Tonight Norwegian band The Loch Ness Mouse will play the first of three Kunming shows this week. This evening's performance is part of the second night of the Kunming International Music Week, a week of musical events around town organized by TCG Nordica.

This is the second year in which Nordica has organized a week of performances by international and local musicians, with The Loch Ness Mouse as the biggest band to participate in the week to date. TLNM's album '11-22' won the Oslo Prize three years ago for best album.

The band was formed in 1992 by Ole Johannes (guitar, vocals) and Jørn Åleskjær (co-songwriter) and is rounded out by Ruben Dalen (drums), Ådne Hovda (bass), Kåre Eriksen (guitar), Kjartan Vestvik (keyboards) Christina Høgetveit Staxrud (vocals) and Torstein Krogedal (saxophone). The band describes itself as a "dynamic collage of rock, soul, jazz and even hiphop.

The Loch Ness Mouse plays tonight at Yuansheng Studio at 8:30, admission is 40 yuan. The band plays tomorrow at TCG Nordica at 8:00, admission is 40 yuan (20 yuan for students). Its last show in Kunming will be a free Thursday night show at Halfway House at 9:30.

For more information and schedules for Kunming International Music Week, check TCG Nordica's website or the GoKunming events calendar.

Friday: Psychedelic Carnival at Uprock
Tonight Uprock will be hosting a 'Psychedelic Carnival' featuring two sets by DJ Kris with sets by the Tribal Moons and Flexmaster Sex with Synthatron. Dirty carnival games, defecating poultry and other fun activities will round out the evening's entertainment. Carnival starts at 10, entry is free

Saturday: Family Fun Day at Kunming International Academy
On Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm Kunming International Academy will host a Family Fun Day featuring lunch, games and sweets. Entry is free, with varying prices for food and games.

Saturday: Hello! Haigeng Minigolf Park soft opening
Hello! Haigeng Minigolf Park, quite possibly the biggest and best minigolf complex in all of China, will be holding a soft opening for its fun course and challenge course on Saturday. Built to international tournament standards, Hello! Haigeng features 36 holes of varying difficulty. The park is located across the street from Lakeview Golf Club on Dianchi Lake, within the Haigeng Olympic training facilities. The soft opening runs from 9 am to midnight, entry is 80 yuan per person.

Saturday: Dance evening at TCG Nordica
TCG Nordica presents an evening of dance by the Nordica Dance Group on Saturday night beginning at 8:00. The group combines elements of traditional and modern dance. Admission is 10 yuan per person.

Sunday: China Yoga Day at Yutao Yoga
Sunday is China Yoga Day, during which more than 600 yoga studios across the country will promote yoga through free activities open to the public. Yutao Yoga in Kunming will offer a free yoga clinic from 10 am to 12:30 pm.

Sunday: Wu Wenguang at Yuansheng Studio
Kunming native and founding father of China's independent documentary scene Wu Wenguang will be present for the Kunming debut of his newest documentary "Fuck Cinema", which will be shown at 2 pm at Yuansheng Studio. Wu will host a discussion of his film with audience members afterward. A few hours later at 8 pm, Wu will also host an evening of Chinese and European dance, entry is 40 yuan.

Saturday: "Restless flesh" opening at TCG Nordica
Local artists Zhang Xingwang and Yan Renkui will launch their new exhibition at TCG Nordica in the Chuangku/Loft art compound on Xiba Lu on Saturday night. The 8:00 opening is free and open to the public.

Saturday: Wu Tun and Dong Zi at Speakeasy Bar
Chinese rock veterans Wu Tun (吴屯) and Dong Zi (冬子) will bring their national tour to Speakeasy Bar on Saturday night, with music starting at 9:30. Entry is 30 yuan.

Sunday: Wu Hongfei Speakeasy Bar
Beijing-based singer/songwriter Wu Hongfei (吴虹飞), who has been on extended holiday in Kunming over the last few weeks, will play the Speakeasy on Sunday night with special guest Leng Bingqi (冷兵器). Music starts at 9:00, entry is 30 yuan or 25 yuan for students.

Sunday: Free afternoon documentary at Yuansheng Studio
Yuansheng Studio will continue to hold free afternoon showings of documentaries from the Yunfest archives on Sunday afternoon, starting at 2:00. Sunday's documentary is Dear (亲爱的) a film by Gu Yaping (顾亚平) set in Beijing. The documentary will have English and Chinese subtitles. Entry is free.

Friday: Metal Night II at Chapter One
Tonight Chapter One will be hosting the return of Metal Night to Kunming. Chapter One's happy hour specials will be available throughout the evening, including Dali and Tsingtao for 7 yuan, single/double cocktails for 12/18 yuan and Chapter's house red for 12 yuan.

Saturday: Back to school party at Speakeasy Bar
DJ Professor Xiao Kris has once again prepared a special set of dance music to welcome teachers, students and class-skippers back to Kunming. Come dressed in your school best to Speakeasy Bar at 11 pm for a night of scholastic revelry. Entry is free.

