Does anyone have a Kindle or other e-reader? Where did they buy it and if it's a Kindle, can they access Amazon to download e-books? Thinking of getting one and looking for recommendations.

well, idk if you can find a kindle in kunming, maybe you could buy a kindld online. I'd like to suggest you HanWang D20, it's a Chinese brand and it's famous for making ebooks. RMB1880,and you can find a store on yuanxi road.
take a look at: detail.zol.com.cn/ebook/index213203.shtml

Amazon will not allow you to buy products if you are in CHina. I have an Amazon account (US), but if your PC isp is from China they still will not allow sales there.
If you go through a US vpn it should be possible.

The iRiver ebook reader is available from newegg.com.cn for around 2,200.

I'm going to wait a while for ebook stores to sort themselves out (drop their prices and the prices of the readers to a reasonable level) before thinking about buying one.

I just returned fm US where I bought a SONY E Reader. I downloaded several free books fm Google while I was there. Does anyone know how to get a list of free books fm Google? Thanx - - JJ

I am still in the US, but I just got a Kindle that I plan to bring. My understanding is that the wireless will work in Kunming, but there's an additional $2 fee per download. You can always dl to your computer and transfer for the normal cost.

Amazon will not ship Kindles to China yet, so if you want a Kindle specifically, you'll need to have someone in a supported country (HK counts, if you know someone there) purchase it then send it to you.

Just so you know, I LOVE my Kindle :)

Thanks for the comments, but how about usability? Those who have e-readers already, what do you think of them? I'm leaning to the Sony as it seems to allow more formats than Kindle and as Amazon is anyway not available from here it cuts out Kindle's main advantage. Anyway, lots of free books to be found on sites like Google and ebookee (need to access via proxy or VPN) and I guess one could buy Amamzon e-books from PC.

Heinz - - I just bought my Sony Reader during trip to US last week. So far I am really pleased. I got the one with manual controls instead of touch screen (tried them both out in store). I just downloaded two more books from Google a few minutes ago (I am in Kunming) - - but am still trying to find a good way to access all free books on Google. I like that I can change font to 3 different sizes - - biggest one is good for my old (72) eyes.
Cheers - - JJ

I've read that as long as you have a US address on file in your US Amazon account (it could be a Steak n Shake in St. Louis for all they care) then you can dl books either to your computer (bucko's comment about the ISP is the first I've heard of that) or via whispernet for an extra charge. If you have a US credit card that you pay online you can use that for payment, or get gift cards. I am personally funding my purchases with gift cards earned from swagbucks. (www.swagbucks.com/refer/TheBroad)

If this is a decision that's going to take you a while to make anyway, I'm happy to meet up with you after I arrive and you can see the Kindle in person. If JJ would like to join us, I'd LOVE to see the Sony Reader in person also. I arrive on Feb 4.

Oh, and if it matters, the Kindle does not support Chinese characters without the Unicode font hack. I don't know if the Sony does or not.