Just came back from another capital (prefecture level capital?). The place was great, hardly any pollution/dust in the air, no water problems, heaps of cabs, easy to get around, big mountains to climb, nice parks and more of them in the city, much cleaner, a government that seemed more for the people than for big business, cheaper rent, apartments 1/3 the price of Kunming...

I have also heard from a few laowai that a lot of other long term laowai they talk to are thinking of leaving. Is this the case?

Kunming still, most likely, has it over any other city in Yunnan for services, particularly laowai services. But other places are looking one hell of a lot better for living long term in the foreseeable future. Any long term residents feeling the same?

Regarding the taxis - I don't think 400 extra is going to be enough for Kunming. Maybe 4000 more.

Half the time, I get a taxi no problems. But the other half... yesterday 3 taxis denied us because the route would have taken us through the centre of town and they weren't allowed to go (due to the government restrictions of only allowing certain number plated cars through and why on earth taxi's aren't exempt is beyond me). Of course they could have driven around but would rather pick up the the next person in 20 seconds for a shorter route and therefore more money (100 shorter rides is much more profitable than 20 long rides).

In the city I came from, we got across town in 10 minutes, no worries. Here it took us 30 minutes to travel 8km in traffic snarls caused by road beautification, subway construction and government policy regarding entering the 1st ring road. Stressful and time wasting.

Yeah. I'm kinda sick of Kunming. All this road work. Flying dirt, traffic reroutes. However, since my wife is a Kunminger I doubt I'll be leaving any time soon.

Air quality is on it's way to permanent haze. I'll be looking for an exit too. If I didn't use bike as my main transport, probably would of left last year.

In addition to retarded taxis, add in retarded road construction. Reminxi lu is being torn up yet again, and Guanfu lu is having it's stone tiles just moved around from one place to another.

Western support services are nice in Kunming, but like you, I'm wondering if it's enough to put up with Kumning's downhill air and city life.

Just curious, what city were you in?

I came to Kunming hearing about how it was so much greener and slower paced than other cities in China, so I thought this was as good as it gets (at least as good as it gets in a city large enough that there are jobs available).

And by Western services do you mean the shops selling expensive imported goods, or Western restaurants that are "almost" as good as back home? Because I have a hard time understanding why you would choose a city in China based on that...

Been here 9 1/2 years... already making plans to leave. Polluted food and air is a big concern. It's becoming more and more expensive at alarming rate. Foreigners are disliked by Chinese more than ever which makes me feel like no matter how long I am here I will always be just a laowai. I used to like to ride a bicycle to get around, but now it's too dirty and dangerous. Getting around by car or taxi is a major hassle due to traffic jams at all times of the day. Why am I still here... ?!?!

The western food choices are depressing... the sanitation and food quality of Chinese restaurants is disturbing to the point where I basically won't eat out anymore.

Moving to Santa Fe at the end of the year... gonna get me fresh and air and some Hatch chilies in my food!

Kunming has rapidly developed, and at the same time deteriorated, in the last 5 years. I could not live downtown, if that was the option, I would also move. Luckily we live near Dianchi, where the air comes in from the lake.

Jianshui seems like a nice place. Clean air. The local culture is Confucian and the people are nice. You also get good service.
Qujing is nice with reasonable air.
Dali is nice, but getting more commercial.
Lijaing - Er, nope

yup, i'm sick of kunming for many of the reasons mentioned. i'm totally miserable here.

i'd like to suggest a few new names for kunming:

- the city of eternal spring that sometimes feels cold as hell without heating.
- the city of eternal dust in your teeth
- the city of eternal taxis that pass you by

@tigertiger are you sure the air coming across Dianchi is so clean. Does help to know many people share the same frustrations and concerns. @abcdabcd at least during cool season here the sun shines. I have lived in Chinese cities that went from terribly hot and humid to very cold, humid with no sun for months. Pollution is most concern for me. Married and moved here because air was suppose to be very clean here. Last year i was here for a month and air was great. I can live with most of other things talked about but if we ruin our health what have we got left then.