Folks,

I'll arrive in Kunming this weekend and am hoping to stay a while in order to study Mandarin. Would be glad of advice on language schools, places to stay, etc - the usual. Especially glad to know where the ex-pats hang out and swap useful information. Regards Sam

I think this same kind of thing has been asked quite a bit, so maybe try the search function. The listings area is also quite useful in that it has lists of things like schools, expat hangouts etc. The beauty of the map is that it gives you a visual representation of how things look on the ground, albeit in a stylised, and scaled down way.

You can only hang out at Salvador's if you've lived here at least a year.

It doesn't matter how long you've lived here, only how much of a douchebag you are.

Most of the expats in Kunming are condescending towards "newbies."

If I were you, I would stay away from Salvador's. The people that hang around there are very cliquish and *gasp* liberal and remind me of the tree hugging, pot smoking, bleeding heart liberals you find in places like Seattle, Portland, Boulder, and Denver.

I think most people, even the hippie douchebags, are going to be receptive to new people as long as the interaction feels like a two-way street rather than just one person taking as much info as they can from the other.

If someone's hanging with friends and trying to unwind with a beer after a long day of work, the last thing they want to do is answer a million questions from a person they've never met and may never see again.

If you're going to ask a stranger for help, I feel like it's far more fair to the person whose downtime you're interrupting if you offer to buy them a beer or a coffee, anything to let the other person know you're not just a "taker". Even if they don't take you up on the offer, they're likely to appreciate it and open up more than they normally would.

As Chingis mentions, a lot of information already exists in the forums on this site... poking around different threads is likely to answer many of your basic questions. I'd also suggest trying to check out different events around town, which will give you an idea of what kinds of people hang out at which places.

Thank you for this, will dig around the site, best of luck in the future to whichever of the Dans is on his way to fresh adventures.

Of course, buying someone a pint is only polite if they've kindly given up their time. I should have mentioned that at the start. In fact, thus thread should have begun with the words "Beer happily exchanged for advice".

I hope to getting in a round before long : )