Hi again,
I've been able to find out about various options:

The 120/day was for the international students hotel, and is indeed a hotel with daily cleaning etc. These rooms are not really suitible for study - contain a bed and a wardrobe, and not enough room to swing a cat (2nd hand info)

At the universities - The dorm rooms, as far as I could find out, cost 1200 per semester or year - unclear which. Standard is fair, assuming you keep it clean etc. yourself. Should be possible to get a private room by paying for the second bed. There are also rooms for up to 6 people - would'nt like the sound of that and didnt ask any more about price or standard.

Various hostels around the city cost about 50 per day for private room. A good option, considering there is usually a restaurant and bar on-site with acceptable standards.

There are various "short-term apartments", one called IC advertises on this site. These are nice, have everything (bedroom/living/kitchenette in one room + hotel-style bathroom) but cost same as a hotel.

Around the train station (the end of beijing road) there are a number of fairly nice hotels with rooms for as low as 40 per night. These are purely chinese hotels, meaning chinese toilet and not a chance of speaking english even at reception, however they are generally a bit bigger than the more international hotels around and some have basic cooking facilities.

Lastly, also close to the station, there is even a "closet" hotel, i.e. rent-a-box, the kind of thing they store dead bodies in at a mortuary!You get about 8 feet long * 3 feet wide * 3 feet high. TV is built in. Did'nt get a price on that. Yongping road, east side.

International Clinic details are posted here by user Quester: www.gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/8809/health_checkup

somebody should sell them ad-space on this site..important resource for westerners

Thanks!

Where's a good place to go for a thorough health check, or english speaking doctor?

Alex, I've been doing that for a long time, more than 20 years, and now consider myself retired, albeit on a slightly lower income than i'd like. There's life in me yet, though. I'm late 30's and though pretty sure i dont want a regular job again, it would be nice to find something interesting and a little bit profitible to occupy myself. Since i'm very mobile, that occupation should also be mobile hence my hinting at internet businesses. Anyhow, good feedback here!