1. If you have the taxi receipt - you can contact the taxi company with the receipt number.
2. Failing the receipt - you can TRY to call the taxi company and MAYBE they will do a general broadcast and hopefully the driver will return your phone...but hurry.
There's also no guarantee that the next passenger won't lift your phone.
The taxi company number is: +86 871 6331 2533
I've noticed that science is increasingly "decision-based" data - data is cherry picked to support decisions, as opposed to data-based decisions - which suffers from insufficient data.
So although I agree and support the need to at least environmentally neutral (zero carbon?) and more parasympathetic as opposed to parasitic - I'm highly suspicious of alleged "science" as it tends to be more economically self-serving (grants, subsidies, etc) or politically self-serving in implementation.
The US EPA was an epic example of failed science - working with companies to migrate them towards environmentally sustainable behavior as opposed to their general behavior of an arrogant, oppressive, heavy handed hammer.
Most environmental disasters in the USA (the latest - the Flint Michigan water issue) all happened under the EPA's negligent watch.
I actually contacted several EPA agencies last year to inquire about US companies involved in sustainable water management projects - got the usual and typical bureaucratic run-around - which means nobody knows and nobody cares.
So - in the USA - EPA - political rhetoric more focused on writing laws, policies, and procedures than actual implementation.
On that note - the EPA is an excellent resource for environmental data, studies, research, etc - but falls short on non-governmental implementation - which means their programs are highly dependent on government grants, funds, and other sources of taxpayer financed expenditures.
No surprise to me the rank and file taxpayers elected Trump.
@geezer
If you're a non-local resident, you're also technically required to register at the neighborhood PSB that is assigned or responsible for your address - eventually. Foreigners - within 24 hours - chinese - seems whenever they get around to it (round "tuit"). Usually, chinese will register if they intend to stay, want to eventually transfer their hukuou, have kids and want them to attend the city schools, health care & retirement benefits, etc ad infinitum.
Initially, an allegedly general consensus of scientists created the "global warming" alarm. Several years and a billion dollars more research, they discovered that certain areas were experiencing significantly lower temperatures a la Kunming's cold snap, that murdered a lot of our trees, so the alleged group of scientists then changed their story from "global warming" to "climate change".
Do the irresponsible environmental activities of humankind affect climate, of course. But so do erupting volcanoes, massive wildfires, and I have absolutely no idea about the impact of nuclear meltdowns, polar reversals (allegedly our poles reverse polarity every few thousand years). The south pole was allegedly quite green (according to the ZhengHe legends) a few thousand years ago.
The reason climate change is still controversial is we're never sure if the reports are self serving sensationalist decision-based data (data cherry picked to support a biased decision), or data-based decisions.
The moon is allegedly the same age as the earth - 27% the size of the earth (roughly), and yet looks like a comet and asteroid war zone - the earth is significantly larger - why doesn't the surface of the earth even remotely resemble that level of celestial body strikes?
Just lucky?
Obviously, I have way too much free time on my hands to ponder such oddities - the point being - our snapshot of time is a razor thin slice of the earth's history. To take a data sampling of that size and attribute or draw conclusions on climatic conditions is truly brave science and and incredible feat of scientific data extrapolation, similar to the astounding and monumental alleged "gay gene" discovery decades ago - an epic example of decision-based data, aka biasing data to support a pre-disposed pre-biased decision - which is still reverberating as alleged scientific fact, even today.
So - in my equally arrogant opinion - I don't really know what to believe, but I do believe that instead of being parasitic surface dwellers, I'd rather be or strive towards a para-sympathetic surface dweller, until some stochastically improbably event snuffs out life, yet again, and the earth recovers, yet again, with or without us.
@terala
Everything is at the discretion of the respective PSB case officer. If you're a high-level business professional, traveling with family, visiting family, or retired - the PSB will take a kinder view. If you're a student or non-degreed traveller - they'll be considerably more suspicious. The issue is "visible means of support".
If you do not have the appearance of "visible means of support" - they will obviously suspect you of trying to work illegally - they're not particularly kindly disposed towards those kinds of travellers.
Remember - these people process tens of thousands of foreign work visas, travel visas, and business visas annually - they're quite perceptive, when they spot an unusual traveller.
The only difference in passport nationalities is the cost of the respective visas - the process remains the same and is fairly consistent for all foreigners.
The USA charges hefty usurious fees for Chinese Visas - so China reciprocates. The UK is much more reasonable - so Chinese visas for UK citizens are considerably less.
Very bluntly - as long as you're not trying to stay and work here under the radar - and you don't mind traveling - it's quite easy to cross into Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, etc via the land crossings, and return the next day (sometimes same day) - which resets the visa clock.
If you're a frequent border crosser on a multiple re-entry tourist visa - eventually you will attract the attention of the border patrol and questions will be asked. It's roulette.
Unless you're a retiree, married to a national, or some other compelling reason for being here - china is decidedly NOT friendly to non-college degreed foreigners.
No results found.
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...
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.
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!
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.
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.
Announcing the new website Destination Lijiang
Posted byNice - just popped over to the site - and also logged in with my gokm userid - so that was nice (not having to re-register).
The summary of scenic sites in gallery format is a nice touch. Vivid.
And the Do's and Don'ts section was nice to read as a reminder, but I expected more information on how to be a desirable tourist from the local perspective (aside from buying lots of souvenirs and pictures etc).
Snapshot: Yunnan's annual flower expo wraps up in Kunming
Posted byDoing some research on rural projects and came across this ancient article on the yunnan flower industry - thought I'd bounce it. Good article.
Face masks finagled in Dali: officials punished
Posted byWell...yunnan was one of the frontier provinces where errant criminals were banished...the Australia of China...
Video and interview - the Kunming Free Trade Zone
Posted byThe FTZ video was interesting, but most important is the new website - investinyunnan.com - as all of the economic development zones in yunnan are in chinese language only.
So let's see how well the investinyunnan.com site and the new emerging process for bringing in foreign direct investment, matching partners, government support etc works..
I'm sure there's be hiccups - but as long as everyone's committed to the success process - things should work out.
Video and interview - the Kunming Free Trade Zone
Posted bySuper timely and useful article. Thank you.