Don't think this was mentioned: There are lots of hidden prices and extras (some necessities) that many sites don't mention. Many of the top selling sites pay Taobao to be listed on page 1 or 2 as well. Example: Say you're looking for a tablet computer since Taobao has so many Chinese brands with excellent value for money. You see the first 3-4 shops advertising it for 899 yuan, and the rest from 999 to 1299 or whatever. When you go to check out the 899 site you find out there's no charger, no sd card, no cables, no cover, no HDMI, you name it. Great for some, but most of us need at least some of that stuff. You clock the Option 3 or 4 to get all the extras as well, and ding, the price goes up to 1299 as well or higher, which is the price the other shops used as well.

I've noticed this approach has become more and more common over the past couple of years. Fridge in polished aluminium pictured for 2500? Get in there and find out it's the boring white one for that price. Looking for an electric car for your toddler, 600 yuan? Cool, until you find out that you need to buy a better engine and batteries if you want to to run for more than 5 minutes.

In your price range, I'd definitely go for the Changfeng second hand. There are tonnes of those in China and they're surprisingly reliable. Even if they break down, they can get fixed almost anywhere. If I remember correctly, the 4x4 starts at 120.000 from the dealer, so you'll definitely be able to find a 3-4 years old one for half that. Even in Yunnan. Sean1 is right on the money with his assessment of the 2nd hand market here. I've seen adds for cars with 100.000 km on them, and the owner still wants 90 percent of what he forked over 5 years ago. The Yunnanese are still farmers when it comes to cars.

So I haven't been to Kunming for almost 2 years. I find the searches I've done regarding the metro rather confusing, not being able to find clear info on what's open and running. I assume the light rail to the new airport is fine, so that takes me as far as the Eastern Bus Station I guess. From there, is there a line going to the Wen Miao area or should I just jump into a taxi?

I don't think using a different font -this is assuming they'd even want to give me a new BC almost 2 years in- would do much since his name covers the male/female field and goes way into the date of birth one as well. My consulate told us to get it notarized and legalized but I guess that also means we have to take another trip back to Kunming (gotta love the bureaucracy here), but I'm not sure that even accomplishes anything. The notary public is supposed to translate the document to English, but is he even allowed to write a name he can not truly make out?

Nah, everything was fine with the midwife and the doctors/adm. The problem was fitting a foreign name into the standard birth certificate. Our BC is one of those green ones with everything in Chinese and English, but not enough room for the name. I'm wondering if other foreigners with kids here have/had the same problem. Did you get a standard certificate or is there a special one for foreign names that our hospital just didn't know about or could offer?