It's so cold now with no inside heating, I was wondering if there is somewhere in kunming where you can buy a portable heater of some sort?

WalMart has a good selection of electric heaters. As with all electric appliances, recommend plug in and try out before leaving the store.

Cheers - - JJ

Be careful with the square, block shaped Chinese ones. They are usually 1600 or 2000 watts but (depending on where you live) they'll sometimes blow the apartment fuses. If you know you are going to be in Kunming for a while it's recommendable to buy a good one, like in the 250-400 kuai range.

Carrefour on 龙泉路 provides electric heaters at half price.
Its good chinese shit brand but it's very effective for a price of 79 RMB brand new.

Just I remember I went 2 days ago, and they still have 30 pieces left...

I've told this Kunming Winter is the coldest in the past 15 years.

I bought an "infra-red" heater from METRO a month ago for 199 Yuan. It's an "Airmate HF1013T" adjustable height (80 to 90cm total). Power consumption: 850W or 1,000W, can be swivels or stationary, angles up or down, and has a built-in 120-minute timer or can be turned on/off for as long as you'd like. The unit is attractive and well-made. You may want to call first and ask if it is still in stock.

Infra-red heaters target and heat the object (you) rather than the air within the space and therefore less wasteful. I believe this type of heater has been around for perhaps 30 years. I had one back in NYC about 25 years ago, but it was limited in adjustment choices and very painful to look at as well.

Since my purchase, I have seen similar function, but less attractive, infra-red heaters at a well-known appliance chain that are 50% to 100% more expensive.

Don't forget the electric blanket - just in case you don't wanna get out of bed. Guomei and Suning also carry heaters - but prices are up there as it's cold (supply and demand). If you're here for the long-haul and wanna save a buck - watch the expat emigration sales for great deals.

This may seem obvious to some, but a useful piece of advice would be to ensure that the heater is thermostatically controlled.

If the apartment electrical fuses (contact breakers) are blowing you ought to check the rating - some apartment owners may use a lower rating to conserve energy.

a toaster wont blow a fuse and it works. :-)))))))

"If the apartment electrical fuses (contact breakers) are blowing you ought to check the rating - some apartment owners may use a lower rating to conserve energy."

Erm, maybe the apartment owners use a low rating because it's all the apartment's wiring can take. Don't go burning down your apartment, anybody.

yeah, a lot of old building in china, especially those old low-rising are wired with low rating "spaghetti" and the local sub-stations transformer are just as inadequate for a sudden demand surge, hence the low rating of all main circuit breakers in a zone. by the way, watch out for the electric meter, it might be a low ampage meter as well. :-). it would be very funny, the meter becomes the fuse. :-))))))))

as a matter of fact, a ciruit breaker trips because of a ground fault in a heater is just as dangerous.