The inner part of Green Lake is actually closed to dogs, as are most parks with gates.

Open parks which aren't divided from the surrounding streets are generally open to dogs.

The biggest dog-lover park in Kunming though is Jiaoye Gongyuan, which is next to the Bamboo Temple. It's a very big park, with a lot of surrounding forest, and totally open to dogs (lots of people bring them). The downsides are that you'll probably need a car to get there, and I believe there's an entrance fee.

@Kongming:

Yes. You would register under the last US district you were resident of.

The options on the absentee ballots are for whatever voting district you previously resided in.

If you get the absentee ballot directly from your home district, then it will have everything that's on the local ballot for that election: district and state representatives, ballot initiatives, etc.

There's another method, called the Federal Postcard Ballot, which is distributed by the federal government. It covers federal elections only, so this year it would be just for any congress or senate seats that are up for grabs.

I looked into it a few years ago, and at that point at least, it wasn't about regulations, but about what the banks were willing to do.

Only a handful of banks, mostly international ones, were willing to give mortgages to foreigners, which I guess is because they need to know how to take international legal action in case of default.

The problem is, of those banks, none of the ones I looked at were willing to do it in Kunming. They were only offering the service in a few key markets with much larger foreigner populations.

As for the requirements for buying a house, they're pretty lax. I believe there's a rule on the books about proving you've been a legal resident in Kunming for more than a year, but I'm not sure if it's being enforced right now.

You can get the humanitarian extension, but you need a page in your passport, as it's basically a new visa.