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Forums > Living in Kunming > Housing

Unless you have paid tax in Kunming for 12 months you cannot get a mortgage. New regulation. Affects Chinese nationals as well.

If you already own one property in China, you cannot buy a second property in Kunming, unless you have a Kunming HuKou (Household ID, for Chinese nationals). Even with cash. New regulation.

If you already own 2 or more properties in China, you cannot buy in Kunming, even with cash. New regulation

Unless you have been resident in China for 12 months, you cannot buy property. Old regulation.

Regards real estate agents, things work differently to how they do back home. People who have property go to their local real estate agent, and this can be really local. Often 10 agents will have the same prop in the window, but only one will have the keys. There can be as many as 30 independent real estate agents in one small area.

Best way to find property is to go to the neighbourhoods where you think you could live. Have a good walk around to get a feel for the place, and look at buildings you might like to live in.

Look at local agents windows. There will always be at least one that looks more professional, possibly part of a chain. Hit these first. If you can, find an interpreter that you can trust not to try and act like an agent and try to get a commission.

Deposits vary, usually 2 months rent. You may also be expected to stump up the first 3 months rent in advance, but not always. The agent may expect a finders fee of one months rent (you pay), but this is easily negotiated down.

If you are looking to rent higher end accommodation or a house, there is a shortage of this type of property in Kunming. We tried to find 'middle class' prop of over 150m around Green Lake a few month ago. There were only 2 apartments available. We also looked for houses in the Dianchi area, only about 6, and only two were suitable.

There is a lot of empty prop around Kunming, but most of it not decorated (no kitchen, no bathroom), and of the little that is decorated many are unfurnished.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Recruiting in Kunming

There is a higher calibre of potential staff in Kunming than most other tier two/three cities.

I have a theory that most people with 'get up and go' head for the big cities to earn big money, and escape from poor environments.
However, Kunming is a very desirable location with a nice culture and good future prospects. This, I believe, is why kunming can hold on to its talent pool.

I don't know what business sector you are in, but presently Kunming's economy is mainly built on horticulture, agriculture, and trading with ASEAN countries. I believe 50% of all fresh produce imported into China comes via Yunnan. And all trade through Kunming is growing.

Beijing will offer :
-a higher number of hungry graduates to choose from
-more business potential
-higher costs
-more competition
-a less stable workforce (job hoppers are common)
-a bureaucracy that is possible more supportive of Rep Offices.

I am no expert, but these are just a few observations.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Looking for list of decent private schools in KM to work at

Regards the move to Anning.

These things tend to happen later, rather than sooner. In my last university job the imminent move to the new campus took 2 years. And even then they moved in with no computers of furniture. Ho-hum!.

I hear good things about Henderson, from a Chinese ex-employee.
I don't know what the full time rate is for expats. But for Chinese teachers it is (if I remember) 4800rmb/m. That is good money for local teachers.
The only downside is that you would be expected to work at several campuses, this requires travel. But then other people might value the diversity.

Henderson is however a language training school, not a public sector school.

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The economics of junking bikes is a short to medium term gamble..If you are early to the market and can kill competition (like Bluegogo died), you can dominate a market. If you can create a near monopoly and increase the total revenue to more than make up for the initial loss of assets.

The gamble works best when only one player adopts this strategy. Flies in the ointment include:

1. Regulations and fines for dumping.
2. Late entrants taking advantage of your attempts to clear the field, at no cost to themselves. This also negates the advantage you gained at a cost.
3. Late entrants in a strong financial position, when your cash has been depleted.
4. You run out of cash yourself (as happened to Bluegogo).
5. Public perceptions. If your bikes are seen a a pile of junk, they will get treated as such. Personally, I would be much more likely to carelessly discard an Ofo than I would a Mobike. For some users the perception of how cool a bike is, many lead some people away from services that are seen as less cool.

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"...If they are able to exchange privacy for convenience or efficiency, they are willing to do so in many cases..."

In my world I did this a long time ago. I realized that I was doing this to some degree when I signed up for my first email account and online shopping. Over the years I have seen my privacy eroded as convenience and efficiency increased. Admittedly I was a little surprised by how far this has gone, and how the data has been used (post Cambridge Analytica revelations), but I knew that I had crossed the Rubicon a long time ago.
Since moving here, I also accept, grudgingly, that I am being surveilled, but to go off grid would inconvenient and inefficient.

As distasteful as the situation given by Robin Li is, I think that he is not that far wrong, in his assessment; note that he does not say it is right, just a fact. As for the the online reaction? nobody likes to be reminded of bad news.

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There probably simple work around, BUT the numbers of people who have been disciplined so far (well over 100 000) and the range of sanctions being handed out means it is not worth the risk.

Some of the stories of government officials having to go out into the villages to sweep the streets suggest that a very tight rein is being used in certain quarters.

Reviews

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A reasonable choice of lumber that has improved over time. Fancy hardwoods like walnut, and mahogany are in abundance. There are some plywood and rubber-wood boards available. There are also some kiln dried imported softwoods and merbao available. Some of the lumber is very green, so look for the kiln dried if you need stable timbers.

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Echo everything said by others.
Breakfast great and the serve from 8am. Most other places say 9am and they still are not ready.
Sandwiches are cheap 22-32, and really packed full of filling. We got some sandwiches for a day out, the only mistake I made was ordering two, as this was too much. These are seriously good sangars, and they are wrapped in alu foil.

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In fairness to Metro, they are a wholesalers, and not really a supermarket. Hence the need for a card, which can be got around.

They have improved in the year I have been away. They now carry a more consistent range of imported foodstuffs and they also seem to have sorted out the mported milk supply.

They have a wider range of electrical appliances now, there is a coice of more than one toast. There is also a better range of seasonal non foods, like clothes, shoes, garden furniture and camping gear.