Friday and Saturday: Kunming Social Club at Moonlight Corner
Moonlight Corner's new Green Lake Restaurant and Bar will feature its house jazz band 'Kunming Social Club' from 9:30 to 11:30 tonight and Saturday.

Friday and Saturday: Lucia buffet and concert at TCG Nordica
TCG Nordica will hold its annual buffet and concert for the Scandinavian holiday of Lucia this weekend. The buffet begins at 5:30 pm today and Saturday. The buffet costs 45 yuan for adults and 25 yuan for children and includes free admission to the Lucia concert at 8:00. Admission to the concert for those not attending the buffet is 10 yuan.

Friday: Tribal Moons and bikini party at Club Nice
Club Nice in the Kundu Night Market will be throwing a 'bikini party' beginning at 9:00 with special musical guests Tribal Moons. Entry is free.

Friday: Britney Spears party at Speakeasy
A triple birthday party with a Britney Spears theme will be held at Speakeasy Bar tonight, beginning at 10:00. There will be a Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake (and presumably K-Fed) costume contest, with first, second and third prize winners taking home a bottle of bourbon, tequila and red wine, respectively. Music will be provided by DJs Yan (one of the birthdays) and Kris and local dance troupe KLT will perform at some point in the evening. Entry is free.

Saturday: Holiday open house at The Silver Spoon Café
The Silver Spoon Café will hold its holiday open house from 10 am to 9 pm on Saturday. Visitors can enjoy free flavored coffee and apple cider plus enter the free raffle. Specialty gifts will be on sale and there will be special offers on Silver Spoon food and merchandise.

Saturday: Tribal Moons at Uprock
Uprock will host the last Tribal Moons show until February on Saturday night, music will also be provided by DJs Shonny and Martin. Admission for the 10:00 show is five yuan.

Friday & Saturday: Live Jazz at Moonlight Corner
Tonight the new Green Lake location of Thai restaurant and bar Moonlight Corner will host the first performance of their weekend jazz band – Kunming Social Club. Featuring a local rhythm section, British keyboardist and Italian singer, Kunming Social Club will play Moonlight Corner's Green Lake location every Friday and Saturday night from 9:30 to 11:30 – entry is free. Unlike Moonlight Corner's Expo Garden location, the new Green Lake restaurant also features a fully stocked bar that stays open nightly until 2 am.

Friday: Chuck Eddy at the Silver Spoon Café
Guitarist Chuck Eddy will play an early show at The Silver Spoon Café tonight. Music begins at 6:30 and entry is free.

Friday: Electronica at Uprock
DJs Shonny, Martin and Ecko will be playing electronic sets all night at Uprock tonight, and the bar will have a happy hour (literally) from 9:00 to 10:00. Entry is free

Saturday: Ladies night at Uprock
Saturday night is 'Ladies night' at Uprock, with five different kinds of cocktails free for all women from 10:00 to midnight. Music will be provided by DJ Shonny, entry is free.

Friday - Sunday: Father's Day specials at The Silver Spoon Café
The Silver Spoon Café will be giving free drink cards out to all dads throughout the weekend.

Friday: Hawaiian party at Speakeasy Bar
Speakeasy Bar is throwing a Hawaiian party tonight with music provided by DJ Fan Yi, DJ Yan and MC Latino. There will also be Hawaiian dancers and prizes for the person with the most leis. The free party starts at 10 pm.

Friday: Friday the 13th costume party at The Hump Bar
Part Friday the 13th costume party, part farewell for Raphael, tonight The Hump Bar will feature music by As Done by Robots and DJ Starricos. Show up dressed as your favorite horror movie murderer – 10 yuan buys a glass of 'horror punch'. The free party starts at 10 pm.

Saturday: Uprock reopening party
Uprock reopens on Saturday night after being closed for renovations. DJ Tantrum and DJ Echoo will be joined onstage by MC Menace for a night of electronic dance.

Saturday: Violin concert at TC/G Nordica
Violinist Li Chaoqun of Yunnan Art Institute will play a free 8 pm concert at TC/G Nordica featuring the works of Mozart, Paganini and Chinese composers.

Sunday: Father's Day buffet brunch and dinner at Grand Park Hotel
Grand Park Hotel Kunming will be offering special brunch and dinner buffets on Sunday from 11:30 to 3:00 and 6:00 to 9:30, respectively. The buffet will take place at the hotel's Café Palmetto on the first floor and will cost 158 yuan for adults and 98 yuan for children (subject to 15% surcharge).

Friday: English movie and discussion at Chicago Coffee
Chicago Coffee will host its weekly English movie and discussion at 7pm. Admission is free with any purchase – call 5389288 for movie details.

Friday: Live saxophone and new menu items
The Silver Spoon Café in Kunming's Beichen area will be featuring live sax music from 6 to 9 pm tonight. The Silver Spoon has also recently added some items to its menu including white chocolate chunk raspberry cheesecake.

