Kunming is a long way from the sea.
The only place to get fresh sea food was in the big restaurants. However, since the government banned conspicuous spending by officials many of these places are now quieter than before. As a result the selection is now limited.
You may find a few cuts of fresh sea fish and shell fish in Metro store.
There is a lot of turbot, but this is farmed in land and is treated with pesticides.
Sourcing clean, tasty (natural taste), and healthy food of any kind is not easy. Even the fresh fruit and veg in the markets is often not what the farmer would eat.

My friend likes the salmon fillets in Carrefour; however, it's farmed and pricey. I recommend you eat so much seafood in Canada before you leave. that you don't miss it for a few months.

Actually, Yunnan does have some clean lakes and rivers, so eating some freshwater fish from Erhai and Fuxian is alright, but bony. Have had excellent non bony mountain riverfish in small towns Guizhou and Guangxi. Vietnam is nearby and fresh seafood in DaNang is nice. Qingdao in China has great seafood, Guangdong and Fujian good, but not as good as Qingdao

love qingdao, too far to go shopping though

Thanks for the heads up... I guess eating seafood will have to go into the "sacrifices" column of making this move. Oh well, I'll just eat plenty before leaving and on visits back.

As for other foods (I'm thinking primarily produce) you said it's hard to source healthy, clean food... my gf told me there are markets where the farmers bring in fresher food than you'd find in the stores, but is it still not that great? I really like to eat, but more so I like to eat well and healthy, so I'm just trying to get a feel for how I can do that in China, even if it costs more $.

The problem with many local farmers is that they will grow two crops. One for yield/market and a smaller one for themselves. The former will have used more chemicals. Some will even say that food is organic, don't trust what people say. By chance we found some old peasants in a village, most of their stuff is full of bugs, perhaps safer to think this may indeed be organic.

Organic human fertiliser is also permitted here. I used to think, 'gross, but poop is poop right? Cow, Pig, Person'. Apparently not, there is a problem with ecoli in human waste.

Even though the produce in the wet markets may be fresher, it is not necessarily healthier. In many countries it is illegal to spray a crop less than 3 weeks before harvest, not here. I would strongly advise thoroughly washing all produce and peeling root vegetables.

With regard to meat. Pork is generally safe from bacteria, there is very little 2 day old pork here, it just sells so fast. Buy it in the morning before it has sat around to long. Beef not so true. Chickens are killed as you wait. However, the kill and/or cutting areas for all meats are not hygienic. All meat should be thoroughly cooked. If you like rare meat, the nearest place to eat this with confidence is Hong Kong.

Think of it like this, you will be living in a place that is decades behind with regards to food safety.

Good advice tigertiger.

Wash everything even meats from the supermarkets. I buy frozen chicken parts from Metro, defrost them in water. Originally to speed defrosting, I now do it to clean the chicken. It is amazing how much crap comes loose from chicken. The water turns grey and it takes 3 -4 rinses before it is almost clear.

My tip would be to cook at home. Buy an oven, at metro or C4, and roast pork, chicken, and other stuff slowly with enough heat to do the job (74*C for 5 minutes meat temp). Cooking thermometers at Paul's, Metro or C4.

Roast pork smothered in onions and green chilies with baked potatoes is a treat. Then the sandwiches for a day or two are great.

thanks for the tips guys... it's kind of shitty to realize that the overall quality of food will be a bit less over there, but oh well, comes with the territory. Literally. My gf seems to recall some of the fresh market foods to be a bit better, but in fairness she hasn't fully lived there in the last ten years, so it's nice to find out a lot of things from people like yourselves who are there now.

I could get used to pork though. Right now I mostly eat chicken and fish, but I anticipate that my diet will change a lot anyway, so all I can do it embrace it!

Regarding pre-packed frozen chicken, my girlfriend always tries to stop me from buying them and suggests buying freshly killed chicken instead. The reason would be that you never know in what conditions were the chickens handled, if they accumulated all sorts of bacteria, or if they have been defrosted and refrozen multiple times.

Jopasny, welcome to Kunming and don't worry about all these food alarmists, you'll be fine - most people in China live quite a long time, no matter where they happen to be born. You might be surprised to hear Chinese parents thinking about sending their kids to the US for education worry over the possibility that they'll get shot on the street. For myself I eat wherever I want, buy food in the market, boil city water to drink, etc. - just like most people here do. I'm only very rarely sick, and when it's a food thing (once a year?) it never lasts longer than maybe 48 hours.