@Tonyaod
Long-Dragon is right. Most events and meetings were not for the general public. The morning was taken up by the Embassy's Commercial Office's exhibitions (the ones he listed) at the Green Lake Hotel, and were mostly for the press and mayor corporations.

@laotou: I'd definitely vote for Hilary. She's one of the best candidates the US would have seen in history.

Most supermarkets have ground cinnamon bags or small dispenser jars. Actually, many corner shops and convenience stores have it too :)

Considering most Chinese love expensive camera's a lot of people have HD and photo cameras of excellent quality. i.e. Canon 7D and 5D. Ask friends, family or neighbors. (Sound sucks though)
All you need is some good sound equipment.
Example: minidisc recorder with mini-mic and extension cable which you can attach to a bamboo stick :)

Seriously, buying this stuff online (taobao and such) is often cheaper than renting it. Same with professional lighting such as Kino-Flo's and more. They just copy them, but they are like 1/5th to 1/20 the price.

My only concern is what tigertiger mentioned: make clear you are a film crew filming something fictional for fun (no journalism). Get some students to help / act in it and you may be safer as it's educational and fun :) if not sure maybe talk to someone who works for an advertising company or ask at a police station if it's okay. An informed police officer is nicer to you often than when going behind their back and endangering them to get into trouble.

It is good to know there are people with experience in this field on gokunming. Please PM me your experience and background as I may have some projects in the future.

There's a bar or restaurant somewhere. Don't remember the place.
It's called "Somewhere Else" and I believe it's run by a Dutch couple.

Anyways, how about the following names:

You're Welcome :)
My cup of Coffee
Give me that! (bottle)
The Barstool
My Pleasure
The Lighthouse
The Playground
Tapenade
The Kingdom
Upside Down
Safe Haven
The Stickup
The Funnel
The Chinese Standoff
The Quenching (Quench thy thirst)

My advice:
New Asia Athletics Park - South Kunming (Guandu district)

Advantages:
- Direct freeway to the airport!
- Direct access to the Metro Line which already runs in the South
- Close to Chenggong University Town in case you take up any teaching position.
- Lower rent
- Good size apartments and relatively new (no lead-poisoning problem in case it's something to worry about in older places)
- Cheaper groceries
- No problems during rainy seasons with flooding
- Carrefour supermarket nearby
- More countryside nearby
- Cleaner air and less dust!
- No restrictions on water / reduced water pressure during drought
- International kindergarten(s)
- Quality sports facilities
- Apartments and houses in gated communities with plenty of green, playgrounds and fitness machines around.
- International expat community
- PARKING! Yes, parking isn't much of a problem here. All buildings have MEGA-size underground parkings.
- The list goes on :)

Hope this helps ^_^