I came across this post via GoKunming's twitter feed and as I'm another incoming newbie to the area at the end of this month, I'd just like to offer a big thanks to putonghua73 for taking the time to post all that info.

I'd read and have heard of some of the bars and central areas you talk about, but I'm also looking forward to using Kunming as a base to explore the region so this has definitely helped to give me some good pointers.

Cheers :D

I agree. The photos in the first link (liwei's) are fantastic quality too - it's really interesting to see how much has changed in the past 30 years (and I haven't even got to Kunming yet)

Thanks for the posts :)