The night of January 11 was cold by Kunming standards, a gray, overcast evening with just the slightest threat of snow flurries. Despite the weather, more than 250 people packed into the warm confines of the ACMEC Conference Center atop Jinding Mountain to celebrate the winners of the Best of Kunming Awards 2017-2018.

The red-carpet affair was the fifth year running for the awards gala and the eleventh time GoKunming users have chosen their favorite Spring City eateries, nightlife venues and much more.

The 2017-2018 version included 15 categories, 12 of which were voted for on the website, and another three of which were hosted on GoKunming's WeChat official account.

Thousands of votes were cast and a succession of businesses and venues took home framed commemorative awards for the first time.

The new winners represent how fast Kunming is changing, and how options for everything from education to travel and hotels are growing and evolving.

It was foremost an evening for the winners, but along the way we conducted a lucky draw with some fantastic prizes, including free tuition for a future scholastic all-star, and round-trip flight tickets to Southeast Asian vacation destinations.

The good people at YUN Brewing provided hand-crafted beer and GoKunming furiously tended bar throughout the night.

There were champagne celebrations, a dancing baby and live rhythm and blues musical interludes expertly provided by the band Face Jam.

Acceptance speeches came in all types. Some were short and sweet, others longer with many to thank, and one with a full-on, impromptu and slightly off-key serenade of the crowd.

Reporters from ten different Yunnan-based media organizations also attended, generating a bit more publicity buzz for the night's 15 winners.

Congratulations again to all of our winners! We would also like to once again extend our gratitude to everyone who took the time to vote and brave the elements while coming out to show their support.

We hope everyone who attended the ceremony had as much fun as we did. Voting and the gala would not have been possible without this year's Best of Kunming Awards sponsors, which included BIBS Bilingual School, The Bivou Lijiang, Gift From the Forest, Hasfarm, Hilton Garden Inn Shangri-la, Lucky Air, Magnet Hotel Kunming, SilkTree Hotel, Tao Yoga, Yang Liping, Yun Brewing, Yunnan Chengming Advertising Cultural Industry Park Management and Development Company, and Yunnan Wanhuida Patent Services. We thank them.

And last by not least, a special shout-out to the GoKunming team — Sabrina for coordinating everything (again), Crystal for working overtime and keeping us all sane and Ronnie for setting the mood.

Fabio, Giorgio and Jia Xiang documented the event for posterity, while Humphrey, Jared, Stella and Xiao Bai made sure the million little details didn't get out of control. Thank you to the entire team. See you next year!

All images: Fabio Nodari and Jia Xiang

Share this article

Comments