Thanks, Greg. Why does it indicate that Kindle content is not available in China? It's this seeming contradiction that is confusing to me and makes me wary of wasting my money.

So on October 19th, Amazon released their Kindle 2 with international wireless. The wireless map says that there is coverage in Kunming, but the country list says that Kindles can't be shipped to China (no biggie, I can get one before I go) and Kindle content is not available.

Is there anyone with a new Kindle2 there who can tell me if the wireless does indeed work? I know I can transfer stuff over from my computer, but the wireless is half the point of the Kindle. It would be nice to have the NYT delivered wirelessly every day :)

Thanks Mike. It's nice to have an insider's view. How "green" is it really? It's easy to call something an eco-town, but I'd like to know what sort of features (active/passive solar, grey water recycling, recycled building materials, etc.) it has that would be green, rather than greenwashing.

Does anyone know anything about this? I saw it mentioned in the Kunming Wikipedia article, but the reference link leads to a useless website run by the parent company Integer.

Here's the clip from the article:
Eco-town

The Kunming Project is located on a naturally vegetated site adjacent to the International Horticultural Expo, on the north-eastern fringes of Kunming City. The project comprises four prototype houses and a 2,000 m² Visitor Centre on a five hectare site. In 2006 the project was completed and is the first "intelligent & green" project in mainland China. Expo INTEGER Kunming is the first eco-town in southern China, with an emphasis on sustainable lifestyle, environmental protection and intelligent technology. The project aims to provide a focal point for the improvement of housing standards and building technology in the context of China. It will develop a sustainable housing and lifestyle model appropriate for the urbanization of the western region in China.