Well, all kinds of both foreign & Chinese bands, gigs virtually every night (rock in particular). Alei's has some jazz. Watch gokunming's daily calendar.

the art scene has gotten really big around 麻园. there is a new art 小区 across from 麻园站. they have art studios, show rooms, tattoo parlors, apartments, and hipster bars. they prey off of the recent grads from the art uni and make a killing off of them.

also the art scene is pretty new here, there are classes for more traditional mediums. Nothing for urban, sculpting, glass manipulation, and what not. send me your wechat and what your interested in, ill see if i can be of ant help. if you dont speak chinese it can be difficult at the start.

thank you so much!

I did a writeup for someone who was looking for galleries a few months ago. You might find it useful:

www.gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/11862/art_sellersdistrict

The art institute has moved out to the suburbs, but there are still art supply shops and art classes in the 麻园 neighborhood.

The art district across from there, 108 Loft, is not actually all that active. They have one "museum" with no collection, that basically opens its doors to any curator/sponsor willing to put up the fee. There are a few other small gallery spaces that mostly focus on home decor rather than art. No studios that I know of. Most of the office space seems to be rented by video and advertising companies.

Nordica is still open (for now) at the old Loft on Xiba Road, but I don't know if they have any major shows going on right now. It's worth dropping in to see their upcoming schedule and grab a coffee. There are some artist studios upstairs, but most of the other spaces are restaurants with little art activity.

For music, keep an eye on Gokunming's calendar. There are a lot of local shows going on all the time. DT Bar is a good place to catch less-established local bands. Halfway House doesn't do too many live shows anymore, but they have an open mic night on Mondays, and its a big hangout for local musicians.

The old buildings on Xiba Lu seem to be either knocked down or soon to be knocked down. I was very unimpressed by the area. Nordica had no art when I went, just a some people sitting in silence playing on their phones. The gallery next to it was locked up (in the middle of the day).

The old buildings on Xiba Lu seem to be either knocked down or soon to be knocked down. I was very unimpressed by the area. Nordica had no art when I went, just a some people sitting in silence playing on their phones. The gallery next to it was locked up (in the middle of the day).

@Liumingke1234: you said:

"Sorry but the word 'cool' doesn't apply to Kunming."

Not sure what you meant, but I'm going to take it at face value that you think nothing interesting/cool is going on here.

I find it very strange. I make a point of attending a lot of the art, music and other cultural events in Kunming, and more than half the time, I'm the only foreigner in a packed house. The rest of the time, there may be three or four others. This despite a good faith effort by Gokunming to promote various events and venues in Kunming beyond the foreigner bar scene.

And then I come back to the forums, and I see a bunch of people sitting at home in front of their computers on a Saturday afternoon complaining about how nothing happens in this town.

I just don't get it.