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Forums > Living in Kunming > Country of red tape

laotou has a good point.
Dealing with Chinese officials rule number 1.

If you can't get what you want, try asking a different question, or the same question differently.

e.g.
With my Chinese wife at the train station to make a journey. The ticket counter said there were not more seats on any train that day. Shock horror! We could not get home. Then I asked my wife to enquire about 'soft seats'. Yes they had soft seats on all trains that day.

Don't worry if they say 'Impossible'. 'Impossible' does not mean 'no'.
However, 'difficult' often does mean 'no'.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Looking for list of decent private schools in KM to work at

Hi Bill

A bit of confusion here because you used the term 'private schools'.

Now is perhaps a bad of year to be looking. Most of the public sector schools/colleges and private sector schools (not language training centres) are now thinking about recruiting for September. Because of the academic year most have contracted staff running until June.
You may need to consider working at training centres, at least until Sept.

Some of the universities and colleges also have 'spin offs' that may recruit on an ad-hoc basis. For the next semester (in two weeks). I have also recently come to Kunming and was lucky, as I am replacing a Chinese teacher who have been promoted to set up a new 'school' within the college, and even this is only part time.

Part-time is the other route. Working part-time is a good option. You can work for several employers at the same time. The rates of pay are higher, and you have the power to say 'no'. You also get to check out the culture in several institutions, before you decide for next year. The downside is that PT work won't get you a visa.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Looking for list of decent private schools in KM to work at

Hi Bill

I can't give you any answers, as I am new to Kunming. But one thing I would add, is that you find out about specific campuses as well. There is one well know school with about 30 campuses.

The culture in each campus can be different. I once worked for an international company (not a franchise) and the local director was openly hostile to foreign teachers. She even espoused her disdain. She said that we were all a waste of time and refused to process any 'Z' visa. She said that the company was not a visa service for expats.

In another place the admin/sales manager was a real piece of goods, who would raise customer expectations to overly high levels, just to get her commission. But when the teacher fails to deliver the unreal, who gets blamed?

In both the above cases, it was individuals at the campus level that were the problem

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Fake market in Kunming

You can buy the same, or better, stuff in the regular markets. If you are buying leather goods, Yunnan produces some great leather goods that are of original design and high quality for much less.

In fact a lot of the fake brands are no longer available. The fake logos are similar but not the same. The the prices are still over the top.

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She said nothing untoward about Kunming people. I would also guess that most of her attackers have never been to Kunming. Kunming air on many days of the year is on a par with Shanghai (I check this almost daily and have done for several years), and blue-green algae pollution of Dianchi lake has been a source of much local concern for many years.

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.