Here are my immediate thoughts. I am no expert, and you will also get differing opinions.

Homestay. I occasionally see classified ads on here for people offering a free room, in exchange with some time spent with their kids. Some people are reasonable and only expect 2 hours per day. This still leaves a lot of freedom to study at a school. This would likely be with a middle class family the speaks Mandarin, not Kunminghua.

Learning dialect
Dialect is probably too strong a word. Kunminghua is more of a regional variation with variations in pronunciation and use of tones. Mostly it will be the older people in working class districts who use Kunminghua day to day. Most of these older people will also be able to speak and understand Mandarin. There are also ethnic languages, but these are mostly spoken outside of the city, and there are many of them.

Classes
Most classes have a mixed age group and there are many people in their 50s and 60s who come to China to study. There are some schools, and private tutors, who offer classes in local dialects; but these classes will probably be 1to1 and will cost a lot more per hour.

Visas
You will only be able to get a study visa from a recognized school. These schools may not take you on a tourist visa. Private tutors cannot offer a visa, but some people on a tourist visa do engage a tutor on an ad hoc basis (technical visa violation).

Most teachers are locals and you can usually double check something you think you heard on the street during coffee break at school.

North Vs South.
In the N people speak a more standard Mandarin, especially Beijing. As a result they usually hear people speaking good Mandarin. I have been in places where they just don't understand my poor Mandarin as they hear the word that I speak, e.g. if I often use the wrong tone, a problem for learners wanting to be understood. In other cities, where there are a lot of people from all over China and where tones are often mangled, or there are a lot of foreigners, local listeners brains are used to sorting through tone errors.
If you do come south you will hear different pronunciation, but people will also understand your pronunciation, and you can quickly adjust to locals speaking. A strategy I use is for me to repeat back what I think they have said in my bad Mandarin, and you can check their body language etc. to check for agreement.

These are just my observations, I am sure there are others can add to the discussion.

@TROUBLES, you said, "new location". Are you still on Xuefu Lu?

I just checked aqicn.org. It is quite a bit higher than earlier today. It has jumped from under 70 to over 100 in the last few hours. Jinding mountain is over 170.

Woodsmoke, definately, I am not sure of the wood, but I think it is eucalyptus. The smell of burning trash is different. I am not even sure if burning wood is still legal in Kunming, but hey......
Probably open fires to keep warm. I doubt for cooking as that would be an all year round source of smoke.
It happens every year when the cold snap arrives. We are on the urban fringe here, and there are still villages near us.
The other thing could be if one of the neighboring counties is burning forest trash (not garbage), as happened last year. But the cold weather would be a bit of a coincidence.

The air quality in our area has taken a dive tonight. This is in Dianchi area near XiShan, due to local wood burning. It is not showing up on the AQI yet, for Xishan Forest Park, but we have had to close the windows and bring the washing in early. It is the same every year when the cold weather arrives.
If you are asthmatic, etc. you may notice it a bit more tonight.