Stone Forest is really awesome. You should really check it out. Lots of different ethnicities of chinese out there. The locals out in stone forest have a really interesting dating/marriage method. The park there is just amazing. Pictures CANNOT accurate describe the beauty of that place. It just has to be seen in person. There’s also an artist/painter/calligrapher up in stone garden. His work is pretty decent. An actual artist and not an imitator. I’m not sure if he’s still around as he was pretty old and I went like 4 years ago.
My suggestions for your trip:
A314: not even a drop. Just like 1/2 if you can when using it. I suggest this because its in oil form and it lasts longer.
Instant Shine 4x STR
Instant Openness
MX200 has worked really well for me with Asians in general, but between Chinese and Korean, I would say my results tend to work slightly better with Chinese.
MX292 can work really well also. Just keep in mind, there is a small population that can smell the -none.
IFM if you have any. Just keep in mind that some people have had great success with this, while others have not. In my opinion, it helps a little for getting them to feel more comfortable around you.
For the whole “boldness” thing, I think you’d just have to establish really good rapport. From the cities you’ve mentioned so far, they’re not as western or populated like HK or Shanghai (well duh, obviously) so they’re not as likely to be as forward.
Which cities are you heading to? HK is humid as fuck during this time of year, but it has some of the best food around and really a fun place to be.
From the description of yourself, expect a LOT of stares in some of the less populated areas like well… kumming. If you go to a “touristy” area in some of these areas, don’t be surprised if a group of random chinese people ask to take a picture with you. LOL.
Generally though, like Perronec said, keep a smile on your face and be natural and at ease and they will too. And yea, Yunnan is a beautiful place. If it were winter, I’d suggest Harbin. They have an amazing winter festival.
I know of a few more places, but unfortunately, whenever I visit China, I never really pay attention to the name of the city or care to remember it.