Nightlife in Yunnan

Yunnan's nightlife runs on a different clock than the rest of China. The province's blend of ethnic minority cultures, Naxi, Bai, Yi, Tibetan, and dozens more, means that what happens after dark varies enormously depending on which city you're in. Kunming has a genuine urban bar and club scene. Dali draws a relaxed backpacker crowd to its lakeside cafes and folk music haunts. Lijiang packs tourists and locals together into a dense bar street that somehow works despite itself. The thread running through all of it is live music. Yunnan does live music better than anywhere else in interior China. In Kunming, the action tends to concentrate around Wenlin Street and the southern part of the city near the universities. Craft beer spots and late-night hotpot shops stay open well past midnight there. The vibe is younger and more casual than Beijing or Shanghai. Fewer suits, more art students. In Dali, nights start slow and end slow too. The crowd around Renmin Road and the old town's Foreigner Street tends to settle into whichever bar has the best view of Erhai Lake and stay there. In Lijiang, Ancient Town Bar Street is unambiguously touristy. The Naxi orchestra performances nearby offer something worth your evening. For whatever reason, the high-altitude corners of Yunnan, Shangri-La sits at over three thousand meters, have a surprisingly decent bar scene concentrated near Dukezong Ancient Town. Altitude affects alcohol absorption noticeably here. Keep that in mind. Across the province, nights tend to wrap up earlier than in coastal Chinese cities. Most venues clear out by 1 or 2am.