Yunnan's capital eats late, and the late-night food is genuinely regional rather than a national template. The core of it is the charcoal grill: skewers of beef, lamb, chicken wings, tofu skin, potato slices and - the Yunnan speciality - wild vegetables and mushrooms, brushed with chilli oil and dusted with a dry spice mix of chillies, cumin and Sichuan pepper. Alongside that there are bowl noodles in broth, cold rice noodles with vinegar and chilli, grilled fish and shellfish, and plates of fermented vegetables that are sharper and more sour than the Sichuan version.
The stalls and where they are
Barbecue stalls cluster in the streets around the universities, in the older residential districts outside the centre, and around the night markets; the neighbourhoods rather than the tourist streets are where the good ones sit. The cooking is done over a long, narrow charcoal trough, and you choose your skewers from a tray, sit on a plastic stool at a folding table, and pay per skewer at the end. Prices are very low. Theatres of this kind run from about eight in the evening until two or three in the morning, and the atmosphere is loud.
What to drink with it
Yunnan makes its own rice wine, typically clear and low in alcohol, served warm in small cups, and a range of fruit wines and brews - plum, rose, osmanthus - that are sweet and easy to drink and stronger than they taste. Local baijiu from Yunnan distilleries appears alongside the national brands. The usual pattern is a shared bottle with the table and a great deal of toasting; if you do not want to keep pace, topping up other people's cups while leaving yours alone is understood and acceptable.
Practical notes
Pick stalls with a queue and a high turnover, because the ingredients sit out in the heat. Vegetarians do well here: grilled tofu, corn, aubergine, potato and mushrooms are all standard, though the chilli will be applied by default unless you ask. Bring cash as a backup since some stalls are mobile-payment only, and be ready to point rather than explain. Kunming is a good place to eat late on the day you arrive, since the altitude is moderate and the city is easy to navigate.
