By Vera van de Nieuwenhof in Features January 9, 2020

After a break to spend the holiday season with family at home, we are back and working hard at the last preparations for the Best of Kunming Awards 2019-2020. We would like to wish all GoKunming readers a happy new year, and we hope you celebrated in style at one of the many parties around town.

Best of Kunming Awards Gala

This year's Best of Kunming Awards show — on Saturday, January 18 at 7pm and already in it's seventh edition — is brought to you by Keats School and GoKunming. Paulaner Bräuhaus Kunming has graciously offered to host the event this year. Thanks to our generous sponsors, this year's event promises to be even more festive than previous years'.

The night is first and foremost a celebration of the successful businesses and all the places that we love around Kunming and Yunnan, as selected by GoKunming readers. Voting will close on Friday, January 10th, at midnight. If you haven't done so: cast your vote here, and support your favorite places in Kunming. The award winners will receive goody bags with swag worth 9.000 yuan in total. The real prize, of course, is the Best of Kunming Award 2019-2020 that they will get to take home at the end of the night.

Sponsors and prizes

As with previous editions, the awards show will again include a prize for one of the online voters, a lucky draw with a huge assortment of prizes and a super prize for the attendee who has collected the most 'likes' for their shared event photos on Wechat. This is our way of thanking all of the people who voted for the Best of Kunming Awards and also everyone who helps make the Kunming community such a unique and special one. Our sponsors have donated gifts for everyone who attends the event and raffle prizes to be given away, with a total value of more than 90.000 yuan.

Keats School

This year's Best of Kunming Awards gala is brought to you by Keats School. Keats School will give every attendee a voucher worth 100 yuan towards Chinese classes, and a voucher for a free coffee in the Keats Cafe at their brand new campus. Furthermore, they are giving away a five-night stay in a Deluxe King room at the Keats Hotel in Lijiang, in the raffle during the event.

Located in the city center, Keats School is the only immersion Chinese language school in Kunming which offers an all-inclusive study and living environment. Now Keats owns 53 single dorm rooms with private bathrooms, 60 classrooms, a cafeteria that can hold more than 100 people, a gym, and a coffee bar. In the past 10 years, Keats has not only worked hard to provide the most professional Mandarin Chinese courses around, but has also been dedicated itself to bringing their students a five-star experience.

Paulaner Bräuhaus Kunming

Paulaner Bräuhaus Kunming is not only hosting the event in the atmospheric surroundings of the bar and brewery, but they will give every attendee a free beer worth 48 yuan. Prosit!

Paulaner Bräuhaus Kunming, located next to Cachet Boutique Artime Kunming Hotel, offers a German-inspired atmosphere with a decidedly international flair. Don't be surprised to hear Chinese songs while you're enjoying classic Munich beer and cuisine! Traditional they may be, old-fashioned they are not. It's a beer lover's dream, with their own microbrewery producing distinctive beers — according to the strict German Law of Purity laid down in 1516 — right before your eyes. They furthermore offer a menu filled with hearty, authentic dishes, based on classic Bavarian cuisine, international dishes and current food trends.

Lanchie Dental Clinic

One of the online voters — who has voted in all categories — will be sure to smile at the new year ahead with a sparkly smile: a voucher for US whitening procedure at Lanchie Dental Clinic worth 1980 yuan.

Lanchie Dental Clinic is furthermore giving away 10,620 yuan in vouchers for dental treatment during the awards ceremony. These include one more US whitening procedure, vouchers for dental cleaning and examinations and vouchers for children's dental examination and treatments.

Lanchie Dental Clinic was founded in 2006 by Professor Xu Yun, a famous professor of stomatology. The highly professional chain of clinics focuses on the core value of "patients' interests first". Lanchie Dental Clinic is dedicated to combining advanced diagnosis and treatment technology with humanistic medical concepts, providing high-quality oral health services for the whole family. Lanchie means blue-orange, and the colors stand for excellence in healthcare — blue — combined with a warm service — orange.

