I'm moving to Kunming late next month and plan to look for an apartment once I arrive. Are Gangi.com and 58.com the best places to look? Or should I pound the pavement around the areas that appeal to me?

I'll have Chinese help so any advice is welcome, thanks!

both websites are a start until you arrive but once you're in town you might well find the local agents more helpful, especially if you visit their office in person. If you trust this Chinese person to decide on the place for you it might be a good idea to let them go to view, fix a price and then you show up. some landlords charge more to foreigners (this may be because they need to register the place and declare income for tax if they rent to any foreigners). Also, I've found that many of the ads on both websites are just there to get you to call the agency (even when the ad says that it's a private landlord/no agency).

gan ji and 58 are idea online sites for hunting apartment and also other stuff. but you should diffrentiace that half of the threads were posted by agencies. why avoid agency？ 'cause they charge a ridiculouse high commssion(on month rent) for just showing the room.

@John Xie ....and a deposit. And the deposit is not (always) easy to get back. The more professional agency, the more professional players. You even get scams from them, once your "in".

Having gone through this a few times, I didnt even expect to get the deposit back from last time. Or rather, I preferred not to be angry, threaten them, and get it back. As it was a "poor farmer" (last time) who rented out a place. I was so surprised when the landlord actually gave back the deposit, without any hassle, so I told her she can keep the half. Both happy. (This deposit money thing probably applies to both agencies and individuals). My experience.

I tried 58 initially but was often disappointed after I thought I found the perfect place only to find lots of stories about it's not available, not the place pictured etc etc

In the end we rented something short term for one month and then used local agencies in the area we liked. Annoying paying the commission, but we have a good landlord, a great complex and support from the estate agent who often acts on our behalf when there are any small issues with the flat.