Well, I suppose there are worse places to be locked. Reminds me of the time I was locked in a hotel bathroom in Jianshui after cycling from Tonghai and running out of water. Ahh, the subtle and irreplaceable joys of China...
Maybe Kunming's traffic and public space issues are perhaps too bad for a public bike system to really work anymore in the middle of town.
However, in some areas like down the canal from the northern part of the city or out to Qiongzhusi from Huangtupo and down Xuefu Lu there could be some better segmentation/enforcement (eg. no diandongche allowed) to encourage cycle-based commuting.
I've had bikes stolen in Jinghong, Kunming, London, Qingdao and Shanghai. I believe the best defence is to keep them in view at all times.
Darkone264 please clarify whether you are talking about Americans, who are subject to additional restrictions, or everyone. Also, please state the source of your information? Normally, particularly in Hong Kong, you can get better conditions with less hassle through agencies.
As of my trip through circa September last year, Vientiane is powerless to issue visas longer than 1 month to foreigners. They were nice about it and apologized that that was the case. If you want longer ones, you have to apply in Chiang Mai, Bangkok or Hong Kong. Vietnam was very long lines and the political situation means they are likely to say "go apply in your own country". Chiang Mai is OK, they can give 3 months. Hong Kong can probably give longer for the right money. Avoid Bangkok like the plague unless you know a good agent: turning up in person has always been bad, but is getting really extremely masochism-level painful these days.
PS. All this info from in-person experience, sourced within the last 12 months in HCMC, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Vietiane. Haven't been to HK for awhile (3 years?) but there are always agencies there that can get you 3 months min for the right price. JTA is one I've used.
Helpful note for fellow laowai! If you are considering opening a local account for the purposes of receiving foreign transfers, you don't actually need to do this in order to receive money from overseas. Ask the bank about how to organize a SWIFT transfer to you personally... this way it stays outside the Chinese banking system until you have actually accepted the money ... which can be done as USD or possibly EUR cash, if you like, or otherwise you can convert it.
Of course, if you want a local account for Taobao or something else (like practicing masochism trying to get your internet banking to work on a browser that's not internet explorer) then you will need to open an account.
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Report: Rubber plantations threaten biodiversity and livelihoods
Posted byXishuangbanna is run Fujian mafia. Evidence includes exclusive ownership of major real estate, transport (golden peacock bus company, boat to Thailand), tourism (tropical park, elephant park) infrastructure. Central government needs to clear them out.
Investors run on Kunming metal exchange for billions
Posted byI have run an exchange for the last four years. It is considered normal to take full payment from brokers or individual market participants when accepting a buy order.
There are only two cases in which the described situation can emerge.
First, in some cases leverage is offered directly by the exchange (eg. 'You can put 5,000元 on the table but we let you invest up to 15,000元 (with extra fees)' ) as a means to increase liquidity (ie. overall trading volume) on the exchange. This is particularly the case on specific assets. Sometimes, fees are reduced or waived for certain market participants who are known as 'market makers' in exchange for a certain minimum amount of activity which facilitates a base liquidity to make the exchange attractive to others.
The second possibility, which sounds more likely, is that the Kunming operation in question has been 'double dipping' by claiming the customer funds as deposits for market positions, storing them in customer-linked accounts while actually spending the money on other things behind the scenes. Now, when some major portion of investors want out, there is frankly not enough cash available to provide. This is not necessarily illegal behavior, it's exactly the same type that UK banks were caught red handed for a few years earlier. In response the UK government enforced strict delineation between consumer banking and investment banking such that customer funds could not be gambled freely by the institution, and increased minimum deposit requirements for funds that are re-invested (ie. % of potential loss is smaller).
It's also possible that they do have the money tied up in other assets (eg. real estate) and just can't lay their hands on it so quickly.
A quick glimpse of Yunnan's ancient salt towns
Posted byAlso check out Zigong in Sichuan, the first place to do deep drilling wells in the world ... and for the purpose of salt extraction! It's not far from Leshan, and also offers a park showing the proceeds of the rich local dinosaur fossil vein.
Bye-bye Nujiang ziplines
Posted bySounds like an excuse. The west is moving in to Burma big time, China is fighting to stay relevant now that its long term geostrategic play of Burmese dominance and energy transit has been basically burned at the stake.
Sounds like China are going to use the excuse of poverty alleviation to build more roads and dams in the region, sell electricity and plastic trinkets to Burma thus ensnaring them economically, and perhaps try to open the road to Bangladesh or India. Burma, the US and the local state armies (Kachin, Wa, Shan to a lesser extent) don't want this. India already has communist insurgency problems (ala Nepal's recent situation) and that northeast corner of India is where China once waltzed its army in and out to prove a point before India could do anything.
The area is very geostrategically charged. Failing some kind of invasion (unlikely), it will be a long road away from methamphetamine manufacture, clear-felling forests, slave-like mining conditions, and heroin.
Sailing in Kunming
Posted byAnyone still interested in sailing on Fuxian Lake can get in touch with me by private message here. I sail New Zealand designed, commercially produced trimarans, high speed boats made of light weight fiberglass and carbon fiber. No experience necessary.