User profile: michael2015

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Kunming weather

Predicting long-term weather patterns is akin to horse racing or other games of chance - in my opinion. It makes sense statistically, that after several years of drought - we'd eventually have a weather reversal - but that's pure speculation. I suspect climate change "analysts" and "scientists" tend to "fit data" to support their hypotheses - as the earth is an incredibly complex ecosystem - and I can't even pretend to understand weather metrics and their complicated inter-relationships.

On that note - I'm still pro-environmentally responsible management and the somewhat dubious goals of zero carbon footprints.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Upgrading a visa from tourist visa to business vis

I assumed TeraLa will want to try to work here, hence the work visa comments.

For visas for Swedes - you should check the Chinese Embassy requirements in Sweden.

Yes - a business visa is less formidable than the work visa - but it requires entry/exit every 90 days - similar to the tourist visa. Historically, tourist visas can be extended a maximum of THREE (3) times without requiring an exit/entry trip, subject to PSB discretion. Longer stays are possible - but those are medical-related justifications.

Here's the link for the Chinese Embassy in Sweden, for reference:

www.chinaembassy.se

Requirements for US Citizens may vary - especially costs, so that's not particularly applicable.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Upgrading a visa from tourist visa to business vis

Tourist visas can allegedly be extended a maximum of 3 times (a seemingly arbitrary number) before you must exit and re-enter again.

As an alternative you may wish to apply for a language school as a student - they will help you get a student visa - but again - you may need to exit/enter.

If you're a habitual border crosser on tourist visas - this will eventually and probably rather quickly attract the attention of the public security - however on that note, tourist visas are issued with multiple entries and there's technically no reason why public security would deny a seemingly prolific traveler - although it does carry the appearance of a trafficker of illegal things.

A student visa does not require a university diploma, but incurs a cost with which

I'm unfamiliar, however this website has quite a few language schools which teach Mandarin - feel free to contact them for cost information. Without a university diploma, a student visa is probably the best solution for a longer term visit.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Upgrading a visa from tourist visa to business vis

@TeraLa
It's difficult and complicated to change a tourist visa into a business visa - not impossible - just difficult, complicated, and you'll have to pay a penalty/fee for the conversion.

It's NOT difficult to extend your tourist visa - just visit the Visa Office (also called Entry/Exit office) in any city, to request a tourist visa extension - they'll usually extend for 2 weeks to up to 3 months (maximum).

Converting a tourist visa into a business visa requires an employer/employment letter and a host of other documents that would need to be authenticated (notarized and then authenticated by city, state, and national government agencies), to include your college diploma, criminal background check, and a health check for communicable diseases (STDs) and general health.

If you want to stay and work in Kunming - you can check out various English language (or other language) schools - but you'll still be required to provide the above documentation before you're allowed to work here. You MIGHT be able to exit into an adjacent country (Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and maybe even Hong Kong), while you're collecting the documents, but you absolutely cannot work legally without those docs.

An alternative - if you're trying to buy/sell products/services in China for a foreign or offshore company - you can explore the Representative Office path - but you'll have to pay to be seconded under your own or an existing representative office - all the usual visa fees plus the rep office administrative fee.

If that's your path - then contact <longdragon> on this website.

Once you're seconded under the rep office and you have your work visa documents in order, you can look for gainful employment (if you qualify) - but you'll need to convert and transfer your visa to the new company (which they'll pay for).

The government will issue you a temporary work visa - and once you're in-country - you'll need to apply to convert the temporary work visa into the semi-permanent work visa (typically year to year for newbies).

Hope that's helpful.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > transfering visa to new passport

@ningsi
If you have a year-long contract - here's the process.

1. NEW PASSPORT. Get your new passport. You MAY need to go to your local PSB office to get copies of the currently expiring residence permits, but your office should have copies, which may/may not be sufficient.

2. ENTRY/EXIT VISA. Apply to PSB for a visa extension for the remainder of the contract year. If this is for a dependent - this is easier and faster.

2.1 NEW CONTRACT. You MAY want to try to get your school to issue a new year long contract or longer, if you're planning on staying yet another year or two. That way you get a whole year or more, for the same level of pain and inconvenience. If it's ONLY for your kid - ignore step 2.1

3. LOCAL PSB (aka paichusuo?). Once EXIT/ENTRY approves/extends your visa in your new passport - take it to your local PSB office to extend the relevant residence permit.

4. AUTOMATIC E-CALENDAR NOTIFICATIONS. Put calendar notices in your e-calendar to remind you when to begin the new passport process. The 18 month rule is a bit conservative - but it'll avoid problems/issues if you plan ahead.

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In some cases, government officials and departments get government funds as grants, loans, copay/cost share agreements, then either can't or won't spend the funds - so they try to "sit on them" until they utilize them favorably. We can't actually judge them to be wrong, lazy, or irresponsible - as we don't really understand why they couldn't spend the funds.

Regardless - discovering funds that were allocated and then perhaps "moved around" to make it look as though they're being utilized but are in reality merely funding "other" things - is an illegal and fraudulent practice in other developed that may not currently be illegal in China.

