I just relocated here and I'm looking for a practice room with a piano somewhere near the universities or the center of town, or somewhere quiet with a piano that I could access several times a week. (I would obviously be willing to pay for access to a practice room.) Anyone know of any? Please let me know!

there's a place just near the Tianjundian Xiang gate of Yunda - just north of the Yunda Binguan, on the same side of the street. i'm not a pianist, so i have no idea of the place, but i thought i'd mention it so you can check it out. my guess is that you'll find it cacophonous.

I often go to the piano place hedgepig mentioned. There is a big room with about 10 pianos, which is 95 percent of the time filled with children practicing as loud, long and monotonous as possible. There are also 3 or 4 smaller, soundproof rooms, that might be available during the quieter moments of the day. You`ll pay 5 kuai an hour. It`s the only place of its kind that I know of, but last year I tried to get access to the private piano rooms on the Yunda campus (part of the conservatory of music of Yunda), without success though. You might try again.

Hey, this post has not been very active but just wondering if anyone has advice for me, looking for a place to play and practiced in Kunming.

Thanks!

Food for thought - have you considered the e-pianos with weighted velocity sensitive keys (like the yamaha 88 key series)?

My reasons are purely selfish - after you decide to leave - you might want to offer a full sized e-piano for a hefty discount on your way out.

One person's meat is another's poison...

Yes I am considering that actually. Do you know a place where I can look for one?

Someone was selling a full size weighted keyboard not to long ago. Do a search. Maybe they still have it.

Kunming has a "piano street" full of analog and digital pianos. For digital - which is nicer because one can pound the ivories without the accompanying cacaphony (headphones for sound, but the key thumping shall persist) although purists will still prefer the touch, feel, and sound of the genuine article - taobao/dandan (dangdang?)/360buy etc are still better deals.

As a foreigner - you may also suffer from the "kick the price to the moon cuz all foreigners are rich" stigma - the e-stores are faceless and offer some of the best prices around - including shipping (although I ultimately bought my mountain bike from a normal store cuz it was actually less expensive than taobao...go figure).

So - long story short - buy it online - shop around between the e-stores to get that last ¥100 deduction and don't forget to include the shipping (and make sure they deliver to your home - NOT to some shipping company outside KM)...and make sure you get the 88 key version. I prefer the Yamaha, Korg, and Rolands although I hear Casio and local chinese brands show well...for the money.

I finally found an area with private piano rooms, for 10 kuai an hour or you can buy a 20 time use card for 150 kuai. It's on Dongfengxi Lu (东风西路), on the hill, on the west side of the road, it's in a little courtyard with a gate out front on the road, kind of hard to find, in between Wenlinjie 文林街 and Kunshilu 昆师路

bosnianXCII, could you try making it a little more specific? :) maybe like what it says on the gate to the xiaoqu? it sounds good!

I went to the place next to Yunda binguan today and it's still 5 kuai per hour there. The pianos sound very out of tune. How's that at the place on Dongfengxilu?

Thanks again!