User profile: michael2015

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Forums > Living in Kunming > chinese passport and.birth certificate

CHINESE BIRTH CERTIFICATE NAMES
We did the standard Chinese 中文 names for both our children born in China - with Chinese citizenship. Their formal Chinese names are on wife's hukou - with my family name and on their Chinese hospital birth certificates.

USA PASSPORT NAMES CHILDREN
For US passports - we have the option to designate the child's primary English name in the US passport - which is whatever we want. We chose to not bother trying to do a phonetic match and used conventional names.

We only need to bring the child's birth certificate and the child (and related docs such as pics, etc) to the embassy or consulate as physical presence, proof of ID - along with the parents' passports or ID cards. But US citizens should check with their consulate or embassy for the latest rules, policies, and guidelines. The US State Department has been doing some rather strange if not sketchy things lately (pre-Trump).

The passport application form has an entry for "other names or aliases used" and you're supposed to enter the Chinese Pinyin name from the chinese birth certificate there.

JAPAN BIRTH CERTIFICATES
We used the Japanese English version (katakana) of their passport names - because they have that "ability" in their government registration systems, which was also recorded on their hospital birth certificates and their Japanese government residency and birth certificate documents. Unlike the USA, Japan and China do not grant citizenship to children born on sovereign soil.

Don't know about other countries.

Hopefully this will help other expecting parents navigate the name game for children born in China, with dual citizenship options.

As @Jan noted, his country didn't give him that option for his child.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > chinese passport and.birth certificate

English or foreign name can be different from Chinese name. If you wish to add your son to your family hukou, you should give him a chinese name and quickly try to correct the birth certificate asap. Chinese passport implies Chinese name - translated into pinyin.

For foreign passport - you merely need supply his birth certificate with chinese name to your embassy or consulate along with his chosen English (or other foreign language) name. Each embassy/consulate has different rules to prove your son is the person identified on the birth certificate.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Schools in Panlong

Mike
Speaking from personal experience, you need to check the schools yourself first - there are many gates and hurdles to overcome - from residency, household registration (if the kids have Kunming hukou) etc ad infinitum.

Typical class sizes from primary to middle schools are 60-70 students. The standard class size is supposed to be 30's to 40's and Kunming is doing a lot of high density housing without addressing the school issues in the inner cities.

You should also check the schools' overall test results and rankings - as certain schools have a high density of lazy students with no intention of higher education. In fact - in china most students don't even think about higher education - they're just prodded along like mindless livestock.

As foreigners or children of foreigners - they'll be exposed to extensive bullying - especially if you're American.

Finally - the schools may do this delaying tactic - as a foreigner - they'll still try to extort bribes from you despite the substantial government crackdowns on corruption - nowadays - you'll have to go through a "proxy" to launder the solicited bribes (can I actually say this publicly?).

Theoretically - every child is supposed to attend primary and middle school - but my children with non-yunnan hukou were blocked from attending any of the schools in our neighborhood - so I sent them and wifey out of the province to wifey's hometown, as I refuse to pay bribes to government employees...disgusting behavior.

If you work for a company - they might write a letter of introduction to the education ministry - and then have the education ministry write a letter of introduction to the neighborhood schools you'd like your kids to attend.

We specifically instructed our children's teachers to NOT mention they're xxx country citizens to avoid bullying. Teacher announced it proudly every year in front of the class...let the bullying begin...again...may the fleas of ten thousand camels infest her for the rest of her life.

So in short - we had an extremely negative experience with local schools in kunming while trying to blend our kids into school (they're putonghua native level speakers with a smidgeon of kunminghua). Abysmal failure.

Other's may have more encouraging experiences...I sincerely hope...I have absolutely nothing positive to say about the culture and behavior of the school's administration or the schools themselves.

One piece of advice - look for schools with younger administrative and teaching staff - they're usually (not always) significantly more professional and responsible.

My daughter's former school principal was invisible for years until she was finally arrested for corruption (siphoning off construction funds to her personal banking account). Her new principal - younger guy (like early 40's?...kids...sheesh) walks the school grounds all the time and is highly visible. Seemingly an extraordinarily pro-active principal...hopefully the sign of better things to come but too late for my kids...

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@gokm
Thanks much for the ad, sponsored or not. I've been meaning to drop by Igor's since he opened - so thanks for the reminder. Difficult to find authentic (aka not laden with a kg of sugar) French patisseries, so hope I find the culinary delight I seek (wait for the review).

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@Geogramatt

If you have feasible economic energy solutions competitive in price, energy output, resource consumption (land, rivers, etc) feel free to enlighten me. Hydro comes with a cost - that is well established - the issue is does anyone have viable alternatives?

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.