If short on money, Laos border might be an option, but unfortunately I cannot confirm what I read, that is that you can just get to the border (1 night on a sleeper bus) get out of china without even worrying about laos visa, get back in and get your chinese visa. If this could be confirmed, would really be great.
If you want to spend some time visiting around, then Laos is not that bad, anyway, and in Vientiane you can get the visa in a few days (this I know 'cause I did it).
the market in xin wen lu 新闻路 (where the kundu is), has a small shop that only sells sesame oil, sesame paste (tahini) and peanut butter. Seems pretty clean place too.
Hi, I have a friend who (still) sells those in his shop, in xinyin lu, near baita lu. send me a pm and I'll give you his phone number, so you can find the place.
