@Yankee
Yes, any container slightly heated would work. Just need to be careful not to cook and kill the bacteria with too much heat.
The advs of the yog machine are that you can just walk away from it and forget it, and get a consistent heat over a measured time allows you to achieve repeatable results regarding thickness/tartness.

I once bought yogurt in a milk box...imagine that!!

I used to buy yogurt in a box, until there was more plastic in the milk that there was in the box.

Someone mentioned sour cream, and that's really easy to make yourself. Take about a cup of whipping cream, and add a few teaspoons of lemon juice and salt to taste. Stir and let sit about 5 minutes. Stir again. If it's not getting thick enough, add a but more lemon juice.

I also recommended the kefir yogurt. It has more good bacteria/probiotics and is very easy to make. Couldn't bring our kefir with us, so I'm looking for milk and water kefir grains here in Kunming if anyone has any leads.

Yes
I have made sour cream.
Sepending on the cream, the amount of lemon or butter milk, the time and temperature left out the result can be Creme Fresh (Kinda french) sour cream, too very strong thick sour cream with bold flavor and almost cream cheese in texture.

I qill try the Italian source for cream and let you know
Sapore Italia

Eric

If the cost of a "yogurt maker" is a problem to anyone, you can also try wrapping your pot in towels or blankets to keep it warm after you add the starter. I have successfully done this with very large batches (3-4 gallons) in the US. I'm a full-fat kind of gal, so when I get back to China I'll have to hunt some down that doesn't have the aftertaste you speak of.

60 rmb, no problem. you can buy chinese full fat pasturised milk in cartons, no aftertaste.

I made Greek yogurt.

All you need is a superfine sieve. If you go to the paint stores, or B&Q paint section, and get the sieves they use to strain paint.

Take your fresh made yogurt that has been in the fridge overnight to set. The large sieves are about 6" in diameter and will hold the 1Ltr of yogurt. Then let it drain until about 1/2 the volume.
Keep the liquid that drains off, whey.

The whey can be used as a substitute for buttermilk in cooking. I have just made some very tasty bread in the bread maker. I will need to tinker with the recipe a little to get it to rise better, but the taste is great.

I also used some of the whey as the starter for another batch of yogurt, worked perfectly.

Did you use skimmed milk? Any acidic additives to seperate to whey?

I used skimmed milk, this is just a preference. Using the whey from the last batch as the starter, the whey is acidic. Or you can use a few spoons of any live yogurt as a starter.

When you make yogurt there is always some liquid (whey) on the top. For a thin yougurt, I just mix this in until the yogurt is smooth. With the Greek yogurt you are straining the finished yogurt, you are effectivly straining out the solids and the whey is left behind.

Whey does not need to be a waste product of Greek yogurt making. I googled 'whey recipes' and there are several recipes for baked goods and for drinks. Even ricotta cheese. Warning, to make a couple of cups of ricotta you need gallons of whey.