Has anyone ever noticed that Chinese school children rarely seem to wear a hat and gloves when they go outside during the winter? I constantly pester kids about this, but they don't seem to think there's a problem.

Regarding smelly toilets...I have quite a bit of experience with this problem. The most common issue is that when the toilets are glued to the floor (I still don't understand why they don't use flanges), sometimes the bolt holes allow the sewer gas to seep through. If this is the case, you can use silicone seal to plug them up. Sometimes the holes are hidden in stupid places behind the toilet where it can be really hard to reach.

More recently I rented a place with a really crappy toilet. Even though it had a p-trap, the tank drain bypassed it and the sewer case was leaking in through the crack between the buttons. I tried a few fixes, but ended up replacing the toilet.

Shower drains are also a major source of sewer gas. Many of them have half assed p-traps. If you have a standard 10x10cm drain you can easily hire a plumber to replace it.

Another source of stink to be concerned about is the overhead exhaust port in the kitchen. A lot of tenants have commercial powered blowers which blows their stinky food smells in through your exhaust ports. I tried five different valves, and none of them sealed well enough to stop the stink from coming in. I ended up just sealing the exhaust port completely.

Almost every apartment I've ever seen stinks, even if it's "high end". You really need to learn to how deal with it yourself, because the land lords don't give a shit.

My parents are boomers, so I say "stick them in a home", just like they shafted their parents.

At least Kunming was willing to free up some farmland for development. In Dali they're basically carving their "Chenggong" into the side of a cliff.

Kunming is dirt cheap compared to most capital cities in China. Even a second rate capital like Jinan is over 25k /square meter these days. In Kunming you can still get flats in older buildings in the first ring road near a subway stop for 8k. I don't know if it would be a good investment, but if you're planning to live in Kunming and have some money, then why not.

I would avoid buying in Dali. You can find equally nice properties in rural Yunnan for a fraction of the price. In recent years Old Town area has become very noisy and congested. The infrastructure is inadequate, and the local government seems too inept to do anything about it. Environmental degradation is becoming pretty noticeable too. Not worth 26k per square meter, even in the magical land of Dali Vista.

Xianggelila could be an interesting place to invest, but it's not very convenient. It seems to be cold pretty much all year round and in winter you'll freeze your arse off because there's no heat (except wood burning stoves). Last time I checked, there wasn't much property in Xianggelila that you could legally own either (no red book).