i am a 70 year old American who has lived primarily in kunming for over 6 years. I am AllaninKunming@gmail.com if you wish to contact me.
Allan
there are many areas where expats cluster. i happen to prefer living near green lake, but even there, there are separate communities north lake, south lake, near nanping street, etc. in many of these areas, there will be 3 real estate agencies right next to each other, painted red green and blue, making shopping easy.
one basic decision u face is whether or not to live in a 'foreigners only' building. if u do, your life as an english speaker will be easier, you can avoid internet and tv censorship. etc... but u r also self-ghettoing.
a strong recommendation is to find out about 'english corners', and meet a local chinese that u like, who will be happy to go househunting with you, in exchange for getting to practice their english w u, a native speaker. you will need such a person anyway, to help you to understand and negotiate the chinese rental agreement you will be signing, etc.
what u r talking about is the 'visit friends and family' extension of your L visa. it is obtainale at any visa office in china that u live in, but offices can vary greatly in what is required of your chinese sponsor in the letter in which he vouches for you, and the assistance they provide him in preparing it for you.
1. over many international trips in the last few years, it has always been cheapest for me to travel to guangzhou or zhuhai or shenzhen (using ctrip for best fare) and then take the boat or train to hongkong for the international departure, etc.
2. but recently, there is increased competition on air travel to hongkong now ... with hongkong air and hongkong express offering fares and showing discounts. you should check both their own hongkong website and zuji travel website, which is really travelocity for southeast asia!). for my next trip, it is actually cheaper to fly to hongkong than to the neighboring chinese cities.
3. i dont know the urgency of your travel, but the economic crisis means that international flights are NOT full, and the next day international fares are HEAVILY discounted. if you can tolerate the slight uncertainty, and are going to a popular place, you can do VERY well by flying last minute.
4. some of the non-chinese carriers offer VERY attractive promotions, that are definitely worth searching out. two months ago, thai airways had huge discounts on flights from kunming featured. last month, their flights from bangkok to anywhere in india were almost free. i would take the time to look at the website promotions for asian airline companies that fly internationally and land in your country of interest.
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