User profile: GoK Moderator

User info
  • Registered
  • VerifiedYes

Forum posts

0
Forums > Living in Kunming > Finding a mountain bike on a budget

I suppose the two big questions are, what are you going to do with it and what is your budget?

Will it be mostly commuting, or road riding, with some soft-roading? Will it be riding around in the hills on dirt tracks? Will there be furious downhill riding?

0
Forums > Study > Where to study in Yunnan

The main names you see you here are Keats, Huayang, and another I can't recall. They are all much of a muchness. Remember that they all pretty much have the same business model, and they all compete with each other, so that their prices and class sizes will be similar. If you have already studied Chinese you will probably have a preference for teaching style. It might be worth explaining your ideal, or what you prefer not to have, then you may get information from a recent student.

One other thing to consider is cost of living, and style of living. It helps if you can rent somewhere convenient to the school at an affordable price.

Dali Vs Kunming is a wider question. One key thing to consider is that Dali no longer has much of the quiet mountain city vibe. It is now a quaint but fully blown tourist

town. With all of the modern trappings of bijou stores and even some high end retail. Lots of crowds all year round. You are more likely to locals see you as a tourist (cash cow) than a novelty (also can get annoying).

Kunming is much more of a modern city and has become more international in the years I have been here. It is a bit like Shanghai was 15 years ago.

One final note, this has been discussed a lot on this site over the last few years. A search would help a lot. The search engine on this site is not ideal, try a google search using the following text
site:gokunming.com subject
The subject being your search term, e.g. 'huayang'

Classifieds

No results found.

Comments

•

I think the issues are related to a lack of mitigation to the environmental impacts of fracking. The licences were rushed through, by the govt. to avoid the new regulations about to be issued, by the govt.

The other industries mentioned are problematic, but there are regulations and controls in place. Even if not rigorously enforced.

•

I would think that building more cafes lakeside will do little to preserve the green areas.

Generally walking, playing on the grass is not permitted in most Chinese parks.

Don't worry about missing the ground breaking ceremony. Seen one, seen them all. Big platform with long red dressed table. Lots of flowers, lots of people in suits.
Long wait, photo calls, followed by even longer self congratulatory or self promoting speeches, the whole thing can take 3 or more hours. Then a few people go over to mound of earth sticking up out of a red carpet, pick up a shovel and 'break' the ground where a back hoe did the job earlier.

Then they light lots of fireworks and there is a band with drums and cymbals making a terrible racket.

The dignitaries then go off for lunch, and an army of workers pick up the litter.

Reviews


By

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.


By

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.


By

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.