We have friends that live near Jiang Dong Hua Yuan or Bei Chen Xiao Qu and we will be looking for a place near here in a few weeks.

Is it a nice area? What are some likes or dislikes?

Thanks!

Of the two places Bei Chen Xiao Qu is definitely nicer. You have wide streets with lots of shops, restaurants and two notable places...the Silver Spoon Cafe a great restaurant for food or coffee and Metro Market for your food shopping. You'll have a nice neighborhood feel with lots of rental housing opportunities available. There are also several very nice gyms in the immediate area and one of the best movie theatres in Kunming

Thank You! I did not realize that there were movie theatres...Do many foreigners live in the area?

i think so. but in fact they are quite closed to each other. both in north part of kunming

As zlif23 mentions the areas are quite close and yes many foreigners live in that area. Kunming has two state of the art movie theaters with a third one under construction. A few recent films like Iron Man and Hancock have arrived in English with no dubbing. There is also a nice park in the area and a Carrefour not to far away...actually closer to Jiang Dong Hua Yuan. Kunming is a very open city. There is an English bookstore or two with a pretty good selection of books and even a new Haagen Daaz ice cream store. It's pretty comfortable living here.