Silk Tree Hotel

Three other of our lucky draw prizes are one-night stays at SilkTree Hotel in the presidential suite. The hotel features a 300-square meter set of luxury rooms overlooking northern Kunming. Included in the stay is a fantastic Southeast Asian dinner for two and a continental breakfast buffet. The hotel is conveniently located near some of the city's most visited attractions, including Black Dragon Pool and Xuning Temple. Combined, these three prizes are valued at 10,000 yuan.

Yunnique

Yunnique will give every attendee of the event a bag of their Yunnan-produced coffee, produced with a lot of heart for the people who grow it.

Yunnique is an international coffee production and trading company based in Kunming and Pu'er since 2009, operating domestically as well as internationally. Yunnique focuses on improving processes while retaining the care of hand-picking and personal quality control, to bring the best flavors of Yunnan coffee beans to their customers. Now, the world has discovered the uniqueness of Yunnan coffee. Coffee grown in the dense fog of Yunnan's mountains provides more intense aromas and taste. We believe that Yunnan's quality coffee should not only be used for export, but it should also be relished and celebrated by consumers living in China.

Chef's Choice

Chef's Choice is not only this year's supplier of prosecco for the Best of Kunming Award winners, but is also giving away ten packages to raffle ticket holders. These packages include one bottle of red wine, one bottle of white wine, and a voucher worth 200 yuan, to be spent in the shop or in the restaurant. The total value of the ten gourmet packages is 4,650 yuan. The restaurant will be open most the Spring Festival holiday, apart from the first weekend, so if you are in Kunming and in need of a glass of wine, head on down to the Green Lake location.

Chef's Choice provides Kunmingers with delicacies such as imported cheese, wine and high-quality meat. These can be either ordered online, in one of the shops or enjoyed in the restaurant by Green Lake.

Xintuo Ecotourism & Wild Mountain

Xintuo Ecotourism and Wild Mountain will provide a two-day and two-night trip of sightseeing and learning about the natural and cultural heritage of Lijiang Valley and the Lashi Wetlands, with experts in conservation and sustainable development. This includes accommodation, food, transportation, sightseeing and expert coordinators. Prize value: 4,880 yuan.

Wild Mountain is an expanding network of friends, diverse people united by common goals, people that love what they do and do what they love. They create custom-made eco experiences and give you the freedom to decide how to travel. Customers will get the opportunity to be actively involved in conservation projects, learning about culture, nature and sustainability and seeing the results of these efforts.

Their mission is to enrich people's lives through authentic natural and cultural experiences, to provide informed insights into the treasures of Yunnan province, to raise awareness about the local natural and cultural heritage, strengthen heritage conservation through tangible and effective actions and to support the sustainable development of local communities and their environments

Arro Khampa Hotel

Arro Khampa Hotel, located in the Old Town of Shangri-la, donates a romantic three-night stay with a Tibetan touch to one lucky couple, worth 3,500 yuan.

"Arro khampa!" means "Hey Friend, I bid you welcome". It is the most welcome greeting in the remote mountains of Eastern Kham. Whether seeking outdoor adventure or blissful retreat, Arro Khampa Lijiang Hotel will enhance your journey with the spirit of ancient Tibetan and Naxi culture. Using architectural traditions of the region, the structures resemble ancient village homes using thick rammed earth facades, as well as stone and wood. Providing contemporary comfort while retaining the cultural integrity of traditional design, subtle modifications have been incorporated. Traditional facilities, stylish rooms and suites, decorated with wooden furnishings and wood-beam ceilings, emphasize the original ecology and nature.

Sapore Italia

Sapore Italia has contributed four vouchers to raffle: two 1000 yuan vouchers (one for Cantina, one for Sapore Italia), and two 240 yuan vouchers (one for Cantina, one for Sapore Italia). Mama mia!

Sapore Italia is an online and offline shop with a very large selection of imported ingredients, including pasta, sliced steaks, frozen ready meals, cold cuts, cheese, beers, wines and spirits.

