Greetings all!
I am planning to move to Kunming very shortly and would appreciate any advice from people residing in this great city. I plan to live in Kunming for approx 2 years.
I am planning on renting an apartment close to downtown, so I would really value some insight into the following:
-apartment costs (one bedroom, close to downtown, prefer high floor) and what furniture is included with the dwelling;
-ease/difficulty in dealing with estate agents;
-cost of utilities, including internet connections (and how difficult it is to set these things up);
-how much time I should allow myself to find an apartment.
-opening a bank account in China (or should I do it before I leave Australia)
-cell phone plan costs;
-ease/difficulty of finding part time work (probably teaching English, lets face it).
-Finally- whether I
need to hire a Chinese translator to assist me with any or all of the above mentioned (and what the going rate would be).
Sorry for all the questions! I really would appreciate as much or as little advice as possible!
Also, my Chinese is intermediate level so I'm not sure how I will manage doing all of this stuff on my own without an interpreter- if anyone has done this by themselves, I'd love to hear about your experience.
So far, I am planning on staying in an hotel/airbnb/tujia property for approx. one week whilst I look for an apartment.
I also understand that I need to pay 2.5months rent upfront (?)
I have stayed in Kunming before for around three months and I loved my time there.
I also have a decent idea as to what sort of stuff I need to bring to China!
Thanks again to everyone for taking time in reading my very long post full of questions and offering their wisdom to this crazy laowai :)
Kind regards,
S