User profile: michael2015

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Forums > Study > Wechat Pay problems

Assuming this is an ID issue - I'm guessing you renewed your passport? You need to repost your new passport or visa, depending on the request - you'll also need to update your bank account (at the bank). My daughter just renewed her passport and visa (painful) and had the same issue - she simply uploaded her new passport images to WeChat from somewhere deeply buried in the menus (see link below).

Take a look here - you can do this online:

chengdu-expat.com/how-to-verify-your-wechat-pay-and-alipay/

(um...is it ok to post INFORMATIVE links to other websites?).

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Bank cards/accounts for abroad China

@Bluebird

DOMESTIC VS INTERNATIONAL DEBIT (NOT CREDIT) CARD
Go to your bank and tell them (if possible) you'll be traveling internationally and would like to know if you need to "upgrade" to the foreign currency debit card. As you're married to a local, bring the wifey - should be less stressful if your wife chats with them.

When you initially opened your bank account - they asked you (maybe) if you'll be traveling internationally - as there's a domestic only debit card and an international FX (foreign exchange) friendly debit card - they're VERY different - so you need to verify which card you have.

We always opt for the most restrictive card (domestic use only) as credit fraud and identify theft is rampant globally - if you don't need it, don't get it and the bank told us we could upgrade to the international debit card anytime (although they neglected to mention the pain quotient).

You MAY need to change your local bank accounts to upgrade to this service depending on the bank's dynastic era. Bring your passport and your travel itinerary if you have it. You MAY also want to check/set your international daily withdrawal maximums also. Allegedly this can be done with your online bank account access - but I can never remember my internet password.

The upgrade process may take anywhere from a half a day slumming around the bank windows, to a month, depending on your bank and the current processes or changes currently in place or being upgraded.

HSBC ALTERNATIVE
If you have something like CNY 100k or CNY 1 million minimum deposit - you can also opt to open an account at HSBC China (different rules than HSBC ex-China) - but you must maintain the minimum monthly balance or they'll whack on some seriously usurious and abusive fees.

PAYPAL/Apple Pay/PRE-PAID DEBIT CARDS
You can also link your chinese bank account to PAYPAL - many merchants accept PAYPAL - not sure about restaurants though. While you're abroad - you may want to opt for a pre-paid debit card - just top it off a la WeChat Pay - whenever the balance drops. Great way to insulate your primary bank account from credit card fraud - just don't lose that pre-paid debit card...or forget your PIN.

I HIGHLY recommend you buy a pre-paid DEBIT card at the airport of the country you'll most probably be quarantining in...

You MIGHT also want to check out Apple Pay - not accepted everywhere - but. We're incredibly ticked off with Apple Pay China - it's linked to AliPay - which gives you credit-like purchases - which our pre-school daughter apparently abused to rack up a few hundred CNY in credit charges. We tried to get Apple China to reverse the charges - but they threatened to wreck our credit instead - so our daughter is now the proud owner of who knows what garbage game upgrades - if you have kids - be very very very wary of linking anything to Apple Pay.

Personally - HIGHLY recommend you avoid Apple Pay in China if you have little kids who have access to your electronic devices. I asked my older child to report this abusive practice to the Chinese Consumer Protection Hotline (yes, China has a national consumer protection department which actually works) and maybe try to report it to CCTV and other online consumer protection groups - apparently this is a widespread and well known abusive practice (yes...I'm ticked - using little kids to unknowingly fraudulently steal money from their parents - heinous corporate behavior).

MISCELLANEOUS FX UPGRADES
My currency exchanges used to consume a full half a day at XXX bank - but they've since upgraded and streamlined the FX (foreign exchange) and buying the CNY - so I get everything done at the same special service window - and only takes me about an hour or less - when it used to suck up an entire afternoon - most of it was spent waiting for the various windows. First time through the system - akin to non-anaesthetized dental work.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > GoKunming new features and functionality

Yereth. Thanks for the info. Might want to check with the listing owners before you post.

1. It helps the owners understand potential sudden influxes of traffic from gokm referrals.

2. it's courteous.

Also - might want to add a note on foreign language friendly (EN, FR, JP, etc).

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Anyone able to contact US Consulate / Guangzhou?

@duke
They should respond shortly. Don't forget the Beijing embassy also has an emergency hotline. They will NOT intervene in local laws - simply because they usually can not - especially here - but they can provide guidance and counseling on potential options.

Transiting through the USA back to the EU or UK - definitely NOT something you want to do right now, if possible.

These are special times - so the PSB may route you to country of preference - as long as you have a valid passport.

Best wishes and bon voyage.

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China Eastern is a relatively new airline with relatively new staff who may NOT understand the importance of passenger safety - such as buckling in ALWAYS, when seated. Chinese also are relatively new to air travel and tend to skirt the safety rules in favor of comfort, not quite understanding the comfort of a heavier than air vehicle hurtling through the air with no training wheels or emergency lanes to "pull over and stop".

I'm positive China Air will be doing some supplementary training to reinforce air passenger safety, with their flight crews.

As for the culture of deception and avoidance of responsibility - this is the result of immature management who still believe that dishonesty and deception attracts customers - as opposed to damages brand, trust, and loyalty - hopefully, this too shall evolve to somewhat more transparency.

In reality - with all the media - it's moronic stupidity to employ these kinds of poor public relations practices, since the truths, in their various incarnations, are almost immediately posted all over public and social media.

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.