'Cantina' is the Italian word for wine cellar, and the restaurant liaised with Sapore Italia. Wine & chat is the Cantina concept. This is the right place to get good wine from a large selection of many types. Meet your friends or make new ones! Besides wine, Cantina serves many of the most traditional family-style Italian dishes, together with their homemade gelato, tiramisu and much more

Manlao River Coffee

Manlao River Coffee will provide every winner of one of the Best of Kunming Awards with a bag of award-winning coffee. A winner deserves a winner, and the Best of Kunming award recipients deserve to be rewarded for their hard work with an excellent brew.

Manlao River Coffee originated from a poverty alleviation project in Pu'er, and was officially launched in 2008. It is named after the river that flows through the Pu'er coffee production area. Since then, its has won several international awards — with the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the World Barista Championships — for its outstanding quality coffee. Manlao River Coffee strives to share good coffee with the world, and is committed to providing customers with traceable and top-quality coffee from Yunnan and the rest of the world, and delivering a first-class service.

Dali Bar

Dali Bar is committed to producing healthy energy bars and drinks using the best vegan and gluten-free ingredients that nature can provide. Dali Bar: live healthy, live happy.

Smalls Paradise Swing Dance

Maybe your feet will want to move, when you see the Smalls Paradise Swing Dancers on stage during the Awards gala. If you are lucky, you may win a voucher for 5 free classes with Smalls Paradise Swing Dance School.

Hearts and Hands

Hearts and Hands will give every winner of the Best of Kunming Awards a beautifully crafted card.

Hearts and Hands is a social business serving the deaf and disabled community in Kunming, China. It was founded in 2000 with the goal of giving a better future for those who are disadvantaged in Yunnan. Today, their staff has grown into a wonderful family and is creating beautiful products that are sold around the world. Their workers are all deaf or disabled men and women from local communities in the Yunnan province. Hearts and Hands aims to provide a safe and healthy working environment for their staff, as well as fair wages and adequate training. Their goal is to grow their business so that more jobs can be offered to the deaf and disabled community, continuing to produce high-quality products for their customers.

Program

The event kicks of at 7.00 P.M. and the ceremony will wrap around 10.00 P.M. Please be on time, as we will start with a performance that will be quite unlike any other you have seen.

The party will continue after the formal part of the event has finished, and everyone is welcome to stay for another drink and a dance.

Apart from celebrating the winners, enjoying dance and DJ performances and handing out prizes to a lot of lucky winners, we'll center on diversity and sustainability, and put Lijiang in the spotlight of our presentation. We will celebrate what makes Yunnan such a unique place, in China and in the world.

Entertainment

We will kick off the night in the theme of celebrating Yunnan's unique diversity in culture, with a Dai ethnic minority dance performance by the local dance troupe 昆明彩虹歌舞演艺 (the Kunming Rainbow Song & Dance Troupe, part of Trans China's Multi-Diversity Culture Project).

Throughout the awards show Smalls Paradise Swing Dance troupe will add some rock 'n' roll vibes with short, sweet and spectacular performances to swinging tunes.

DJ Max (resident at Vervo) will spin his funky disco music before and after the awards ceremony, keeping the party going.

Come and celebrate the Best of Kunming 2019-2010 with us!

Practical information

Venue: Paulaner Brauhaus Kunming
Date: Saturday, January 18
Time: 7pm to 10pm - start of the after party
Tickets: 50 yuan pre-sale, 60 yuan at the door. Buy discounted pre-sale tickets online.

Map and directions

Paulaner is to the left of Cachet Boutique Artime Kunming Hotel, located in a project named Artime and lying on a 100-year old street in the city center of Kunming.

It is a 16-minute walk from the nearest metro station, which is Tangzi Xiang (塘子巷)

Ebikes can be parked in the alley around the corner, not in the Artime square please. Parking for cars is limited.

Cachet Boutique Kunming Artime
128 Shulin Street
Tel: (0871) 6816 9600

昆明彩云里•凯世精品酒店
书林街128号彩云里 (you can use this for Didi)
电话：(0871) 6816 9600