The government is giving our family back some property for a small price, and someone is insisting that the name of the owner must be an official chinese name. I know when we rent apts, we can use our english names, is it true to own property you have to get an official chinese one? And if so, where would you get this done? I'm in the United States now and rumour is that i have to go to Washington DC to the state dept, and than to the consulate/embassy? How did any of you foreigners sign the paperwork to own property?
Any help thanks!

Sounds weird. Are you sure they didn't mean that the owner should be a Chinese national? There are some pretty strict rules for foreigners owning property here and it sounds a bit weird that it should be a matter of using a Chinese or a foreign name but this is China so,,,. Anyway if you need a Chinese name I can let you use mine,, just sign the property over to me and send all your personal contact info as well as your bank account numbers to Mr. Hulu Mbolo, Lagos, Nigeria and I'll make sure that he gets in contact with you. Here you go:

大熊猫

who knows. our family was chinese nationals, but i'm not and they know i'm a US citizen, as well as my parents now, but insist i get a chinese name. pain in the butt cause i can't even get any info by calling the consulate.

Use the name on your passport, thats the only legal name you have. It may be an issue that the government can only return land to Chinese citizens, in that case better get help from a lawyer.

If the property is in Kunming, you need to go to the Kunming notary office and apply to use a Chinese name. You will have to bring your passport, your registration at the police station, some pictures, a couple of letters (in Chinese) stating that this is the name you will use in legal matters in China and that you will bear all lawful consequences. If you have everything, it will take about 1 day to complete.