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I think there might be an issue with different branches of law enforcement and government having different remits and priorities.
The average policeman doesn't really care that much about illegal street vendors. His main job, outside of reading the newspaper and smoking Double Happiness, is to catch the bad guys.
Traffic police buy fancy sunglasses, keep their gloves whiter than white and enforce a One Scooter, 2 People Forbidden Policy.
The beloved Chengguan confiscate fried potatoes, outdoor seating and the like.
The list goes on.....
Until all branches work together, recognizing an infringement and reporting it to the relevant department involved whilst staying on scene to supervise until help arrives, the general populace must find it hard to place their trust in their gov't services and law enforcement.
It seems faintly ridiculous that if, after a traffic accident, the two (or more) protagonists end up in a physical confrontation, the traffic police stand idly by, completing their traffic report, utterly disinterested in any violence that falls outside their traffic remit.
Years ago I had a car crash in central London and as it happened the first police on the scene was a fully-armed, body armoured SWAT team who were two cars back. They sorted out the accident as best they could and waited until local police turned up to take statements, breath tests etc... It was re-assuring to be surrounded by 6 heavily armed men in the dangerous reaches of the King's Road in Chelsea!
In China, taking on more responsibility than you have been assigned is anathema. There is no upside for a policeman who jumps in to help out on someone else's turf. If anything goes wrong the offending policeman will have all blame heaped on him.
So, the policeman will happily buy fried potatoes and will do so right up until the moment the potato vendor breaks a law that his unit cares about.
Not sure if it will be back.
Bangkok has some of the best hospitals in the world where thousands of foreigners go to for medical services that cost a fortune in their home countries.
I can only recommend the one I've been to - Bumrungrad. It's absolutely 1st class, they have Thai and Indian doctors and possibly other foreign doctors. I consulted them when I broke my wrist 2 years ago and they gave me the same advice as my doctors back home (which was re-assuring compared to the doctor at the Red Cross Hospital who tried to set the break 3 times; not being able to see from the X-ray that the break required surgery)
www.bunrumgrad.com
If you're determined to find a good doctor in Kunming, try contacting Project Grace who run clinics in Yunnan. I'm afraid I don't have any details for them though they did use to run a clinic out of the school for the deaf and dumb. They're mostly American doctors and I think it's a church-funded programme.
My advice would be to agree with the other posters and get on a plane to one of Shanghai, HK or Bangkok. If you don't get it right now then you'll regret it later.
And the new menu fellas? Is that out too?
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Update/Retraction:
I went to the new Red Star on Jinhua PuLu last night (they've moved across the road) hoping to have a good steak and a chat with some friends.
From the moment I walked in I had a bad feeling about the place. There were swarms of fuwuyuan all over delighted to welcome us with synchronized yells but nobody seated us. We found a table upstairs and ordered three of their French Steaks and some beers. After waiting 15 minutes our beers hadn't arrived so we called over an indignant waiter who bluntly told us we hadn't ordered any.
Having re-ordered our beers and confirmed how we wanted our steak cooked we began our discussions only for the speaker next to us to crackle into life at full volume. Unable to hear a thing we moved to a table away from the speaker where we still struggled to hold a conversation. We asked the staff to turn the music down which to our surprise they did. Within 5 minutes, however, they cranked the music back up whereupon we again complained that we were eating and unable to hear a thing. Another indignant (and this time belligerent) waiter told us that after 8pm Red Star turns into a bar and thus loud music was a pre-requisite.
We ate up quickly and left.
Whatever charm the Red Star used to have has gone. The new place is huge, the staff are beyond useless and completely unable to answer the simplest question, the bathroom is brand new and looks like it's already been through 30 years of use, the food average and the general feeling is that they don't care at all about customer experience.
After all this time it seems that Bernie was right!
28th Jan 2007
Whilst I'm loathe to defend the Red Star I must point out that 'niche' doesn't equate to 'standards'. If I may point out a few similarities between the two:
1. Both Bluebird and Red Star are multi-level bar-restaurants with roof gardens.
2. Both Blue Bird and Red Star have live music in the evenings (BB a Filipino keyboard-crooner couple and RS a guitarist)
3. Both BB & RS are quiet drinking venues outside eating times.
4. Both BB & RS serve western food, chinese food, Thai food, Italian etc. In fact the menu content is surprisingly similar (RS is perhaps a third or quarter of BB's price).
5. Both BB & RS were designed rustic-style. BB just renovated and RS was renovated badly.
And finally whilst BB may have a 'chef' to RS's 'cook', the RS's cooks, in the most part, used to work as chefs in BB.
The RS is quite plainly an imitation of BB with lower standards. It is the Wimpey to BB's Burger King.
Next time (of if) you go, try the French Steak at Red Star and then head over to Bluebird for the same. Sour and Spicy Noodles, iron-skillet squid, spicy devil fried rice, pizza, pasta, the list goes on....
Pretty much the same recipes but made with lower quality ingredients, presented less professionally and delivered by waiters with a quarter of the IQ, in a setting that as Bernie rightly states could have been knocked up in a couple of hours on Wenlin Jie.
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Red Star is very much in the same niche as Bluebird but not quite as expensive. The restaurant is on 3 floors, I'd recommend going up to the roof terrace for the best atmosphere especially if you want to eat. The second floor is more of a bar with lower ceiling and smoky atmosphere.
I had some pretty good food last time I went to Red Star. In the past though it has been hit or miss. I'd recommend the steak and the chicken burrito isn't bad.
The one thing that brings the Red Star down is the service. The waiters look like they've been pulled out of the Firebird, thrown into uniform and told to stand around and ignore customers. They are masters at avoiding eye contact.
If you like Red Star get one of their VIP discount cards for 100 kuai. The savings tot up pretty quickly.
Oh and don't try the house wine. It's foul (makes Yunnan Red seem like premier cru bordeaux!)
3 1/2 stars for food
0 stars for service
In the past few weeks most, if not all, of the Feiyang branches have upgraded menus and some have renovated. Annoyingly some of my favourite dishes have disappeared to be be replaced with poor but expensive replacements.
From my last visit expect prices to have nearly doubled - I kid you not.
This is my favourite Feiyang. It's a lot more spacious than the one on Jiaoling Lu.
Other reviewers have given a good description of the food and service. However I have to reiterate the Japanese beef is awesome.
For draft beer fans, they stock KK draft. It's nothing special but it's cold and wet and 15 kuai a pitcher.
Feiyang have discount cards that can get you up to 15% off. Used to cost 100 kuai or sometimes a friendly manager gives you a free one.
Depending on what you order, meals can cost from 20-40 kuai per head (with drinks). I think it's best to go in a larger group so you can get more variety without wasting too much food.
It closes at 2am for late night snackers.
Who were the ad wizards behind this one?
Posted byNice one! I found some eye drops in Kunming whose usage was only recomended when "the eye fucks the eye". This one was just a silly translation but don't must Chinese translators know that "fuck" is a dirty word?
Beerlao returns
Posted byBeer Lao is now available in Chapter One, Salvadors, and Speakeasy (No Dark Beer at Sp'easy). French Cafe may well be next on the Beer Lao circuit.
If anybody has a bar that is interested in stocking Beer Lao please contact me at Chapter One or thru this site. For Beer Lao sales in Dali, contact Brian at Dragonfly Garden.