Tag: kunming

25 October 2014

Litang 理塘 – Kunming 昆明 – Silly Aftermath

We know our chances of getting back to Kunming on this death trap are very, very slim indeed. But six days on the road, scaling mountains and defying snow storms has germinated a combination of hubris and rash boyishness. The plan is to make it back to Kunming in three days, with a first leg to Xiangcheng or even Shangri-La, then Dali and finally Kunming. If the motorbike survives, the cost of the bike, the express courier and the lodging would be less than the two of us taking public transport back home. Plus it would be a lot more fun.

Contraption of doom
Contraption of doom

We put on a total of 8 layers of clothes against the cold, deliver our bicycles and luggage to STO Express, and elicit a couple of laughs from bystanders as an unintended wheelie nearly launches our motorbike into a flock of SWAT police. Upon regaining control, we make an elegant exit out of town and ride towards the sun that is slowly rising over the Litang plain.

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4 March 2014

Xinjiang’s Freedom Struggle and Oppression

I never intended to write a background article on the Xinjiang situation, simply because I feel I’m not nearly an expert on the field. But inevitably, when you’re researching a subject and trying to form an idea, article after article pops up, and important people all over the world voice opinion after opinion. And that’s how it’s suddenly noon and you’re still sitting in your underwear on the couch with your head stuck deep into the internet.

Even though I have become a lot wiser about the Xinjiang issue, I am not in a place to make socio-political analysis. However, this terror attack, this fight for freedom, and this cultural and economic oppression are not confined to Kunming, Xinjiang or China. They are not isolated events. And neither are reactions from the opposite side, which slowly but surely tighten the noose of public opinion around the neck of a culture, a religion and a people until it has been stripped of its humanity and hunting season is declared open to shoot down – verbally or literally – anyone connected with it. It’s easy to draw a few parallels to the intolerant climate in Europe in the 1930’s and the world doesn’t need another such occurrence. With this opinion piece I want to contribute, however little, to halt this mass demonisation.

Uyghur woman facing a police cordon during protests in Xinjiang in 2009
Uyghur woman facing a police cordon during protests in Xinjiang in 2009. Photo: REUTERS

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3 March 2014

Kunming Knife Attack Aftermath

In the aftermath of the attack on the Kunming train station, in which official sources say at least 29 people lost their lives and 143 were injured, I went to sniff around the city for stories and reactions. People are stoic, supportive of their fellow citizens and seem to steer clear of any racial violence.

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Memorials at Kunming station

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2 March 2014

29 Dead, 130 Wounded in Kunming Knife Attack

On Saturday night, a group of men stormed Kunming’s train station. Slashing unsuspecting passengers with long knives, they left 29 dead and 130 severely wounded. Several people hold Uighur Muslims responsible for the attack, causing xenophobia to rise.

Police cordoning off the station after the killing (photo: Xinhuanet.com)
Bloody mess in the ticket hall (photo: Xinhuanet.com)

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27 November 2013

Kunming in Deep: Metro Woes

Kunming’s new metro system is slowly but surely taking form. It’s unlikely it will have been worth the nuisance or the money.

Kunming Rail Logo
Kunming Rail Logo

There’s something to be said for metro systems. They’re clean, fast and almost entirely invisible from above the ground. For large yet space-strapped cities like New York or Hong Kong, they’re the only efficient public transport solution. In other cities, such as Berlin, there simply wasn’t any other mass transit technology available when it was built.

But for smaller and more modern towns with loads of space, like Kunming, the question arises whether a metro is the right solution. Is the Kunming Metro really a worth the pain? Or is it just another China mess, in which politicians vying recognition from Beijing ruin entire cities with prestige projects?

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22 November 2013

Comrades in Love: a Peek into Kunming’s Gay Scene

Last week, I was asked by Dutch radio programme De Andere Wereld (“The Other World”) to do a short audio report on being gay in China. During my interviews with several people in the Kunming gay scene, I met so many interesting people and opinions that I realised the subject was worth more than 5 minutes of radio time. I’d like to share my findings with you here.

A man in a Roman toga walks up the catwalk at Nono bar
A man in a Roman toga strides up the catwalk at Nono bar

Legalised in 1997 and scrapped from the list of mental illnesses as late as 2001, homosexuality in China is still a fairly sensitive topic. Even though modern cities as Beijing and Shanghai have a thriving gay scene, many homosexuals remain in the closed, nailed shut by family expectations and a lack of information. This is no less the case in Kunming, the capital of chiefly rural Yunnan province.

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