I agree with the webmaster on this one. James put his bad review in the wrong place, it should have been in the reviews section. If I was running the site, I would have moved it to the reviews section with a zero star rating and locked the thread. Why? Not because he is insulting a paying advertiser, because the forums is not the place to write a review.
This highlights a clash between western and Chinese culture and (I think) is a good indication of something bad about western culture. We seem to think we have a god given right to scream obscenities about anything we want to anyone we want... after all nobody has to listen to us. Even though our own countries have laws against this (libel and slander defamation laws), we still seem to think its OK. The internet just exacerbates this by making our statements more anonymous. A case in my country recently saw someone sued for libel over a twitter post. You might think thats ridiculous but the person was successfully prosecuted and rightly so - they made factually incorrect statements about a person which adversely affected the victim.
This creates a problem when it comes to reviews as well - only people that feel extremely bad or good about something will generally post a review on it. While over time you will get an averaged idea about a place/product, looking at a single review will likely tell you a single persons opinion. Which is the same in this case. Looking at the original post and other forum posts about Keats, there are other people that have had good experiences with the school... and it seems some of James original facts may be questionable.
From a Chinese perspective, James is directly attacking their business by posting questionable statements on a site many of their potential clients visit. Chinese culture, laws and attitudes are completely different to those in the west and anyone coming to China needs (and probably does) understand this. This site is a western style site but with many Chinese readers and businesses advertising on it. James has made questionable statements in the wrong place and is claiming that continuing to do so is his right. Well, in China this has legal ramifications and is generally bad form anyhow. I also sense a personality clash which tends to make people exaggerate issues.
I am sure if you had posted your review in the proper place it would not have received the same response from them. Not taking the time to figure out how to post a review isn't a good excuse I am sorry. You may be stretching it a bit by saying "I don't know how" as you are obviously a smart person so should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.
A local meal cost between 5-12 RMB for a plate of food. It would cost around the same (or a little bit more) to cook for yourself using local ingredients from the market/supermarket. Average western meal would cost around 25-50 RMB for the same. So you should have some idea about how much food costs here.
Entertainment (going to pubs/clubs etc)... well it depends how much you want! A new theatre costs 120 RMB is the most expensive I have seen here, 40 RMB for a lower quality theatre. Beer costs between 12-18 RMB for a local beer (Dali, Tsingtao or Budweiser, strangely enough!) or around 20-60 RMB for imported beer from europe or Australia. Karaoke costs around 120 RMB plus beer/snacks on top of this, if you are into that sort of thing!
I am easily living on 2000 RMB per month (75 USD approx 500 RMB, multiply by 4 = 2000 RMB per month) eating the occasional western meal, NOT including rent (1000 RMB per month for a nice place) or power and with a couple of nights out per month. I think you should be fine on that budget as long as you don't want to live it up.
Well, I came to Kunming to learn Chinese, not to meet Chinese girls as I had recently broken up from a long term relationship and didn't want to start anything new. Three weeks later I have a Chinese girlfriend (a sweet, loving and beautiful gal whose English is average, but rapidly improving... and I am short and bald, still with blue eyes though!) AND are learning Chinese and really like Kunming. It sounds like, gaoxing, that you came here looking just for sex - I think that most girls anywhere know when a man is only interested in sex and are themselves not interested, so will fein not knowing any English and basically think you are an idiot. If you are interested in a real long term relationship with a Chinese girl you should want to understand her culture, language, family and (important with any girl!) her as a person. Not simply her as an object to fulfill your whims.
Frankly its a bit dispicable for you to go to foreign countries just to chase tail. This behaviour seems to have gained some acceptance in the west due to the amount of men doing it in places like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Nevertheless it is still morally reprehensible and any man wanting to do so should take a long hard look at himself. Sure the over feminisation of the west and the "female in control" social/sexual/relationship dynamic found in the west alienates men. But you must see that coming to a place just to get your end off damages yourself, the country where you are doing it, the locals opinions of the west and the girls that you involve in your activities. I would suggest if you are really interested in meeting a Chinese girl for a long term relationship, do like many ex-pats do and come and UNDERSTAND China first plus learn the language. That will give you a new perspective on life and love plus give you a much greater chance of finding a nice Chinese girl.
Typical construction takes about 1/4 of the time in the West! I would call this a-typical construction!
Typical would be if they built it in half the time, set sail on it, then it fell apart half a year later after they found out the beams were hollow, the sails made of paper and the hull wood was actually hollowed concrete made to look like wood!
Maybe the problem here is they want to make it high quality and aren't quite sure how to go about doing so!
And 137m ships made of wood coming from anywhere is a structural impossibility, I believe, without steel/iron/carbon fibre support or some very cunning way to fit very long beams of wood together where they hold their strength. And is it just luck that this happens to be the same length as Noah's Ark? If they did make them that long, likely they wouldn't have survived even minor swells, let alone going halfway around the world in uncertain weather...
And this terrible effect (when one of our friends fell off a swing and knocked herself unconscious requiring a hospital visit and stitches) deserves a firing squad? Or is execution only for the original crime of wilful drug taking, not for the negative effects?
