@Sendero, I agree with you.
The engaging with the arts is mostly middle class and a bit pretentious.
And most people seem to just want to earn enough so that they can retire and play mahjong all day. And this includes many local 20 year olds.

I guess it is small town mentality. Those who have get up and go, have got up and gone to more vibrant cities. Therebye helping perpetuate the local laisez faire attitudes.

I know some people in business who pull thier hair out trying to recruit people who want to work. Unlike Shanghai, Shenzhen or Guangzhou where they are workaholics.

We tend not to want to eat out at all anymore. The food is mama huhu and overpriced.

I have made a few local friends, nice but mostly lacklustre. But you have to remember that many of US are a bit more well travelled and have abilty/practice of expressing an opinion.

@sendero, @liumingke1234, @tigertiger and @Natsymir, thanks.

Your comments definitely help me frame Kunming. Thank you.

So I guess my question then is where should my wife and I stay to work on our Mandarin and to prepare for our next steps (longer-term road tripping around China)?

We were looking at Kunming because it's on the smaller side, is less polluted, and is supposed to be "relaxed", but I gather from everyone's comments that in reality relaxed means lazy and it generally is not a dynamic, engaged place.

We aren't looking to live anywhere long-term. We are on L visas planning to spend 3-6 months in China. We are looking for a small, not-very-polluted city where we can stay with a family for about a month. While there we want to get a Chinese driver's license and buy a used van, which we will outfit with a bed and stove so we can drive and live in different places in China for a few months.

We are thinking, generally, of starting somewhere in Southern or Central China, and once we have a van we would drive around the country roughly in a clockwise direction making a big C (based on what looked interesting).

So does anyone have any suggestions? What cities in China are:
- On the smaller side. I don't want to feel lost and swallowed by it like in Beijing, where it takes hours to get anywhere. I don't know how big Kunming feels, but 6m people to me is pushing it.
- Not very polluted. Not in an industrial area.
- Mandarin is relatively "neutral". This is slightly flexible, but keep in mind we'd be picking the place primarily so we can work on our Mandarin.
- We don't need a nightlife, etc. but we'd like a place where the people are engaged and where it won't be too difficult to meet Chinese people. If the only places where people are engaged are giant polluted cities like Beijing or Shanghai then this point is negotiable.
- We like parks, and regular authentic food (not fancy "restaurant" food, just normal, properly done and hopefully clean food).

Any suggestions or comments or any referrals would be great.

Thanks,
Matt

Make sure you bring diarrhea medicine when you start eating at these out of the way places.

@spelunkus

You are asking the seven blind men to describe an elephant. At best you are going to get a lot of personal perceptions from strangers which may or may not be helpful. I happen to like Kunming but for my reasons. After visiting about 90 cities in China and visiting Kunming maybe a dozen times, I got a teaching job here. My salary went down more than 50% but the weather and air quality was so much better than Beijing.

You've got a bunch of opinions and a lot to think about. Perhaps what you need now is a sense of adventure. A go for it, see what happens attitude would serve well. Otherwise you will be disappointed when you find you ain't in Kansas anymore.

Kunming is what it is. You don't seen to plan to stay long so why worry about it. Come and enjoy or not. But please. please, don't join the crowd of idiots that come and expect find "home" in Kunming or any where else in China.

Lastly, unless you have a lot of money and know how to access it where ever you are in China, you ought to rethink your plan. Two months in Beijing cannot prepare you for the real China.

If you want to work on your Mandarin, you may be better off in the North. In the South West it is definately dialects for the common people, unless you study in Uni.

Qingdao and Dalian are moderately sized cities next to the sea. The air seemed OK when I visited. Lots of fresh sea food as well. If you are not going to be here for the winter, these are options.

Xiamen in the South is an option, but the local Chinese spoken is very different, same as Taiwanese.

Ningbo and Hangzhou are not far from Shanghai, have an active culture, and are near the sea. Hangzhou has been voted 'Happiest City in China' a number of times, and I think it has also been voted best city for foreigners at least once.

One option to consider is taking a teaching job at a university. The pay is not high, but most can be very accomodating to a couple teaching. If you go to a 'Normal University' they will probably be able to help find a school for the boys.
That way you get your visas, you will get free Mandarin instruction, a free apartment and electric, and pay instead of depleting your savings. You will also get a Chinese bank account set up, and you can use this after you have finished your contract and go travelling.
The uni staff will also act as your gatekeepers as you settle in, and if you make friends with Chinese teaching staff you will learn the ropes of life in China very quickly. This will save you time and effort, as well as teach useful lessons for your future travel. As someone once said, 'If you want to get to know a culture you must go live there'.

A teaching job in a Kunming Uni would be laid back, Shanghai would be frantic. In any uni the management is disorganized, TIC. Just bend like the grass and you can use this to your benefit.

I know this is a bigger time comitment than you had at first envisaged, but it is perhaps worth considering.

If pollution really is your concern, stay away from Kunming too. The real nasty, particulate matter 2.5 or PM2.5 for friends, does not change the colour of the sky or the smell of the air. But it will kill you. And, on some days, the PM2.5 content of the air in Kunming is higher than that in Beijing. Just a few days ago, the AQI was "very unhealthy" in Kunming and just "unhealthy for certain groups" in Beijing.

Source: China Air Quality Index AQI

@tigertiger thanks for all those descriptions. We will start looking into those places. It's been (perhaps not so) surprisingly difficult to find first-hand opinions about different cities in China. Admittedly, we this point we can only search online, and in English, but nonetheless...

We have also wondered about the teaching option. We weren't originally thinking about it, but we might if it makes sense. Do you know offhand what kind of commitment a teaching position would entail (e.g. 3 months, 6 months, years?)

I think we'd consider that once we found a place we'd want to stay in for awhile.

Cheers,
Matt

Usuall teaching is a one year contract (9 months), and you get a month off for spring festival.
However, there are often teachers who only last one semester. You often see teaching posts at unis that start in February and go through to June. However, it is only the spring semester where you see this.

If you sign for the full year, the uni is usually very supportive as they are hoping you will stay for longer. The uni contracts will also pay for flights for the teachers, not sure about the families. But if both you and your wife teach that is at least 2 flights covered. Even if only one of you gets the uni contract, there are always lots of alternative teaching positions in a city, for an accompanying spouse.