I bought a small Siemen's microwave online that uses the glass carousel. It heats food about as unevenly as the ones I used at home. Though it seems better built than most of the local crap, and probably won't catch on fire as easily. I bought it mostly for the simple controls.

I noticed that a lot of the very low end cheap Chinese microwaves still use the carousels. I don't believe Panasonic, for example, makes many microwaves that still use carousels. I think even in the microwaves without the carousel the magnetron is still being rotated around the food, so it shouldn't matter much. At least I owned a Microwave like that from the 1980s and it seems to cook more or less the same.

I've tried using a mortar and pestle to grind cinnamon. It's ridiculously difficult.

My wife was an interpreter (contract worker) for the immigration court in Toronto. The pay wasn't all that great. Perhaps in the $2000-$3000 a month range if you could keep busy (rare).

Are there any opportunities for interpreters in Kunming?

As far as I know it is not possible to do the entire procedure by mail (maybe it used to be?). Some of the consulates (like Guangzhou) allow you to have somebody submit and pick up your passport on your behalf if you write a permission letter (this person will likely be terrorised by security). I think they might also require cash as payment.

Perhaps bike theft in Kunming is a problem, but I wouldn't necessarily say that it's a bigger problem in China than in North America or Europe. I've had bikes stolen in Canada. Toronto must be bike theft capital of the world. In Shandong I've been riding a Deore equipped bike around for almost two years now and regularly park it outside (sometimes unlocked).