DongFeng Lu, Beijing Lu, DongFeng Square all a stream of cyclists sporting brightly coloured cagoules in the rain. Far fewer cars as I remember. Christmas Day at the ChaHua Binguan and a late evening flight back to Guiyang for Boxing Day classes.

Beijing Road was (for me) something almost mythical. You could start walking from the central train station and first just watch all those people. You had people in minority clothes there, old men in mao clothes, and lots of people on bikes swirling around, and these beep phones beeping if u couldnt afford mobile phone. Around train station all these farmers selling fruits with the bamboo poles on shoulders. You walked further and first the thieves street area, nokia mobile phones wholesale area, central bus station (always half weird place) and then there were shady prostitutes corners around Kunhu hotel area. This was one heroin selling area too. Then down on right side market and one of first movie theaters in town. Hospital on left with crippled beggars occasionally outside street. Then further down you had these high rises being built, something fancy. Endless small shops, and you got the baozi for 2 yuan. Further down you passed the communist party buildings and all the strange hassle there on the peoples square. People dancing, playing chess, doing opera and that. Bicycles swirling on the side, and no traffic jams on open wide roads. Then you passed the road down to Weis Pizza, a saviour restaurant back then. Just his screaming kids were annoying you needed a lot of budweiser to sedate their noise. :) Then pass Bank of China with the black money changers. Further down under the bridge, and pass the old trainstation to Vietnam. Then started the "bad area" where lots of immigrants lived. Thats what it was said, dont go there in late night. Like east London or something. You could walk further and there were many wholesale markets, some more odd than others. Someone said when Kunming started the recent modernization this area was targted on purpose with high rises and fancy buildings to drive out the bad from there.

So how about this guy called Howard? You had this Canadian guy who had been around for years without a visa, living in hiding in Kunming, and always stories how he managed to slip through the net. His visa had expired years back, and he was locked. Hanging on Wenlin Jie and sleeping on sofa in old Camel Bar and where not. People always lending him a dime. Many times you saw him picking up other peoples leftover food in bars etc :)

Rumour says he managed to cross over Laos forests to Thailand and visit his embassy in Bangkok or something like that.

I had a manager who taught English in Ruili and Kunming in the mid 80's and he has some great stories to tell.

I have spoken about Kunming, now a little of Shanghai. When I arrived in Shanghai in 2004, bicycles and mianbaoche (used as unlicensed taxi minibus) were still allowed in the downtown area (since banned). There were only really three places you could buy imported groceries, the supermarket under the Portman Hotel, the Pines in Jinqiao, and Carrefour in Gubei (where the Japanese expats lived). There were only a handful of expat owned bars, Big Bamboo, Blue Frog (Jinqiao), there were no foreign bars etc. in Superbrand Mall, unless you count McD/KFC.
You could buy Chinese wine for 12rmb, and cheap imported wine for 50rmb, then the Chinese wine craze hit. Many wines doubled in price in a year, and I started seeing more expensive Chinese wines at 300+ a bottle. Beer was just under 3rmb in the local supermarket. KFC lunchtime meal deal for 15rmb (1 piece, fries, small soda). Breakfast steet food (Shandong jiebin) 1.50rmb. Luchtime big bowl of fried rice or noodles was 5rmb.
Shanghai urban fringe stopped just past the Science Museum, not it goes on much further. Shanghai only had 4 metro lines, now it has 14. We once got a flight from Kunming to Shanghai for less than 300, not a popular route.

Teacher pay was similar. In 2005 I worked in language training companies, one paid 12K, the other paid 18k. In 2006 I moved to Zhengzhou, the university only paid 5500, and I envied an expat maths teacher getting 13k in a local middle school. Compare those with today’s salaries.
The visa office was crazy, join queue A, get to the front and be told you should be at counter D. Queue again for 20 mins, then be told you need to go to another counter first, repeat, be told you need another document, etc.

Same palaver in hospitals. Free for all queueing in banks. Much more efficient queuing systems everywhere today.

Can anyone comment on rents over this period?

My rent was Y375 in 2003 - single bedroom, sitting room, kitchen, bath, a little scrabbly sun porch, in a xiaoqu built 1993, one of the earliest of the 'modern' xiaoqus in Kunming.

What would that be today? 1200-1500?

That particular apartment would be about Y1000, maybe Y1100. Similar ones might be Y1200, but not up to Y1500, I think.

When came here in 2006, it cost me $6,000 to study at Keats which included five 2 hour Chinese classes Mon through Friday plus room and board (no meals) for a whole year. I remember there being so many bikes. The feeling then was one of wonderment. Now,

I might as well live in New York's Chinatown.

Rent was around 600-700 Rmb If I can recall correctly.