I am looking up to this post above

ou may be better off looking on Hongshan Dong Lu (very close to the locations you mentioned). A basic furnished 1-bed apartment in an old building in this area maybe runs 1000rmb/month. But that's really basic (tiny kitchen, bad water pressure, closet bathroom). For a newish furnished studio with sunlight and maybe a balcony, you would need to pay around 2000rmb minimum.

Therefore, for a newish, budgeting 2000rmb, no higher

The smell in many toilets is down to the plumbing ' breathing'

back into the room. It is nothing to do with hygiene. You can buy water traps that drop into the floor drains. In most cases there is already a shallow trap, but you need to pour water down them regularly to stop the air flowing back.

There are other options for rental area. Some place are not popular with students or city business people and are much cheaper. A friend I knew got a nice 3 bedroom place near Puji Lu, which is only about 15 mins bike ride from the university area. If I remember correctly the rent was under 2k.
At the risk of starting another pissing contest, you can expect to pay 6 or even 12 months rent in advance, a peculiarity of the Kunming market. Make sure you have the funds available, just in case.

Great. Thanks for your explanation. It's not a problem for us to live in Puji Lu, the reason is that we don't know the city. How can I see the apartments there?

Hi there,
I recently (mid Dec) went through the process of renting in Kunming. It was fairly smooth, asides the leg work of looking at apartments- though the estate agents will drive you around on the back on their e-bikes (in a lot of cases) to check places out. Expect some hard selling! I eventually found a 1 bedroom place on Beijing Lu, near chuanxin Gulou metro station(摩玛 mansions), in a new building, 30th floor with some furniture included (please NB almost no places will have A/C or heating) for 1600Y month. If you wanted a lower floor it would probably cheaper. I would say max 2000Y per month for fully furnished- even for 2b/r on low floor. There are quite a few estate agents offices around my building- and it’s pretty close to all the universities. If you buy an ebike here (they’re very cheap) then it would be pretty convenient. Otherwise, just walk around the ground floor of the apartment complex you like and you will see estate agents.

I was able to pay by the quarter, plus agent fee and bond- so basically 5 months’ worth up front. The estate agent took me around to second hand markets where I was able to get most of the stuff I needed for well under 1000Y.

It’s possible I could have bargained harder to reduce the agent’s fee, but I couldn’t be bothered as time was of the essence (I was living in an hotel).

In all honesty, the hardest part was finding an estate agent- I now realise that they are to be found amongst the shops on the ground floor of high rise apartment complexes.

I would also keep the following in mind when you inspect places to avoid nasty surprises later on:
- check that the gas works for the stove in the kitchen. And the bathroom, if it uses such. Apparently a lot of places in KM now no longer use gas, so you have to buy an electric hotplate for all cooking.

- make sure the water in the bathroom heats up to a decent temperature. Also make sure that the kitchen sink has hot water (a lot don’t if there is no gas).

- if the place is dirty/smells, ask the agent if they will have it cleaned first for no additional cost. And really check if the place is dirty thoroughly!
-make sure you are given keys for your mailbox, or you will be made to pay to ‘rent’ it later on. And get them to write down your correct postal address.

- make sure they connect your utilities and internet. NB you will probably have to pay 6 months upfront for internet. Make sure the internet allows peer-to-peer (if you use it). And check your monthly data allowance.

- if you don’t like the furniture or want it changed to new stuff, ask the agent if the owner will do this- and be firm on this. If they won’t do it or insist that you should buy new stuff with your own cash, then walk.

- if there’s a water filter unit, get the details for your local water delivery guy.

- if in doubt, or you’re not fluent, get a Chinese to accompany you. It’ll probably be worth it for all the haggling and signing contracts.

- remember to register with the local police after you sign the lease.

Sadly, estate agents tend to be scheisters the world over. Be firm and you’ll be fine :)

Hope this helps and good luck!
-S

Renting over beside Huayang Academy on Xuefu Lu. Renting 115sqm 3 bed 2 bath new apartment for 3,000. they allowed us to start on 4 months rent.

pretty good rent I feel after seeing people trying to rent old 2 beds for 3 and 4,000

In other words, it may be better for you to come here early, look around at apartments and city areas, and/or plan to live in a cheap hotel when you first arrive, so that you can see what you can get.

Regarding smelly toilets...I have quite a bit of experience with this problem. The most common issue is that when the toilets are glued to the floor (I still don't understand why they don't use flanges), sometimes the bolt holes allow the sewer gas to seep through. If this is the case, you can use silicone seal to plug them up. Sometimes the holes are hidden in stupid places behind the toilet where it can be really hard to reach.

More recently I rented a place with a really crappy toilet. Even though it had a p-trap, the tank drain bypassed it and the sewer case was leaking in through the crack between the buttons. I tried a few fixes, but ended up replacing the toilet.

Shower drains are also a major source of sewer gas. Many of them have half assed p-traps. If you have a standard 10x10cm drain you can easily hire a plumber to replace it.

Another source of stink to be concerned about is the overhead exhaust port in the kitchen. A lot of tenants have commercial powered blowers which blows their stinky food smells in through your exhaust ports. I tried five different valves, and none of them sealed well enough to stop the stink from coming in. I ended up just sealing the exhaust port completely.

Almost every apartment I've ever seen stinks, even if it's "high end". You really need to learn to how deal with it yourself, because the land lords don't give a shit.