Here's a pre-arrival "Welcome to Kunming!" I am going to leave the answers to quesiton about teaching in China to those who have experience doing so. I am an American who has been living in Kunming for the last two years with my Chinese fiancée. During that time I've rented and furnished an apartment; bought, decorated and furnished a new condominium; bought a car and have driven around the Kunming and Yunnan province; and have travled quite a bit around China by air.
First, Kunming does have an active night life as evidenced by the announcements you will see right here on this site. The range of live music available is limited, but the clubs are intimate and it's relatively inexpensive. There are many, many karaoke establishments as well. Arts activities are very limited despite the size of the city and numerous educational institutions.
Second, you should take the opportunity of being China to explore as much of the country as possible. If you can avoid "organized" tours which have a tendency to rush you through "must see" places and spend a great deal of time on trying to get you to buy souvenirs at every opportunity. Instead, I suggest you do some advance reading to see which cities and areas interest you. Then, buy discount airline tickets, stay at 3 star hotels nad explore places on your own. English is not always spoken where you would expect it to be so preparation on your part is a must.
Three, if you have ethnic foods that you cannot live without you should bring some. There are stores like Carre Four (French) and Metro (German) that carry some foreign foods like cheese, condiments, spices, etc., they are limited in scope and expensive. Yunnan province has wonderful cuisine that is based on the year round availability of fresh ingredients and local food is always the best choise for quality and value. "Western" style food in Kunming is horrible: expensive and tasteless. There are some Thai places that offer pretty good food. Korean and Japanese food are available, too. Surprisingly Vietnamese food is scarce. Indian cuisine is a realtive newcomer to Kunming and is mediocre, at best.
Four, other items to bring would be your personal elecronics (laptop computer, a digital camera and all the necessary cords and adapters) your favorite reading materials (English reading materials are scarce and/or expensive). Depending on your clothing and shoe sizes you should be well equipped. Larger sizes (American size XL and shoes sizes larger than 10 are amost impossible to find.) Kunming weather is great, but most building aer not heated so long underwear and good sweater or two are a must.
Kunming culture is defined by two major things (in my opinion). 1) the pace of life is very slow (a very good thing!). It's relaxed and relaxing. The general excellent weather combines with an ethnically diverse population (by Chinese standards) create an atmosphere unique in the hustle and bustle of the rest of China 2)Many of the social "graces" one finds in the West are absent. People are very rude, loud and self-centered. No one qeues for anything. The city is full of litter, spitting and noise. Traffic is a nightmare as no one seems to abide by the laws on the books. As a pedestrian you have to be very careful at all times since traffic lights and crosswalks are all but ignored by almost everyone.
I'm sure that there will be much more from other go kunming members. This is a great site for getting acclimated to the city. Good luck in you travels.
