Hey Johanna,

Train from Lijiang to Dali is running! It cannot stop carrying over 14,000,000 passengers per year... too valuable. (FYI, in time, it will be extended to Shangri-La (Zhongdian) of Yunnan)

Perhaps the stories are related to the NEW Lijiang Train Station on the southwest side wp.me/p1xb5m-aC as of August something 2011, while changing the previous station on the east side (now a cargo line). Lijiang to Dali is less than a two-hour transit (not incl waiting time, etc.) with a few trips during the day. (As you are coming during National Week, make sure to buy your train tickets early)

Haven't been to Linden Center (Dali).
Lijiang has several places that are exceptional, depending on what you want. There are hundreds of small cheap "hostels" 客栈 all around, but you can work your way up to something like Pullman Lijiang or Banyan.

If you are in Lijiang longer, check out the "Liming Lisu County" (Chinese for convenience 黎明村)

Cheers,
NP

www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-05/20/content_12545488.htm

Perhaps something is cracking down, as ChinaDaily posts some things about New York... maybe an increase in supervision of what we are doing. Terrible for international exposure and hosted sites, businesses with international outlets may get affected without the access... (I too am having problems accessing anything outside of a chinese host)

Hey, does anyone know which places (besides 5 star hotels) serve and will be participating in Christmas?
And any other possible Christmas events?

Hey! Found some. If you want an ice rink for hockey and the sorts, it's at Hongta Ice Rink. It's relatively far from Kunming, and pricey too (almost north american priced!), but gives a great view of Dianchi Lake.

ALTERNATIVELY, there IS an ice rink in downtown Kunming. This is largely unknown and quiet, as there's too many things going on. Know the Me & City apparel store? Follow the street to the left of it and you'll eventually see a McDonalds. Walk further on to the "B" building, and you'd have to go to the top floor to find the ice rink! 冰馆, it's all in Chinese, so you'll have to use you're chinese to navigate if lost (again, many do not know)

=)
email me at madarwin@gmail.com　ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ　ｎｅｅｄ　ｈｅｌｐ, as I　ｅｘｐｌｏｒｅ　ｋｕｎｍｉｎｇ　ｍｏｒｅ　ａｎｄ　ｍｏｒｅ．

Hey! If you want an ice rink for hockey and the sorts, it's at Hongta Ice Rink. It's relatively far from Kunming, and pricey too, but gives a great view of Dianchi Lake.

ALTERNATIVELY, there IS an ice rink in downtown Kunming. This is largely unknown and quiet, as there's too many things going on. Know the Me & City apparel store? Follow the street to the left of it and you'll eventually see a McDonalds. Walk further on to the "B" building, and you'd have to go to the top floor to find the ice rink! 冰馆, it's all in Chinese, so you'll have to use you're chinese to navigate if lost (again, many do not know)

=)
email me at madarwin@gmail.com　ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ　ｎｅｅｄ　ｈｅｌｐ, as I　ｅｘｐｌｏｒｅ　ｋｕｎｍｉｎｇ　ｍｏｒｅ　ａｎｄ　ｍｏｒｅ．