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The Chinese internet may have lit up - but the fact still remains - what he said is probably true - otherwise we'd have seen a mass exodus from WeChat, Alipay, and Baidu.

As for the government ranking systems - it's a social engineering experiment designed to test cultural and behavioral engineering on a grand scale. Don't like it - go offline and off-grid and start prepping a la US preppers (prepare - preparing for the breakdown and implosion of government and society - bunkers, arms, supplies, self sufficient compounds etc.

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This regulation, as stated here, is for government officials and employees of state owned enterprises only. It has no bearing on normal people. While I'm personally ambivalent about the rules - it is definitely the government's continuing attempt to quell rampant, pervasive, and apparently generational corruption. That's a tough rodent or cockroach to control.

In most developed nations - they continuously make laws, mostly for people who don't obey laws, flagrantly circumvent laws, or even use laws for legalized corruption - this law however seems to have teeth - as flagrantly displaying wealth is a discipline violation. Un-flagrantly displaying wealth and influence is a separate matter.

For example - in the above case - the limit was allegedly 200 people - so the solution is simply to have 10 separate banquets - to host your village of 2,000 people. Other alternatives - sponsor large legally recognized celebrations (such as water splashing or fire festivals) and have your public banquet under those kinds of blanket covers.

For every law - there are always infinitely many ways to circumvent or abuse laws - been that way for aeons.

So support the government's attempts at anti-corruption or support corrupt government officials and corrupt employees of state owned enterprises. I detest corruption - so I favor the former, hope it works, but suspect it will merely drive the corruption underground and only capture the truly stupid.

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Wonderful review for the budget minded - minus the eternal bus ride portion of the odyssey. Beautiful pictures. Thank you for sharing.

Reviews

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Took the family here to stroll around and there's a LOT of walking. Many of the stores appear closed, but the bar street nestled inside seems quite well populated.

We chose the Japanese restaurant near the entrance (there are many entrances). The food and service was quite acceptable - from the fruit salad, tuna salad, curry pork cutlet, and the ubiquitous California Sush Rolls (you can buy the small size or the large size).

It rained a little while we were there, which helped drench the heat and humidity. When the sun came out - it was HOT.

If you're lucky, you'll occasionally see people (usually women) wearing minority clothing being photographed by professional photographers. There's also a small photographer's store where you can rent various ethnic clothing and have professional pictures taken (maybe the two are related...now that I think about it).

There's also the ubiquitous game centers (shooting galleries etc) for the kids and unaccompanied teenagers.

It seems the most popular venues were the prolific food courts - but that's probably related to it being lunchtime when we visited. The place is clean and plenty of antiqued door fronts (the wood panels) for those photo shoots.

Capping off the visit, one must of course take pictures on the bridges crossing the lily ponds and the landmark temple spire. We didn't make it to the surrounding temples. Maybe next time.

Transportation is everywhere - but make sure you have your mobile phone ride share app working, just in case you hit rush hour.

Again - for now - it seems many vendors were closed - but I'm positive that'll change again as the economy begins to rebound.

Excellent way to spend a half day as opposed to the kids faces glued to their mobile devices...fresh air, good food, plenty of people watching, and walking...walking...walking...

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Took the family here a few days ago. Wonderful place to go walking with lots of snack & drink kiosks (along with chairs and tables) to rest frequently. This zoo is similar to most other large open air zoos with reasonably spacious enclosures. This place is HUGE so be prepared for a LOT of walking. Consider wearing sensible hiking or walking shoes. Your feet will be grateful.

Entrance fees when we went still cny100 for adults and kids cny70. Feeding the animals at the managed venues - cny30 per site...per child. Monkeys can be fed by tossing carrots and sliced apples into their enclosure - which is good. Monkeys famous for flash mobbing. Can be terrifying for kids (and adults). Even in the enclosures, you can clearly see they're territorial and aggressive. Bullying is displayed frequently enough for teaching moments for the kids (cuz there are monkeys in all schools everywhere in the world).

MOST people bring their own food and drink, as the kiosks are quite expensive. Example a cny5 drink outside is cny10 in the zoo, so expect most everything to be twice as expensive. I had a bbq chick drumstick (leg?) for cny25...ouch.

Bring carrots. LOTS of carrots. The zoo has several managed (paid) and unmanaged petting areas for most semi-domesticated animals, such as the Alpacas (seriously cute), deer, giraffes (ok...you can feed the giraffes on an elevated platform, but probably difficult to "pat" the animals. It's kind of spectacular to actually see giraffes face to face - these animals are simply vertigo inducing huge and tall.

The seal show was nice - typical of seal shows everywhere. Seals are kind of like the dogs of the sea. Friendly and ravenous appetites so easily trainable.

Lots of cheap touristy souvenirs to buy the for the kiddies (and relatives kids).

