accommodations in kunming

[jackiechanbabe]

Hello. I am checking out Minds Abroad Chinese language school and everything seems fine but their prices for lodging.

For me to share a 2 bedroom apartment $500/month. To share a room with someone and also have another roommate in a different room, $300/month.

I know this can't be the going rate, but I will only be in town about 2 months and don't know how else to get lodging. Unfortunately hostels appears to be about the same price.

Any thoughts on how to get decent housing for less if I'm only staying 2 months (and can't bargain in Chinese!)

Thanks!

[Erbse]

single person apartment with spacious living room and small kithchen, 1 bedroom and bathroom in a new building, furniture included 30 minutes from city center by bus (nearby north railway station) costs about 2000 yuan, which is about $US 300. Utilities not included.

It gets cheaper when you get a 3 bedroom apartment and each person takes one room.

[Xiao Kui]

Have you checked out the listings at gokunming.com?

http://www.gokunming.com/en/classifieds/folder/14/apartments_for_rent

[abcdefg]

Hello. I am checking out Minds Abroad Chinese language school and everything seems fine but their prices for lodging.

I doubt that this place actually exists. I think they are a "middle-man" shop (located in the US) that "re-sells" your enrollment to another Kunming school (after taking a cut.)

[Xiao Kui]

According to the local education bureau the 3 legit private schools (non university) offering student visas are Tenwest, Keats, and Dongfang (Kunming College of Eastern Languages and cultures) Recently I've seen 2 other schools pop up: Empire and New Concept but don't know what their visa issuing status is (some private schools' visa issuing status is a little sketchy, that is they are not qualified to issue visas directly so they get a local university to process their visa papers for them - usually there is no problem but sometimes this slows the visa process down and it has caused trouble for some friends of mine. Not an issue for you since you'll probably just be here on a tourist's visa, but FYI anyway)

I attend TenWest and I am friends with the owner. I can say this school is totally on the up and up, but right now only offers 1 on 1 tutoring because since it's a new school there aren't enough students attending to form classes. The teachers are great, and the owner, Albert, is honest and very helpful. http://www.tenwest.cn

I don't know much abt Keats but I think it has a pretty good reputation. I used to attend Dongfang and had a good experience there, but it really depends on the teacher you get so your mileage may vary. http://elcec.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/index.html

I would have to agree with abcdefg that some middleman is trying to make a huge profit. I live in a fully furnished including appliances 1 person apartment in a modern building with elevator for about $175 a month. that you only plan to stay 2 months limits your options somewhat, but I think you can still find a good place at a reasonable price if you take some time to look.

[annekunming]

Ni Hao, jackiechanbabe, Anne here from Minds Abroad! Thanks so much for checking out our website. It is always a pleasure to know people are interested in the so unique and amazingly beautiful province of Yunnan. It seems that you have some questions about our programs, I am not sure whether you ever email us or called us. Actually if you are already in Kunming, you are more than welcome to visit our school! Or even just sit in some classes or just come for free tea and snacks in the free language exchange programs! You can find our contact information as well as our school address on our website, http://www.mindsabroad.com/GENERAL/Contact-Minds_Abroad.htm

As for your concerns about the accommodations, the price you see, $276/week, is for 15 hours of language classes, up to 10 hours free cultural elective classes, housing (luxious apartments in the center of Kunming, near Cuihu and our school), and 2 free meals every day! Yes we have our own chef who is specilized in providing Chinese and western cuisines. We can cater to special food requirements such as for vegetarians, etc.

Obviously you have done so much research about living in Kunming. So you might be aware that the several quotes you cited "to share a 2 bedroom apartment $500/month. To share a room with someone and also have another roommate in a different room, $300/month." is not really easy to find for the high-end apts near Green Lake, short term, fully furnished, all utilities included (gas,water, internet, cable TV, automatic laundry machine and cleaning services!)

But of course you will always to be more than welcome to find your own accommmodation and we can even help you to look for apartments if you do not use our accommodation services. All is flexible. For all the students, we will pick-up the student from airport, greet them with a welcome bag, which will include even a cellphone with all the numbers you will need to dial!

From you other posts I saw that you are also looking for teaching opportunities, we provide our students intern and volunteer opportunities at mroe than 50 companies and NGOs of our network organizations in Kunming. And for our students, the volunteer placement and internship coordination is free of charge. We will provide trainings to help our students prepare for interviews, etc.

I hope this post provided some clarification to your questions. If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to just email us, call us, fill out an online asking-a-question form, or simple go to our website to chat with us!

We look forward to meeting you in Kunming! Even if you are not learning Chinese with us, we would always be very happy to help you with internship or volunteer placement. (Just a quick info, one of our longest and most influential volunteer program is to teach English to homeless children and also at several migrant children schools.) So, contact us with your questions and have a sound and safe trip to Kunming!

[onlyone]

That's nice .Quite enough schools for choices .About the accommodations the Prices not that high .Still can find three rooms apartment for 1800 Y a month which can share with other two mates .there are always ads about flats in go kunming or in the various bars and coffeehouses in kunming .