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.

Credit cards have always been a bit of a problem. Have you tried a foreign debit card?
There are also different types of Visa card to consider. My Chinese Visa card is linked to Union Pay, and was not accepted in the UK when I tried to use it earlier this year.

In other words, some cards might work, others might not.

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