HIGHLY recommend taking the bus tour - they basically zoom around picking up and dropping off customers (they check your e-ticket at every pickup site) at entrances and exits to walking enclosures. They'll drop you off at roughly 15 minute walking sites. NO need to rush and you can grab ANY bus upon emerging from the walking enclosure sites.

Of course, the ultimate attraction always the lion and tiger exhibits at the top of the mountain.

Bring a fan. It gets hot. We were fortunate as the sky was mostly overcast so the temperature was generally cool, but heated up almost instantly whenever the sun peeked out of the clouds.

Bring LOTS of water. Most veteran tourists have their own liter bottles of water. Bring your own umbrella. When the sun comes out - it's HOT. Bring a wide brimmed hat if you're into comfort over vanity. SUNTAN LOTION never goes astray.

Aside from that - typical Chinese group site with everyone rushing the buses and ticket counters. Not so much rushing for the food venues, so seems the elevated prices keep that comfortably in check.

All in all - GREAT place to take the kiddies (or a date if you both know you're into each other - cuz you'll be spending an entire day together). The Outdoor Zoo seems exceptionally well designed with plenty of both managed and unmanaged (eg walking deer along the roadside and the stroll through the peacock "garden").

Easy cab or shared ride out and back. Taxis aplenty when you're ready to leave (just walk past the parking lot gate - they'll be waiting for you). You should consider dining out or delivery at the end of the day.

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Took the kiddies here again.

1. It's FREE.
2. NO knives, lighters, sharp objects, etc. There's a place in front to check bags, luggage (if you're traveling), etc - but the exit is in the rear of the monolithic building, so it's a bit of a hike to walk back around to the checked storage area (it's also FREE).

THIRD FLOOR
We went straight to the third floor - History and artifacts of Yunnan (mostly). Rich history - lots of original sculptures etc removed from grottoes and displayed in the museum. Lots of English language titles and occasionally some explanatory text in English.

SECOND FLOOR
This is the evolution floor with lots of petrified artifacts - sea life mostly, lots of recreations of animals and environments from pre-man times.

There are coffee shops and dining areas on the first floor and drink vending machines on the second and third floors. The place is HUGE so a great place to take the kiddies and walk around until they're tired. They'll probably enjoy the dinosaur exhibit on the second floor the most. Wait a few minutes and the dinosaurs will roar and move their heads and maybe pretend to chew (open and close their maws).

PLENTY of parking and unfortunately NOT close to any subway station, so you'll have to grab a cab or rideshare but seems taxis and transportation are aplenty in the city and surrounding environs.

And...it's FREE for now. Museum closes at 5pm so make sure you leave by 430-445 so you can hike back to the storage area if you checked anything in as they also close at 5pm.

Enjoy!

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This is a great place to walk around and generally kill time while shopping for nothing in particular. Nearby is the Paulaner Brewhouse for super fantastic food, coffee and drinks, outdoor patio dining or just hanging and people watching.

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DATE
2022.01.17

SUMMARY
Just popped in for the annual to biennial visa health check. Cost was CNY 487 - don't forget to bring at least THREE (3) visa pictures and your mask.

As usual, there are TWO health codes to display - the usual kunming/yunnan green QR code and the green "Arrow" code.

ARRIVAL
I went late in the morning, but still managed to shuttle through all the departments and get out before lunch.

I used didi to get there and the map now correctly shows the rear parking entrance as the destination drop-off point. You can also take the subway to a nearby station, and walk walk walk walk walk - it's actually not too far but it will elevate your blood pressure and pulse (BPP) - so make sure to rest 5-10 minutes to allow your BPP to drop back to resting state.

Upon arrival at the main gate, you'll do the usual check-in procedure - mask, sign-in, green QR code, temperature check.

Once inside - Present your passport, green QR code, and green (hopefully) arrow code. Scan the QR codes on your left as you walk in if you don't have these prepared already. The staff will then pass you an application form. Walk over to the wall of stand-up desks to your right, fill out the forms, then stroll over to the clerks to present the form. They'll print out a sheet of bar coded labels for your tests, take your digital picture, attach everything together with a paper clip, then direct you to the cashier to pay CNY 487 (WeChat, alipay, bank card, etc) Don't know if they still accept cash.

HEALTH CHECKS
Hike up the the 2nd or 3rd floor to start the battery of tests:

3rd floor

Chest X-ray

Physical (height, weight, BMI/body mass index)

2nd floor

ECG

Sonogram

Urine test

Blood Test

Eye test (color blindness and eye chart)

Dental

Heart (pulse, blood pressure)

I may have missed a few like the OB GYN...

It seems they also have a COVID/NAT (nucleic acid test) center in a shipping container lab outside the health center - but I didn't bother jogging over to check if it was still operational. In retrospect, should've checked, as the hospitals are jam packed with Chinese New Year travelers.

RESULTS PICKUP
The test results are ready the afternoon of the second day. The facility seems sparsely busy even though they service both foreigners and nationals. There were rarely lines or noticeable waits beyond a few minutes, with at most 1-2 people ahead of you.

Staff are always nice, polite, professional and tirelessly patient for those of us with limited to no communications abilities.