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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@Elfin: I do believe it was a little foggy the other day. I flew out on the 19th without any delay. No idea what the weather will be like on the 23rd, but if it is foggy, a delay is likely. Not sure what you mean by "staying overnight situation", it's easy enough to cab/bus between the airport and the city. If flights have been canceled or delayed I'm guessing the tiny 'hotel' in the airport will be full. It's a ripoff anyway, you're better staying at a hotel in the city.

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Two friends and their infant were flying in from eastern China last night.

Ten minutes before arriving at Changshui they were rerouted to Guiyang, where they spent the night.

Now my friends say there is fighting at the Guiyang airport and they were hurried onto a plane that shows no signs of moving. I'm flying out of Changshui tomorrow, I half-expect to run into them then.

Kunming has a shame, and its name is Changshui.

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Nice bit of info from Global Times, the FOX News of China:

'A journalist from the Kunming-based newspaper Yunnan Daily, who declined to be named, confirmed to the Global Times that the airport, which went into operation just six months ago, was short of ground crew and not equipped with enough support facilities.

"There is no large hotel close to the airport so stranded passengers are sent back downtown, 30 kilometers away. When passengers complained about the low temperature inside the airport, they were told that the heating system was not fully operational."'

I didn't see anything resembling a heating system in the airport. Even if there is one, one would think it might be nice to have it operational by January.

Of course, GT has to be "fair and balanced", so it includes this chap saying that people had no right to lose their cool in the face of incompetence and indifference:

'"These passengers' actions were radical, and violated laws," Zhang Qihuai, a researcher from the Institute of Air and Space Law under the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.'

Full story here: www.globaltimes.cn/content/753920.shtml

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Turns out that my flight that I gave up on last night was canceled, and I was refunded my money without having to get a flight cancellation certificate like two days ago, which involved fighting my way to the counter and vying for the attention of the overwhelmed staff.

A friend of mine went to the airport today and her flight left on time at two, so I decided, just for a laugh, to try for the third day in a row to fly out of Kunming. Heinz's comment above suggests that the chaos from less than a day of fog two days ago may still be an issue.

It seems that there is very little in the way of contingency planning at Changshui International Airport for emergencies or even normal occurrences such as cold weather. I truly hope the loss of face for the airport and Yunnan Airport Group spurs someone in charge to make sure that the airport is more prepared for emergencies and other mafan in the future... if something like this happens during Chinese New Year it may take ages to get things back to normal.

Hope that service and preparedness at the airport will improve may be misplaced for the next few years, it appears expansion is the priority for the foreseeable future: centreforaviation.com/[...]

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.