And after we swore to each other to never do it again and none of us have since, are we still all miscreants that deserve the death penalty?
Hate to tell you, but you would likely be executing a third of the population of most developed nations if you decide everyone that has ever done drugs deserves death. We won't have much of a society left if such a plan was implemented, but maybe complete anarchy and civil war is what you want? In the US alone it is estimated that 125 million people have taken illicit drugs in their lifetime: www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Drug_Usage#sthash.0EZTAoMC.dpbs
No problem with executing 125 million in the US alone?
But you said "Death penalty for all drug users... just execute all drug users since they serve no purpose in any society."
When asked if you were being sarcastic, you said "I am not being sarcastic at all".
I can only assume you believe I am not a useful member of society as a person who once took drugs and I deserve to be executed. Which is it? Off with my head or not? So many contradictions, I aren't sure how you keep it straight.
Wow, just wow. Possibly the best Chinese food I have had in Kunming. And in one of the nicest, traditional courtyard style restaurant I have been in. A woman dressed in traditional qi pao playing a gu zheng just adds to it.
We had okra, mushroom soup, dried beef and chou dofu. All top notch with the bill coming in at just over 250 kuai. But we could have fed 3 people for that so not too bad at about 80-90 kuai each. Not the cheapest but for the quality, it's damn good.
If you have people visiting and want to take them to a traditional Chinese style restaurant with Yunnan style food, or want a romantic night out with a gal, you can't go wrong here. Close to Green Lake (down a little alley) for a romantic walk... Just perfect.
Pretty good place for getting all your documents translated and/or notarised. Note that there are a number of notaries in the building which you can find by going up the stairs (the elevators are impossible). But you have to find the stairs to do so... go in the door, head over to the right, go up the big wide stairs which head up a floor, turn right then right again into the elevator area and right again into the stairwells. Whew!
One point off for the elevators never being available and having to hike 7-9 flights of stairs (not good if you have to go 3-4 times a day like I often did!)
This does not stop at the Jinanya hotel at Da Shang Hui as the flyers state (and is on the images tab here). They need to have another stop in the same area or else they are missing out on covering a big chunk of the city.
You can take another bus, the 919C, I believe, if you are nearby Da Shang Hui, which leaves from the bus station on HeHong Lu, nearby the Qianxing road intersection. This bus goes every hour and is white, found at the western end of the station. It is operated by a different company and takes about 1 hour 10 minutes to get to the airport due to a large number of stops especially near the airport.
Friendly people, even got to the talk to the vice consulate, who told me she had done a stint in Malaysia's Siberian Consulate!
English is spoken by some of the Chinese girls working at the desk who are pleasant to deal with. I assume they do Visa's as well but I wasn't here for a visa, this time!
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Life in Kunming: A cabbie's perspective
Posted byAlso can take the pictures from the side of the road. Point the camera, hold it steady as possible while panning at the same speed as the car.
Delays plague Zheng He treasure ship launch
Posted byShould read "Typical construction takes about 1/4 of the time here than in the West!", ahh well its late, clearly need bed.
Delays plague Zheng He treasure ship launch
Posted byTypical construction takes about 1/4 of the time in the West! I would call this a-typical construction!
Typical would be if they built it in half the time, set sail on it, then it fell apart half a year later after they found out the beams were hollow, the sails made of paper and the hull wood was actually hollowed concrete made to look like wood!
Maybe the problem here is they want to make it high quality and aren't quite sure how to go about doing so!
And 137m ships made of wood coming from anywhere is a structural impossibility, I believe, without steel/iron/carbon fibre support or some very cunning way to fit very long beams of wood together where they hold their strength. And is it just luck that this happens to be the same length as Noah's Ark? If they did make them that long, likely they wouldn't have survived even minor swells, let alone going halfway around the world in uncertain weather...
Laos extradites drug suspects to Yunnan
Posted byAnd this terrible effect (when one of our friends fell off a swing and knocked herself unconscious requiring a hospital visit and stitches) deserves a firing squad? Or is execution only for the original crime of wilful drug taking, not for the negative effects?
And after we swore to each other to never do it again and none of us have since, are we still all miscreants that deserve the death penalty?
Hate to tell you, but you would likely be executing a third of the population of most developed nations if you decide everyone that has ever done drugs deserves death. We won't have much of a society left if such a plan was implemented, but maybe complete anarchy and civil war is what you want? In the US alone it is estimated that 125 million people have taken illicit drugs in their lifetime: www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Drug_Usage#sthash.0EZTAoMC.dpbs
No problem with executing 125 million in the US alone?
Laos extradites drug suspects to Yunnan
Posted byBut you said "Death penalty for all drug users... just execute all drug users since they serve no purpose in any society."
When asked if you were being sarcastic, you said "I am not being sarcastic at all".
I can only assume you believe I am not a useful member of society as a person who once took drugs and I deserve to be executed. Which is it? Off with my head or not? So many contradictions, I aren't sure how you keep it straight.