The Metro store in the North has a better selection than the south, possibly the easiest place to buy one really. Watch out for some special offers on end of the aisles, some may be more expensive but I have seen then come with a case of coffee.

GOME electrical appliance stores often have them, but they are often overpriced.
If you do buy from flagship stores online the after sales service is an added advantage, and you know you are not going to get a bad product (which you can get from small online shops).

NB If you are going to buy online, do it now. Once Chinese New Year is iminent, a lot of couriers stop working and so suppliers don't dispatch.

Those apartments near the hotel are very family oriented developments. Although the number available for rent is low, suggesting a good area with a stable population. The occupancy rate is very high.
Occupancy rates can be deceptive. Most realtors will give you the figure for the neighborhood they are in, as that is the area they know, and will be a guess. The actual figure for Chenggong overall might not be very helpful to know for your purpose anyway.

Yes, agreed and understood. Looking it Napoleon's post he appeared to making a distinction. He may not have meant it to appear that way though.

Once you get away from Yunnan Normal university and the shopping/restaurant area near there, things get much quieter, especially at night. As you head further out, there are lots of villa complexes, some of the ones near Yunnan Bai Yao park are really nice. Then as you go further towards Fuxian Hu on the old route it is mostly villas, but very empty.
I have never seen compensation housing being houses in urban/suburban areas. Often the displaced villagers are given two or three apartments to make up for the space they lost. I have only seen them get houses in much more rural areas. Although I stand to be corrected.
Moving into 3/4 empty apartment buildings does have one major downside. Decoration noise. As you may be aware, property here is handed over as a pretty much empty shell. The drilling, banging and other construction noise can go on for months; and then the next apartment starts decoration. Because of the structure of Chinese buildings, you can here the noise from 3 or more floors above and below; not just on the same floor.
If you go to the Northern end of Chengong, by the government buildings, there are lots of low rise apartments (4 floors).

Those near the Howard Johnson hotel are close to more than one park, and the Metro Line 1.

Landlords will often have a cleaner in first, but not always. Last time I rented he refused. Although I was not familiar with the area, the realtor hooked me up with a couple of local cleaning

who cleaned everything thoroughly, including the cooker extractor fan.