i'm moving to Kunming later this summer. Just wondering what the "locals" opinion on the best area to live? Want some spacious apartment in a green and quiete area - loft style would be also interesting...
Your recommendations please.

Hi,andre

we have a big &nice room for rent,it's 10 minutes to yunnan university and wenlin street,and it's in a quiete
community.if you have any questtion,you can call this number 13888384585,i'm frances,and if you use skype,we can talk on skype also,my user name is francesdudu.

can i ask you where are you from?

frances

I'm interested in this post, my partner and i will be moving there in a few months time. basically don't know anything about Kunming except what I see on the map. Have lived in Shanghai, so know what I want in a Chinese city. Near convenient transport, interesting area to walk around, a park perhaps and some western conveniences nearby (cafes, restaurant area). Where is downtown on the map?
Also, are there any places fairly central that are like a small house or apartment with a garden?

thanks for the first feedbacks - i'm in similar situation as kezsco. moving from shanghai to kunming. i'm german and look for a nice place to live with my partner.
Any suggestions which area to look for?

Hey kezsco, maybe we can meet in Shanghai and exchange some ideas - give me a call 135*0178*7009

Hi Andre, I'm Australian and moved home to be with family for a few months before I return to China. Used to live near Xuijiahui, but was hoping to move to a Jing 'an of Kunming. Doesn't seem the people of Kunming know where the good places of their own city are though.

I don't know if Kunming can be compared to Shanghai very easily... if you're looking for nice green surroundings, chances are you'll want to check out the Cuihu/Green Lake area or Beichen in the north. Younger foreigners tend to favor around Cuihu and families tend to live in Beichen, but more families are beginning to move the Cuihu area.

Dongfeng Lu, Renmin Lu and Beijing Lu are slightly similar to Huaihai Lu and Nanjing Lu in that they're developing into Kunming's CBDs. These streets will add more amenities and conveniences in the coming months/years and are already better than most other parts of the city in terms of transportation. Newer residential developments on these streets tend to have more green spaces than the average Kunming xiaoqu.

There is also considerable development for the long term in the south and east of the city. Century Town (世纪城) and New Asia Athletic Park are two huge developments in what used to be farm land. The former combines a 750 room 5 star hotel, 20,000 units of apartments, a new campus for Yunnan Normal University, hundreds of small businesses, a huge (though currently empty!) mall and lovely central park. The latter has a 60,000 seat stadium (recently the home of the Chinese Disabled Games) a wealth of athletic facilities, villas and apartments and many small shops. Kunming's government facilites and all of the consulates will move to this area in the future as well. The new Kunming internation airport is going to be built about 30-40 km to the east of the city.

The area around Green Lake is currently buzzing with foreigner activity, but it is quite touristy. For me, that gets old, fast. Here in Century Town (where I've lived for almost 6 months) I am literally the only laowai (foreigner).

One of Kunmings best resources is the bus system. It is extensive, efficient, cheap and relatively easy to use (though I am still toying with the idea of translating the entire route book into English). One of the biggest drawbacks to living in the southern expansion area is that ideally you need a car to get anywhere if you don't want to use the bus.

Hi kezsco, I saw your post and it's acctually can work for me because I want to rent a room in Kunming from the 22nd of August, for the fall semester. I'll be studing at the college for eastern languages. If it's still relevant plz write to liorshvo@gmail.com. By the way, I'm a female. 24 years old, from Israel.
Thanks anyway,
Lior

Sorry, I meant "Hi mayuan"... (frances)