Sunday: Free afternoon documentaries at Yuansheng Studio
Yuansheng Studio will continue to hold free afternoon showings of documentaries from the Yunfest archives on Sunday afternoon, from 2:00 to 6:00. An open discussion of the films will be held after the screenings.

Monday: Singapore food festival at Grand Park Hotel
Grand Park Hotel Kunming will be launching a two-week Singaporean buffet on Monday featuring authentic Singaporean dishes prepared by a Singaporean chef. The buffet will be held weekday nights from 6 pm to 9 pm at Café Palmetto on the hotel's ground floor. Adults pay 128 yuan plus 15 percent service charge, children between one meter and 1.2 meters get in for half off, kids under one meter eat for free. Each night there will also be a lucky draw. For reservations or more information call 5386688x3133/3171.

Saturday: The Side-Effects at Speakeasy Bar
As Kunming emerges from its Olympic lull, Beijing funk/blues band The Side-Effects will play Speakeasy Bar on Saturday night. Admission to the 9:30 show is 25 yuan. After the band, DJ Ma Xi will play a trance/electronic/reggae set.

Sunday: Free afternoon documentaries at Yuansheng Studio
Yuansheng Studio will continue to hold free afternoon showings of documentaries from the Yunfest archives on Sunday afternoon, from 2:00 to 6:00. An open discussion of the films will be held after the screenings.

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Editor's note: We had mistakenly posted that the GT6/Mr Chelontan concert at Speakeasy would take place tonight - it is in fact scheduled for tomorrow. GoKunming apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Friday: Army party at Speakeasy Bar
Speakeasy Bar is celebrating the founding of the People's Liberation Army tonight with 12 yuan Red Bull vodkas and, according to their fliers - 'army antics'.

Friday: 50 kuai all-you-can-drink party at Chapter One
Starting at 9:00 tonight at Chapter One 50 yuan will buy all the selected beers, cocktails and wine you can drink all night. Nuff said.

Saturday: Max & Co Fall/Winter collection show at TC/G Nordica
This Saturday Italian clothing line Max & Co will unveil its 2008/2009 Fall/Winter collection to Kunming at TC/G Nordica.

Congrats to Phoebe, Piers, Shannon, Kyra, Li Bei, Jonathan, David, Natalie, Shu Hong, Sachi, Wingic and Maggie, all of whom knew that the House of Max Mara owns Max & Co. Two passes each will be waiting for all of them at the entrance of Nordica from 7:30 onward Saturday night.

GoKunming readers who didn't get in on our contest but would still like to attend the show can call Max & Co at 3121275 to see if there are any remaining passes.

Saturday: GT6 and Mr Chelontan at Speakeasy Bar
Speakeasy Bar will feature a special performance by two southwest Chinese bands – GT6 and Mr Chelontan (海龟先生). Chengdu-based GT6 plays a mix of dance and indie rock, with obvious Brit-pop influences, while Guangxi band Mr Chelontan has more of a reggae and ska flavor. Music starts at 9:30, entry is 30 yuan.

Sunday: Free documentary screenings at Yuansheng Studio
Last year, the documentary festival Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival, aka Yunfest, was on the receiving end of a government smackdown just days before it was scheduled to be take place. Dozens of documentaries from China and around the world lost the chance to be screened in Kunming.

Yuansheng Studio will screen films from Yunfest 2007 from 2:00 to 6:00 on Sunday and following Sundays. This Sunday's films include documentaries from Kunming, Dali, Shanghai, Hubei and Shanxi. Admission is free.

Friday: Student documentaries at Yuansheng Studio
Two documentaries by Yunnan University students will be screened for free tonight at 7:30 at Yuansheng Studio in The Loft/Chuangku art compound on Xiba Lu. Total running time for the documentaries is around three hours.

Friday: Drinking game night at Speakeasy Bar
Beginning at midnight tonight, Speakeasy Bar will hold drinking games with free bottles of Jim Beam for winners. Vodka depth charges will be on special for 10 yuan and music will be supplied by DJs Latino and Yan.

Saturday: Demerit and Noise Addiction at Speakeasy Bar
Beijing punk band Demerit will play Speakeasy on Saturday as the Kunming stop on their current national tour. Local boys Noise Addiction will provide the opening set for the 10 o'clock show. Admission is 30 yuan. DJs Hei and Ping will take over the DJ booth at midnight, when admission will be free again.

Monday: All-white costume party Dali
The Bird Bar in Dali will be holding an all-white costume party on Monday beginning at 9 pm and lasting until early Tuesday. Party organizers emphasize that partygoers should wear as much white as possible. Entertainment will be provided by Kunming's own DJ Kris, plus Dali-based DJ Xiao Lin and VJ Kil Lee. Admission is free, expect stains.

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.