Saturday: Uprock All-Stars
Uprock will be holding another 'All-Stars' party featuring a big lineup of Kunming-based DJs playing shorter sets. Admission is free.

This month: Yuansheng Studio minority music classes
Throughout this month, Yuansheng Studio in the Loft art compound on Xiba Lu will be offering minority music and dancing courses taught by the studio's resident performers. The music program will feature instruction in a variety of instruments including the mouth harp, gourd flute, Chinese flute, leaf harp and more. Yuansheng's dancing program will focus on different Yi dances involving singing and drum playing.

Classes are held daily, with weekday classes running from 3 to 5 pm and two sessions on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to noon and 3 to 5 pm. Class rates are 10 yuan/class or 150 yuan/month (120 yuan/month for students). For a look at some of what will be taught, check out this video post. For more information about classes, call Yuansheng at 4195697.

This weekend around Kunming there will be a meeting for language junkies, a couple of dance parties and even some parties for the kids. Here are some of the highlights of events around town this weekend:

Friday: Polyglot language exchange at French Café
Language exchange group Polyglot will hold its first meeting in Kunming at the French Café, on the corner of Wenlin Jie and Wenhua Xiang. The gathering will last from 8 to 10 pm and is aimed at promoting cultural exchange and friendship via language exchange. Admission is free with any purchase at French Café.

Friday: 'Innocence' at The Hump Bar
DJ Jezz (Ministry of Sound Radio) and DJ Menace are back at The Hump Bar for another of their 'Innocence' parties, featuring hiphop, breaks, house and electro. The free party begins at 10 pm, with gin tonics on special for 10 yuan.

Friday: DJ Throwdown at Uprock
The recently opened club Uprock will be holding its Friday DJ 'throwdown' tonight with DJ Kris (pictured above) working the dance floor upstairs and DJ DSK cutting vinyl downstairs in the lounge. The party begins at 10 pm, admission is free.

Sunday: Kids' Spring Fling Party at The Silver Spoon Café
The Silver Spoon Café will be holding several 'Spring Fling' parties for children on Sunday, featuring snacks, crafts and games. There will be English-language parties at 10 am, noon and 2 pm, with a Chinese-language party at 4 pm. Call 5738448 for enquiries and/or reservations.

*Note: To have your weekend events listed on GoKunming, please notify us in advance – the earlier the better – via our contact form.

Chinese New Year is over and the Spring City has finally been hit by a major cold front – the perfect excuse to find someone to snuggle with tomorrow on Valentine's Day. Here are some of the highlights of Valentine's events around town:

The Silver Spoon Café will be offering a three-day Valentine's special from Thursday through Saturday nights, 5-9 pm. The set meals come complete with drinks, starters, main courses such as herb crusted pork tenderloin, or stuffed chicken breasts – plus a choice of one of six different chocolate desserts. The candlelit dinners are 90 yuan/person or 105 yuan if you prefer a cocktail with your meal. Reservations are encouraged: 5738448.

Moonlight Corner Thai Cuisine - which tied with The Silver Spoon for best international restaurant in last year's Best of Kunming Awards - will be offering its own lovers' special on Thursday night. The set meal will feature a specially selected menu of Thai dishes and drinks for a set price of 498 yuan/couple. For menu details or reservations, call Moonlight Corner at 5013125.

Best Bar winner The Hump Bar will be throwing a Valentine's party on Friday night beginning at 9 pm. According to the organizers, the party is the launch of a series of twice-monthly parties around Kunming – Friday's entertainment will feature DJ Jezz and Menace. Drinkwise, the bar will be offering three bottles' worth of free tequila shots as well as bar manager Fried's special Valentine's punch.

GoKunming wishes its readers a happy and warm Valentine's Day.

The results are in and the winners have been decided in GoKunming's first-ever Best of Kunming reader survey. This year there were some close races, with two ties in the international restaurant and live music categories. There were also four winners with two awards each: Moonlight Corner, The Silver Spoon Café, Salvador's Coffee House and TC/G Nordica.

Without further ado, here are the winners, as selected by GoKunming readers:

Food: Best Chinese Restaurant
Heavenly Manna

Food: Best International Restaurant
Moonlight Corner & The Silver Spoon Café (tie)

Food: Best Fine Dining
Moonlight Corner

Food: Best New Restaurant
The Silver Spoon Café

Drink: Best Café
Salvador's Coffee House

Drink: Best Teahouse
Yihuchun Cha Lou

Drink: Best Bar
The Hump Bar

Drink: Best Cocktails
Salvador's Coffee House

Drink: Best Beer Selection
Fisherman's Bar

Drink: Best Wine Selection
Pizza da Rocco

Entertainment/Arts: Best Gallery
TC/G Nordica

Entertainment/Arts: Best Live Music Venue
Laowo Bar & TC/G Nordica (tie)

Entertainment/Arts: Best Dancing Venue
Speakeasy Bar

Thank you to all our readers who voted and congratulations to the winners. Winners will receive framed certificates commemorating their selection as the best of Kunming in early January.