "Chinglish" was not derogatory in any way, for me the word simply suggests English that is often translated too literally from Chinese. It was not meant as an insult, and I don't believe it was taken that way, it was merely intended as a reminder to the staff at en.kunming.cn that hiring one native English speaker to go over their articles prior to publishing would greatly raise the quality of their content... something I mentioned when we met with them back in 2009.

I have much admiration for the young and bright crew at en.kunming.cn, we link to their content and they frequently run ours. Their team is just as small as ours, but they're publishing in a second language. Respect!

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Once again, good to see haters chipping in. Feel free to share your band's douban link joe, I'm sure you guys keep it real.

Went to the show tonight and the band couldn't have shown more respect to the audience, despite people getting up on stage and acting like tourists while the band was trying to perform.

Can't get enough of people criticizing others for doing things that make people enjoy their lives. Kunming would be so much better if no bands passed through at all!

Reviews

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Four stars for a great restaurant with friendly staff.

I give Tusheng Shiguan a fifth star for its goal of promoting environmentally sound food production.

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My favorite Tengchong-style restaurant in Kunming. Their ersi and erkuai are trucked over from Tengchong and are the real deal — Kunming ersi and erkuai do not compare.

The restaurant itself is a bit jumbled, but there are a couple of tables outside in the courtyard that are nice to sit at when the weather's pleasant.

Don't believe them when they say they don't have lufu.

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Tom and Jiajia have been baking up a storm lately. Thanks to them I have delicious sourdough bread to toast on the space heater in the office.

The Bircher muesli is probably the healthiest and most delicious breakfast around.

Pound for pound, one of the best little Western restaurants in China. 佳佳万岁！

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Just had gnocchi in mushroom sauce and a glass of wine for dinner on the balcony in mid-January. Awesome.