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Forums > Living in Kunming > Do Kunming Drivers Know they are Inconsiderate and Dangerous

Ref PLA vehicles.

I don't think the traffic laws apply to them. I don't think the police have the power to stop them.

The don't hit anybody else is the unwritten law. However, when the traffic cop arrives he will look to see if anyone has crossed a white line illegally, or not given proper right of way. Proving someone busted a red light is harder.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Natural Gas versus Electric Hot Water Heaters

My experience

Electric
The electric water heaters are fine, if ugly. You need to make sure you get one big enough for each bathroom. Get separate tank for kitchen too.
If people are a bit thoughtful about water use there is no problem.I.E. Water on, wet body. Water off, soap body. Water on, rinse body. No luxuriating.
The good ones keep the water hot for several days, and they have a speed heat setting (double heaters).

I can see a problem with a pressure booster before the tank, it creates negative pressure behind it that may cause problems for other residences, and may even cause an airlock. They may not be permitted by the water company. I had the same issue in the UK for mains fed water, not permitted.

Solar,
Good solar heat exchangers can reach temperatures of 120 degrees, before heat is exchanged. You get what you pay for.
We have solar heating and it is crap. The biggest issue is that water feeds down into a hot water tank. The tank has a heating element to boost the temperature. However, the thermal lagging seems to have little effect, possible becuase the water is circulating in poorly insulated pipes. The water can drop from 50* to 20* in less than three hours. To make matters worse, the heater cannot be timed, and so the water is on 24/7. We tried to heat the water before bed, but in the morning the water is down to 20*.

I think to get a high quality complete system is going to cost you bigger money. And you need to ensure than having bought the best pipe, the installer does not swap it out for cheap stuff when you are not looking.

Gas
We had gas installed in Shanghai and it was expensive to run. Part of the problem is that even the factory engineers could not get the thermostat to work on the timer setting. And so the water was on 24/7, and the central heating we switched on on demand.
I have not experience with Kunming gas.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Walmart no more

I usally do buy from the wet market.
Most of us do need Metro/Wallmart/Carrefour occasionally.

Yes I miss pie and chips too. I get bisto Gravy Granules sent from home as well.

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Comments

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You probably couldn't get a mandate to redevelop an area and build an underground shopping mall. Especially if it causes major disruption.

There is an existing mandate to build bomb shelters, and there are added benefits to both the infrastructure and opportunities for business that can be captured too :-)

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My university and tertiary students only had lectures between 8am and noon, Many didn't even turn up for lectures, but would turn up for exams. There is an old joke in China, that university is hard to get in (Gaokao), but easy to get out (very hard to fail). I was told by my Dean, in one provincial level uni., that if SS failed and exam they would resit up to twice and would be given an automatic pass after the second resit.

At a tertiary college in Kunming, I had about 30 regular SS out of 60 on the register, but 110 turned in exam papers. Half of them scored less than 30% (and I had pretty much told them the answers and where to find them (in the PPTs I gave them). Lo and behold, I was told by management that the SS all had to pass, including the guy who got 9%.

The problems of students staying in the dormitories, not working and playing computer games has been in the Chinese news several times in recent years. Unless the authorities have got a grip of this recently, I doubt it will have changed.

Reviews

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A reasonable choice of lumber that has improved over time. Fancy hardwoods like walnut, and mahogany are in abundance. There are some plywood and rubber-wood boards available. There are also some kiln dried imported softwoods and merbao available. Some of the lumber is very green, so look for the kiln dried if you need stable timbers.

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Echo everything said by others.
Breakfast great and the serve from 8am. Most other places say 9am and they still are not ready.
Sandwiches are cheap 22-32, and really packed full of filling. We got some sandwiches for a day out, the only mistake I made was ordering two, as this was too much. These are seriously good sangars, and they are wrapped in alu foil.

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In fairness to Metro, they are a wholesalers, and not really a supermarket. Hence the need for a card, which can be got around.

They have improved in the year I have been away. They now carry a more consistent range of imported foodstuffs and they also seem to have sorted out the mported milk supply.

They have a wider range of electrical appliances now, there is a coice of more than one toast. There is also a better range of seasonal non foods, like clothes, shoes, garden furniture and camping gear.